Verbs

Sanskrit verbs are divided into two general groups, two voices, four systems, and ten different classes. Groups are distinguished by whether the thematic vowel –अ– is inserted between the root and the endings. The voices and tenses are distinguished by endings added to the root, while the systems and the classes are often distinguished by alterations to the root that sometimes involve vowel strengthening. Each of these differences are described below, except for the classes which are described on a separate page.

Groups

The two general groups or categories are Thematic versus Athematic. Both types of verbs use the same endings. There are two major differences between thematic and athematic verbs. The first is that thematic verbs always add an “theme vowel” or –अ– between the root and the endings, whereas athematic verbs do not. This distinction is also found in other Indo-European languages, though the intervening vowel differs. The second major difference is that athematic verbs often have two root forms, a strong form and a weak form. The strong forms of athematic verbs are used for:

1. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons singular active present tense
2. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons singular active imperfect tense
3. The 1st person singular and plural, active and middle imperative tense (These are rare)
4. The 3rd person active singular imperative tense.

All other forms are weak. Most athematic verbs have different strong and weak forms, such as कृ (to make) whose strong form is करो- and whose weak form is कुरु-.

Each of the ten classes of verbs are either thematic or athematic, and each class differs in how the verbal root or base is transformed before adding the theme vowel in the case of thematic verbs and the appropriate endings for the desired person, number, and tense for all verbs. Each class of the athematic verbs has a different way of forming their strong and weak forms.

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Voices

In Sanskrit (as in Greek) there are two voices: the active (परस्मैपद) and the middle (आत्मनेपद). Each of these two voices has a different set of endings for their tenses. (Unlike English, the passive in Sanskrit is considered a secondary conjugation rather than a voice; it uses the middle endings with an often modified root.) Some verbs have both voices (उभयपद); others have only one or the other. In general but not universally, active voice indicates action done for others while the middle voice, as its Sanskrit name indicates, refers to actions done for oneself, though such is not always strictly adhered to. For some verbs, the middle serves also as the passive. To take an example of the two voices from the Learn Sanskrit site (accessed Feb. 17, 2018), the verb पच् means “to cook.” The active form would be पचति “to cook (in general or for others),” whereas the middle of this verb would be पचते means to cook in a more reflexive sense, to cook for oneself.

Verbs are classified as:

• परस्मैपदिन् – having an active voice
• आत्मनेपदिन् – having a middle voice
• उभयपदिन् – having both voices

Tenses

These pages on verbs are (for now) focused on the present “tense system” which is a broader group of tenses that includes:

• The Present: The simple present tense, such as करोमि “I do,” भवासि “You are,” and लभन्ते, “They get.”
• The Imperfect: This is the simple past tense, such as आगच्छत् “He came,” अवसाम “We dwelt,” and असेवध्वम् “You (pl.) served.”
• The Optative: This tense expresses a wish, desire, request or what may occur. It is sometimes translated in English with the auxiliary verbs “should,” “would,” or “may.” Examples are भवेव “would you two were,” विशेत् “should s/he enter,” and लभेरन् “may they obtain.”
• The Imperative: As in English, this is the command form of a verb, such as युङ्ग्धि “You sacrifice!” आगच्छत “You (pl.) come,” or मन्यन्ताम् “Let them think….” In English, it is only found in the 2nd person: “Go home!”, “Do your homework”, and “Beat them, team!” However, Sanskrit uses it for all persons and numbers. In the 1st and 3rd person it can be translated as “may” and “let” respectively, such as “May I always be kind!” and “Let them always find happiness!”

The other systems of verb tenses are the Perfect, the Aorist, and the Future. These latter tense systems will not be covered here.

Systems

Whitney (p. 202) describes four “tense-systems.” These are:

1. The Present System: this contains the present tense, the imperfect (a continuing past form, e.g. “was walking”), the optative (usually translated by “would” or “should”), and the imperative tenses along with its participle.
2. The Perfect System: This includes the completed past tense, the past past, and its participles (active and passive).
3. The Aorist System: This is another general past tense, unqualified as to time or duration. It has various forms along with an optative version.
4. The Future System: This is the future, the periphrastic future, the future past, the conditional and the future participle.

Vowel Strengthening (गुण and वृद्धि)

In certain situation, most particularly verbal root transformations before adding ending, vowels can undergo one of two forms of strengthening that differ in intensity. The mild form of strengthening is called the गुण (guṇa) of the vowel, the stronger form is called वृद्धि (vṛddhi). The following chart shows these transformations for each vowel: