8.1: Reading a verb

Info

Part of “A Beginner (Non-Linguist) Guide to Learning Pali”

Every sentence of the texts turns on a verb (ākhyāta, “what is declared”), the word that changes shape most: viharati (“dwells”), udapādi (“arose”), bhavissati (“there will be”), vadeyyātha (“would you say”). Each is three pieces in a row. labhati (“gets”) is the root (dhātu) labh, which carries the meaning {457}; the piece (vikaraṇa) a that its class puts after the root {445}; and the ending (vibhatti) -ti {423}, always last {455}. The root is what you look up (Appendix D lists them, 8.2 the pieces); the ending carries everything else.

The ending answers three questions at once: when, or in what mood; who; and how many. Kaccāyana sorts the endings into eight sets of twelve, one for each time or mood {414}–{422}, and names them; the dictionary and this book use the names. So ask of every verb: what is its ending, and which set is it in? This section is the table that answers; the sections after it take the sets one at a time.

The book marks a verb with four symbols and the lemma to look up: 🟢⨀🤟▶️(viharati) is active, singular, third person, present, lemma viharati; the bonus chapter’s lines, made earlier, order them time, person, number: ⏮👆⨀(paṭilabhi).

The three persons

Kaccāyana’s names for the persons are the reverse of the English ones: its “first person” (paṭhamapurisa) is the English third, “he, she, it, they”; its “middle person” (majjhimapurisa) the second, “you”; its “highest person” (uttamapurisa) the first, “I, we” {408}. This book keeps the symbols and, from here on, the English names.

person	Kaccāyana’s name	symbol	the subject is	in the texts	rule
third	paṭhamapurisa	🤟	a noun, or nothing said	bhagavā … viharati	{410}
second	majjhimapurisa	🤘	tvaṁ, tumhe (“you”), said or not	tumhe … vadeyyātha	{411}
first	uttamapurisa	👆	ahaṁ, mayaṁ (“I”, “we”), said or not	ahaṁ … paccaññāsiṁ	{412}

Each person has a singular ⨀ and a plural ⨂ ending, so a set’s twelve run in pairs, singular then plural, third person first {408}. When subjects of different persons share a verb, it follows the later person in this table, “you” over “he”, “I” over “you” {409}.

The eight sets

The first six endings of every set are parassapada (“the word for another”, 🟢) {406}, used in the active {456}, and the texts use these almost always; the last six are attanopada (“the word for oneself”) {407}, met below.

symbol	set	the ending says	rule	in the texts
▶️	vattamānā (“going on”)	the present (paccuppanna): what is happening now	{414}	viharati
⏹	pañcamī (“the fifth”)	a command (āṇatti) or a wish (āsīsa), no time stated	{415}	uppajjatu
⏯	sattamī (“the seventh”)	permission (anumati) or supposition (parikappa): may, should, would	{416}	vadeyyātha
🔄	parokkhā (“beyond the eye”)	a past the speaker did not witness (apaccakkha): “they say”	{417}	āha (in evamāha)
↩️	hiyyattanī (“of yesterday”)	the past from yesterday back, witnessed or not	{418}	ajjhagamaṁ
⏮	ajjatanī (“of today”)	the near past (samīpa), from today back: the texts’ usual past	{419}	udapādi
⏭	bhavissantī (“will be”)	the future (anāgata)	{421}	bhavissati
🔀	kālātipatti (“the time has passed”)	a past that did not happen (kriyātipanna): “would have”	{422}	abhavissa

pañcamī and sattamī are labels, shared with the ⑤ and ⑦ noun endings; the other names describe their time. The hiyyattanī occurs once in the texts (ajjhagamaṁ, “I achieved”, Bonus: 46, 18.1) and the parokkhā once (āha inside evamāha, Bonus: 1, 24.8); the ajjatanī is on every page. Three more rules shape what you see: vattamānā, pañcamī, sattamī and hiyyattanī are grouped as sabbadhātuka {431}, and the other four put an i before the ending, the i of bhav-i-ssati {516}; the three past sets put an a before the root, the a of ud-a-pādi and a-bhavissa {519}; and after mā (“do not”) a past ending is a prohibition in any time, not a past {420}.

The endings: the master key

These are the parassapada endings of the eight sets as Kaccāyana lists them; the other sections of the chapter refer back to this table.

set	🤟⨀	🤟⨂	🤘⨀	🤘⨂	👆⨀	👆⨂	rule
▶️ vattamānā	ti	anti	si	tha	mi	ma	{423}
⏹ pañcamī	tu	antu	hi	tha	mi	ma	{424}
⏯ sattamī	eyya	eyyuṁ	eyyāsi	eyyātha	eyyāmi	eyyāma	{425}
🔄 parokkhā	a	u	e	ttha	aṁ	mha	{426}
↩️ hiyyattanī	ā	ū	o	ttha	aṁ	mhā	{427}
⏮ ajjatanī	ī	uṁ	o	ttha	iṁ	mhā	{428}
⏭ bhavissantī	ssati	ssanti	ssasi	ssatha	ssāmi	ssāma	{429}
🔀 kālātipatti	ssā	ssaṁsu	sse	ssatha	ssaṁ	ssāmhā	{430}

The texts differ from this in four small ways. anti and antu appear as -nti, -ntu after the piece a (pātubhavanti); the ī of the ajjatanī is usually short (udapādi, nisīdi {517}), and many verbs put an s before it (āmantesi, ahosi); its plural uṁ (abhinanduṁ) is also -iṁsu {504}; and the a before the root is not seen when the verb begins with the prefix ā (āmantesi). 8.4 takes these shapes one by one; chapter 1’s verb terminations show every ending on one verb, gacchati, and Appendix I the rules {406}–{523}.

The attanopada endings

The six attanopada endings of each set {407} belong to the passive and the impersonal {453}, sometimes to the active {454}; but the passive of the texts mostly takes the parassapada endings instead {518}, as nirujjhanti (“cease”, 🔴) in chapter 3 does, so these endings are rare. The texts show two, both sattamī, marked 🔵: -eyyaṁ in pabbajeyyaṁ (“I would go forth”, 🔵⏯👆⨀) and -etha in paññāyetha (“it would be evident”, 🔵⏯🤟⨀).

set	the six attanopada endings: third, second, first person, each singular then plural	rule
▶️ vattamānā	te ante, se vhe, e mhe	{423}
⏹ pañcamī	taṁ antaṁ, ssu vho, e āmase	{424}
⏯ sattamī	etha eraṁ, etho eyyāvho, eyyaṁ eyyāmhe	{425}
🔄 parokkhā	ttha re, ttho vho, iṁ mhe	{426}
↩️ hiyyattanī	ttha tthuṁ, se vhaṁ, iṁ mhase	{427}
⏮ ajjatanī	ā ū, se vhaṁ, aṁ mhe	{428}
⏭ bhavissantī	ssate ssante, ssase ssavhe, ssaṁ ssāmhe	{429}
🔀 kālātipatti	ssatha ssisu, ssase ssavhe, ssiṁ ssāmhase	{430}

How to tell the lookalike endings apart

-tha is “you (plural)” in the present and in a command, -ttha in the past; -mi and -ma are “I” and “we” in the present and in a wish alike (Bonus: 18, 1.20 marks jānāmi passāmi, “may I know and see”, ⏹); and -ssa- is the future when the word ends -ssati, -ssanti, -ssāmi, but “would have” when an a stands before the root and the word ends in -ssa (bhavissati, abhavissa). Where the ending alone does not decide, the sentence does: a wish is quoted with ti, a prohibition has mā.

flowchart TD
  E["the end of the verb"] --> A["-ti, -nti, -si, -tha, -mi, -ma: vattamānā, the present (8.2)"]
  E --> B["-tu, -ntu, -hi: pañcamī, a command or wish (8.3)"]
  E --> C["-eyya, -eyyuṁ, -eyyātha, -eyyaṁ: sattamī, may or should (8.3)"]
  E --> D["-i, -si, -uṁ, -iṁ, often a- before the root: ajjatanī, the past (8.4)"]
  E --> F["āha, or -ā, -aṁ with a- before the root: parokkhā, hiyyattanī, the rarer pasts (8.4)"]
  E --> G["-ssati, -ssanti, -ssāmi: bhavissantī, the future (8.5)"]
  E --> H["a- before the root and -ssa: kālātipatti, would have (8.5)"]

Examples

Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā bārāṇasiyaṁ viharati isipatane migadāye.

