8.7: The verbs on every page

Info

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

A handful of verbs do most of the work of the texts: to be, to do, to go, to give, to know, to say, to see, to hear, to stand and to sit. Their present forms follow the classes of 8.2, but their past forms, absolutives and participles are mostly not what the endings of 8.4 and 8.8 lead you to expect: ahosi (“was”) shows nothing of hoti, akāsi (“did”) nothing of karoti, and diṭṭha (“seen”) and dinna (“given”) are the participles of passati and dadāti. Each shape has its rule in Kaccāyana, linked by its number; the reader’s question is simpler: which verb (ākhyāta) is hiding here, and is this its present, its past, its absolutive or its participle?

The tables answer it for the ten verbs, each with its root (dhātu) as Kaccāyana names it; Appendix D lists the roots with their classes. The forms in bold do not show their root plainly and are learnt as words.

atthi and hoti: the two verbs “to be”

Pāḷi has two verbs for “to be”, from the roots asa and hū, with different jobs. atthi says that something exists, “there is”: atthi nibbuti (“there is extinguishment”); with na before it, natthi, “there is not”. What exists takes the ① ending, and the plural is santi. hoti joins a subject to what it is or becomes: samudayo hoti (“[this] is the origin”), nāmaṁ ahosi (“the name was”), and with a past participle it makes a tense of its own, samannāgato hoti (“he is endowed”), on every page of the bonus chapter. The two share their other forms: the past of both is ahosi, the future bhavissati, the wish siyā or assa; bhavati, the regular verb of the root bhū (“to become”) {445}, is the grammar’s model, and the texts prefer hoti.

what you see	it means	form	root	rule
atthi	there is; is	🟢⨀🤟▶️	asa	{494}
natthi	there is not	🟢⨀🤟▶️, na + atthi	asa	{494}, {12}
santi	there are	🟢⨂🤟▶️	asa	{506}
amhi, asmi	I am	🟢⨀👆▶️	asa	{492}
siyā, assa	there might be; would be	🟢⨀🤟⏯	asa	{506}, {517}
bhavissati	there will be; will be	🟢⨀🤟⏭	asa → bhū	{507}
hoti	is; becomes	🟢⨀🤟▶️	hū	{485}, {510}
honti	are	🟢⨂🤟▶️	hū	{485}
hotu	let it be; may it be	🟢⨀🤟⏹	hū	{415}, {485}
hontu	let them be (7: 4.5)	🟢⨂🤟⏹	hū	{415}, {485}
ahosi	was; became	🟢⨀🤟⏮	hū	{519}, {491}, {517}
ahesuṁ	they were; mā ahesuṁ, “let them not be” (7: 4.5)	🟢⨂🤟⏮	hū	{519}, {491}, {517}, {420}
hutvā	having been	🔽(tvā)	hū	{564}, {26}
bhūta	become; been	🔽(ta)	bhū	{555}

How to tell ahosi from gacchasi

gacchasi and karosi end in -si as the second person of the present, “you go, you do” {423}. ahosi, akāsi, aññāsi and adāsi end in -si for another reason, the s inserted in the ajjatanī {491} and its third-person ending -ī {428}, shortened to -i {517}: they are the past, “he was, did, knew, gave”. The a put before the root {519} is the sign: a- in front and -si at the end is a past form, not “you do”.

The nine verbs of doing and going, giving and knowing, saying, seeing and hearing, standing and sitting

verb	root	present	past	absolutive	past participle
to do, to make	kara	karoti {451}; causative kāreti {438}	akāsi {519}, {491}	katvā {564}, {587}	kata {555}, {587}
to go	gamu	gacchati {476}	agamāsi {519}, {491}; agacchi {517}	gantvā {564}, {596}; after a prefix -gamma {600}	gata {555}, {586}
to give	dā	dadāti {458}; deti {510}	adāsi {519}, {491}	datvā {564}, {26}	dinna {582}
to know	ñā	jānāti {449}, {470}	aññāsi {519}, {509}, {491}	ñatvā {564}, {26}	ñāta {555}
to say	vada, vaca, brū	vadati {445}	avoca {519}, {477}; āha {475}	vatvā {564}	vutta {579}
to see	disa	passati {471}	addasā {519}, {471}	disvā {599}	diṭṭha {572}
to hear	su	suṇāti {448}	assosi {519}, {491}	sutvā {564}	suta {555}
to stand	ṭhā	tiṭṭhati {468}	aṭṭhāsi {519}, {491}	—	ṭhita {588}
to sit	ni + sada	nisīdati {609}	nisīdi {428}, {517}, {609}	nisīditvā {564}, {605}	nisinna {582}

Three things to notice in the table:

• The past. akāsi, adāsi, aññāsi, agamāsi, assosi and aṭṭhāsi are made alike: the a put before the root {519}, an s inserted before the ending {491}, the root’s vowel lengthened or its consonant doubled on the way {517}. avoca turns the root’s a to o {477}; āha (“he said”, plural āhu) is the parokkhā of brū {475}; nisīdi is the plain ending -ī {428}, shortened {517}, without the a-, which {519} puts in only “sometimes”.
• The participles. kata, gata, ṭhita, suta and ñāta keep the root with its final dropped or changed ({587}, {586}, {588}); dinna and nisinna take -inna for -ta {582}, vutta has u for va and a doubled t {579}, diṭṭha has riṭṭha for ta {572}. All agree with a noun as an adjective does; tathāgata (“thus gone”) carries gata.
• The absolutives. katvā, gantvā and sutvā are the root with -tvā {564}; a root in ā shortens it, datvā, ñatvā {26}; disvā has svā for tvā {599}; after a prefix a root in m takes -ya, so that anupagamma (“not approaching”) in chapter 5 belongs to gacchati {600}.

Examples

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
hoti: the present of the root hū, ū strengthened to o {485}; it joins samudayo, its ① subject, to what it is; 3: 3.12.

Iti hidaṁ āyasmato koṇḍaññassa “aññāsikoṇḍañño” tveva nāmaṁ ahosīti.

⏏️(iti) ⏏️(hi) *️⃣🤟🚻⨀①(ima) 🚹⨀⑥(āyasmant) 🚹⨀⑥(koṇḍañña) 🚹⨀①(aññāsikoṇḍañña) ⏏️(tu) ⏏️(eva) 🚻⨀①(nāma) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(hoti) ⏏️(iti)
thus / indeed / this / of the venerable / Koṇḍañña / Aññāsikoṇḍañña / just / so / the name / was / (end quote)
ahosi, “was”: the past of hoti, the a before the root {519} and the s inserted {491}, its -i lengthened where ti joins; 5: 14.2.

evaṁ me rūpaṁ hotu

⏏️(evaṁ) *️⃣👆⚧⨀⑥(ahaṁ) 🚻⨀①(rūpa) 🟢⨀🤟⏹(hoti)
thus / my / form / let be
hotu, “let it be”: the command of hoti, -tu {424}, third person singular; 7: 2.2.

Idamavoca bhagavā.

*️⃣🤟🚻⨀②(ima) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(vadati) 🚹⨀①(bhagavant)
this / said / the Bhagavā
avoca, “said”: the past of vadati, the past’s a {519}, o for the root’s a {477}, joined to idaṁ; 5: 10.3, 7: 12.1, 9: 10.1.

Yato pajānāti sahetudhamman”ti.

⏏️(yato) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(pajānāti) 🚹⨀②🆎(sahetu+dhamma) ⏏️(iti)
since / knows / phenomena with their causes / (end quote)
pajānāti, “knows”: pa + jānāti, the root ñā become jā {470} with the class’s piece nā {449}; strip pa- and -nāti for the root; 3: 6.4.

Exercises

Each of the following, from the texts, contains a form of one of the ten verbs. Name the verb and its root, say whether the form is the present, the past, the absolutive or the past participle, and for a finite form give the person and number. Check the shape 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. ekapallaṅkena nisīdi
2. Vidhūpayaṁ tiṭṭhati mārasenaṁ
3. aññāsi vata bho, koṇḍañño
4. Bhummānaṁ devānaṁ saddaṁ sutvā
5. ādittan’ti vadāmi
6. kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ
7. atthi nibbuti, na nibbuto pumā
8. nisinno vā ‘nisinnomhī’ti pajānāti

Answers

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

1. ekapallaṅkena nisīdi

🚹⨀③🆎(eka+pallaṅka) 🟢⨀🤟⏮(nisīdati)
in one cross-legged posture / sat down
nisīdi, “sat down”: the past of nisīdati, the ending -i {428}, {517} on the present’s shape nisīda- {609}, without the a-; third person singular; 3: 2.2.

2. Vidhūpayaṁ tiṭṭhati mārasenaṁ

🚹⨀①🔽(anta)(vidhūpayanta) 🟢⨀🤟▶️(tiṭṭhati) 🚺⨀②🆎(māra+senā)
scattering / stands / the army of Māra
tiṭṭhati: the present of the root ṭhā, replaced by tiṭṭha {468}; third person singular; 3: 12.3.

3. aññāsi vata bho, koṇḍañño

🟢⨀🤟⏮(ājānāti) ⏏️(vata) 🚹⨀⓪(bhavant) 🚹⨀①(koṇḍañña)
has understood / indeed / bho / Koṇḍañña
aññāsi, “he understood”: the past of ājānāti, ā + jānāti, made like akāsi: a- {519}, -si {491}, the nā gone {509}; 5: 14.1.

4. Bhummānaṁ devānaṁ saddaṁ sutvā

🚹⨂⑥(bhumma) 🚹⨂⑥(deva) 🚹⨀②(sadda) 🔽(tvā)(suṇāti)
of the earth-dwelling / devas / the cry / having heard
sutvā: the absolutive of suṇāti, the root su with -tvā {564}, “having heard”; not a finite verb, so no person or number; 5: 12.2.

5. ādittan’ti vadāmi

🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(āditta) ⏏️(iti) 🟢⨀👆▶️(vadati)
burning / (end quote) / I say
vadāmi, “I say”: the present of vadati {445}, first person singular -mi {423}, the a before it lengthened {478}; 9: 2.6.

6. kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ

🚻⨀①🔽(ta)(kata) 🚻⨀①🔽(anīya)(karaṇīya)
done / what had to be done
kataṁ: the past participle of karoti, the r of kara dropped before ta {587}, agreeing with karaṇīyaṁ 🚻⨀①; 9: 9.2, 7: 11.4.

7. atthi nibbuti, na nibbuto pumā

▶️🤟⨀(atthi) 🚺⨀①(nibbuti) 🔼(na) 🚹⨀①(nibbuta) 🚹⨀①(puma)
there is / extinguishment / not / extinguished / male
atthi: the root asa with ti become tthi {494}, “there is”; nibbuti, what exists, takes ①; third person singular; Bonus: 7 (Visuddhimagga XVI).

8. nisinno vā ‘nisinnomhī’ti pajānāti

🚹⨀①(nisinna) 🔼(vā) 🔼(nisinnomhi) 🔼(ti) ▶️🤟⨀(pajānāti)
sitting / or / I am sitting / quote / knows clearly
nisinno, “sitting”: the past participle of nisīdati, -inna for -ta {582}, agreeing with the bhikkhu 🚹⨀①; nisinnomhi is nisinno + amhi, “I am”; Bonus: 36, 3.1.