asmad and yuṣmad

Also known as: personal pronouns

Pronouns are words like “I,” “you,” “he,” “they,” and so on. They can often replace other nominal words:

  • रामो नगरं गच्छति।
    rāmo nagaraṃ gacchati.
    Rama goes to the city.

  • नगरं गच्छति।
    sa nagaraṃ gacchati.
    He goes to the city.

We can often leave out a pronoun entirely if it is clear from context:

  • नगरं गच्छति।
    sa nagaraṃ gacchati.
    He goes to the city.

  • नगरं गच्छति।
    nagaraṃ gacchati.
    (He) goes to the city.

But even so, pronouns are still expressive and useful words.

In this topic, we will learn about the common Sanskrit pronouns. Pronouns use many of the same endings as other nominals. But generally, they follow very different patterns and must be learned individually.

asmad

First, let's consider the first-person pronoun asmad (“I”, “we”):

 SingularDualPlural
Case 1अहम्
aham
आवाम्
āvām
वयम्
vayam
Case 2माम्
mām
आवाम्
āvām
अस्मान्
asmān
Case 3मया
mayā
आवाभ्याम्
āvābhyām
अस्माभिः
asmābhiḥ
Case 4मह्यम्
mahyam
आवाभ्याम्
āvābhyām
अस्मभ्यम्
asmabhyam
Case 5मत्
mat
आवाभ्याम्
āvābhyām
अस्मत्
asmat
Case 6मम
mama
आवयोः
āvayoḥ
अस्माकम्
asmākam
Case 7मयि
mayi
आवयोः
āvayoḥ
अस्मासु
asmāsu

There are a few points worth noting here. First, notice that asmad does not appear in case 8. Many pronouns appear only in the first 7 cases. Next, these words use multiple different stems:

  • अहम्
    aham
    I

  • माम्
    mām
    me

  • आवाम्
    āvām
    the two of us

  • वयम्
    vayam
    me

  • अस्मान्
    asmān
    us

Also, notice that many of these words are similar to the words we use in English:

Sanskrit word English word
अहम्
aham
ego
माम्
mām
me
वयम्
vayam
we
अस्मान्
asmān
us

yuṣmad

yuṣmad (“you”) follows the same general pattern as asmad:

 SingularDualPlural
Case 1त्वम्
tvam
युवाम्
yuvām
यूयम्
yūyam
Case 2त्वाम्
tvām
युवाम्
yuvām
युष्मान्
yuṣmān
Case 3त्वया
tvayā
युवाभ्याम्
yuvābhyām
युष्माभिः
yuṣmābhiḥ
Case 4तुभ्यम्
tubhyam
युवाभ्याम्
yuvābhyām
युष्मभ्यम्
yuṣmabhyam
Case 5त्वत्
tvat
युवाभ्याम्
yuvābhyām
युष्मत्
yuṣmat
Case 6तव
tava
युवयोः
yuvayoḥ
युष्माकम्
yuṣmākam
Case 7त्वयि
tvayi
युवयोः
yuvayoḥ
युष्मासु
yuṣmāsu

Again, note that many of these words have English counterparts:

Sanskrit word English word
त्वम्
tvam
thou
यूयम्
yūyam
you