*️⃣🤟🚹⨀②(eka) 🚹⨀②(samaya) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚺⨀⑦(bārāṇasī) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(viharati) 🚻⨀⑦(isipatana) 🚹⨀⑦(migadāya)
one / time / the Bhagavā / at Bārāṇasī / dwells / at Isipatana / in the Deer Park
“At one time the Bhagavā was dwelling at Bārāṇasī, at Isipatana in the Deer Park.” (5: 1.1) viharati: -ti, vattamānā ▶️, third person singular {423}; before it the a of the bhū class {445}, vi-har-a-ti; the texts’ present often reads as an English past.

evaṁ me rūpaṁ hotu

⏏️(evaṁ) *️⃣👆⚧⨀⑥(ahaṁ) 🚻⨀①(rūpa) 🟢⨀🤟⏹(hoti)
thus / my / form / let be
“May my rūpa be thus” (7: 2.3) hotu: -tu, pañcamī ⏹, third person singular {424}; a wish {415}.

“Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā evaṁ vadeyyātha—

🔼(apinu) *️⃣🤘⚧⨂①(tvaṁ) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🔼(evaṁ) 🚹⨂①(jānanta) 🔼(evaṁ) 🚹⨂①(passanta) ⏯🤘⨂(vadati)
are? / youse / bhikkhave / thus / knowing / thus / seeing / will say
“Thus knowing and thus seeing, bhikkhave, will you say -” (Bonus: 1, 24.4) vadeyyātha: -eyyātha, sattamī ⏯, second person plural {425}, the subject tumhe {411}; “would you say”, a supposition {416}.

Atha kho bhagavā bodhirukkhamūle sattāhaṁ ekapallaṅkena nisīdi vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī.

⏏️(atha) ⏏️(kho) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚻⨀⑦🆎(bodhirukkha+mūla) 🚻⨀②🆎(satta+aha) 🚹⨀③🆎(eka+pallaṅka) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(nisīdati) 🚹⨀①🆎(vimuttisukha+paṭisaṁvedī)
then / indeed / the Bhagavā / at the root of the bodhi tree / for seven days / in one cross-legged posture / sat down / experiencing the bliss of liberation
“Then the Bhagavā sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one cross-legged posture, experiencing the bliss of liberation (vimuttisukhapaṭisaṁvedī).” (3: 2.2) nisīdi: -i, ajjatanī ⏮, third person singular {428}, the ending ī written short {517}; the subject bhagavā.

Āraddhaṁ kho pana me vīriyaṁ bhavissati asallīnaṁ,

🚻⨀①(āraddha) 🔼(kho pana) *️⃣👆⚧⨀③(ahaṁ) 🚻⨀①(vīriya) ⏭🤟⨀(bhavati) 🚻⨀①(asallīna)
applied / and now / with me / determination / will become / active
“And now applied with me there will be active determination” (Bonus: 45, 9.7) bhavissati: -ssati, bhavissantī ⏭, third person singular {429}; the i before ssa is the insertion every future takes {516}, bhav-i-ssati.

Rūpañca hidaṁ, bhikkhave, attā abhavissa,

🚻⨀①(rūpa) ⏏️(ca) ⏏️(hi) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀①(ima) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀①(atta) 🟢⨀🤟🔀(bhavati)
form / and / indeed / this / bhikkhave / self / would be
“And indeed here, bhikkhave, if rūpa were attā (self),” (7: 2.2) abhavissa: the a put before the root {519} and the ending -ssā {430}, here short {517}; kālātipatti 🔀, third person singular, “if it were”.

Exercises

Each of the following is a verb from the texts of chapters 3, 5, 7, 9 and the bonus chapter, in the form it has there. Name its set, its ending, its person and its number, and say what the sentence means. Look the word up in a dictionary and check the ending against the tables above.

Hint

You may find the Digital Pali Dictionary useful for looking up words, as well as doing the sandhi and compound word deconstruction.

1. pātubhavanti
2. vadāmi
3. āmantesi
4. abhinanduṁ
5. uddiseyyātha
6. hontu
7. hoti

Answers

Note: please do the exercises first before checking the answers.

1. Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā,

⏏️(yadā) ⏏️(have) 🟢⨂🤟▶️(pātubhavati) 🚹⨂①(dhamma)
when / indeed / appear / phenomena
“When indeed phenomena become manifest” (3: 6.1) pātubhavanti: -nti, Kaccāyana’s anti, vattamānā ▶️, third person plural {423}.

2. jātiyā jarāya maraṇena sokehi paridevehi dukkhehi domanassehi upāyāsehi ādittan’ti vadāmi.

🚺⨀③(jāti) 🚺⨀③(jarā) 🚻⨀③(maraṇa) 🚹⨂③(soka) 🚹⨂③(parideva) 🚻⨂③(dukkha) 🚻⨂③(domanassa) 🚹⨂③(upāyāsa) 🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(āditta) ⏏️(iti) 🟢⨀👆▶️(vadati)
with birth / with aging / with death / with sorrows / with lamentations / with pains / with griefs / with despairs / burning / (end quote) / I say
“burning with birth, aging, death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, griefs, and despairs, I say.” (9: 2.6) vadāmi: -mi, vattamānā ▶️, first person singular {423}, the a before it lengthened {478}; the subject ahaṁ is not said {412}.

3. Tatra kho bhagavā pañcavaggiye bhikkhū āmantesi—

⏏️(tatra) ⏏️(kho) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant) 🚹⨂②🆎(pañca+vaggiya) 🚹⨂②(bhikkhu) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(āmanteti)
there / indeed / the Bhagavā / of the group of five / bhikkhū / addressed
“There the Bhagavā addressed the group of five bhikkhū:” (5: 1.2) āmantesi: -si, the s + -i of the ajjatanī ⏮ on the verbs in e (8.4), third person singular {428}, the subject bhagavā; the a before the root is hidden by the prefix ā.

4. Attamanā te bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinanduṁ.

🚹⨂①🆎(atta+mana) *️⃣🤟🚹⨂①(ta) 🚹⨂①(bhikkhu) 🚹⨀⑥(bhagavant) 🚻⨀②🔽(ta)(bhāsita) 🟢⨂🤟⏮(abhinandati)
delighted / those / bhikkhū / of the Bhagavā / what was spoken / rejoiced in
“Those bhikkhū, delighted, rejoiced in the Bhagavā’s words.” (9: 10.2) abhinanduṁ: -uṁ, ajjatanī ⏮, third person plural {428}; the subject bhikkhū.

5. Api nu tumhe, bhikkhave, evaṁ jānantā evaṁ passantā aññaṁ satthāraṁ uddiseyyāthā”ti?

🔼(apinu) *️⃣🤘⚧⨂①(tvaṁ) 🚹⨂⓪(bhikkhu) 🔼(evaṁ) 🚹⨂①(jānanta) 🔼(evaṁ) 🚹⨂①(passanta) 🚹⨀②(añña) 🚹⨀②(satthar) ⏯🤘⨂(uddisati)
are? / youse / bhikkhave / thus / knowing / thus / seeing / another / teacher / appoint
“Thus knowing and thus seeing, bhikkhave, will you appoint another teacher?” (Bonus: 1, 24.10) uddiseyyātha: -eyyātha, sattamī ⏯, second person plural {425}, “would you appoint”; the -ā before ”ti is the join.

6. evaṁ me saṅkhārā hontu

⏏️(evaṁ) *️⃣👆⚧⨀⑥(ahaṁ) 🚹⨂①(saṅkhāra) 🟢⨂🤟⏹(hoti)
thus / my / mental constructions / let be
“May my saṅkhārā be thus” (7: 4.6) hontu: -ntu, Kaccāyana’s antu, pañcamī ⏹, third person plural {424}; a wish {415}.

7. Evametassa kevalassa dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo hoti.

⏏️(evaṁ) *️⃣🤟🚹⨀⑥(eta) 🚹⨀⑥(kevala) 🚹⨀⑥🆎(dukkha+khandha) 🚹⨀①(samudaya) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(hoti)
thus / of this / of the entire / of the mass of suffering / origin / is
“Thus is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.” (3: 3.12) hoti: -ti, vattamānā ▶️, third person singular {423}; the root hū, whose forms 8.7 tables.