Relative phrases

Relative phrases are phrases like this:

• अहम् अपश्यं नरं यो गजम् अचोरयत्।
  aham apaśyaṃ naraṃ yo gajam acorayat.
  I saw the man who stole the elephant.
  

• स नरो गच्छति यत्र बहवो गजा वसन्ति।
  sa naro gacchati yatra bahavo gajā vasanti.
  That man is going where many elephants live.
  

• गजा भीता भवन्ति यदा चोरम् पश्यन्ति।
  gajā bhītā bhavanti yadā coram paśyanti.
  Elephants become scared when they see the thief.
  

Relative phrases are one way we can create complex Sanskrit sentences. In this lesson, we will learn about many different kinds of relative phrases.

yad

The most straightforward way we can make a relative phrase is to use the pronoun yad. We can use it to precisely describe different parts of a sentence. For example, suppose someone says the following:

• राहुलो नगरं चरति।
  rāhulo nagaraṃ carati.
  Rahula walks to the city.
  

We can make phrase like this:

• राहुलो यो ग्रामे वसति नगरं चरति।
  rāhulo yo grāme vasati nagaraṃ carati.
  Rahula, who lives in the village, walks to the city.
  

The pronoun yad uses the same gender and number as the word it describes. But it can use different cases:

• राहुलो यम् माता मार्गति नगरं चरति।
  rāhulo yam mātā mārgati nagaraṃ carati.
  Rahula, whom his mother is searching for, walks to the city.
  

• राहुलो यस्य पिता योधो नगरं चरति।
  rāhulo yasya pitā yodho nagaraṃ carati.
  Rahula, whose father is a warrior, walks to the city.
  

To learn more about the specific endings that the yad pronoun uses, see our lesson on kim and yad.

Using yad with tad

We can use yad with pronouns like tad (“that”) to create even more complex sentences. In each sentence below, the highlighted pronouns have the same gender and number. But by using different cases, we can show different relationships:

• या पृच्छति सा रामस्य पत्नी।
  yā pṛcchati sā rāmasya patnī.
  Who asks, she is Rama's wife. (literal translation)
  The person who asks is Rama's wife. (natural translation)

• यस्यै रामः फलं ददाति सा रामस्य पत्नी
  yasyai rāmaḥ phalaṃ dadāti sā rāmasya patnī
  To whom Rama gives a fruit, she is Rama's wife. (literal)
  The person to whom Rama gives a fruit is Rama's wife. (natural)

• यस्यै रामः फलं ददाति तस्याः पिता जनकः
  yasyai rāmaḥ phalaṃ dadāti tasyāḥ pitā janakaḥ
  To whom Rama gives a fruit, her father is Janaka. (literal)
  The father of the one to whom Rama gives a fruit is Janaka. (natural)

Note the small difference in emphasis if we switch the order of these pronouns:

• या पृच्छति सा रामस्य पत्नी।
  yā pṛcchati sā rāmasya patnī.
  The person who asks is Rama's wife. (yā first)
  

• सा पृच्छति या रामस्य पत्नी।
  sā pṛcchati yā rāmasya patnī.
  She, who is Rama's wife, asks. (sā first)
  

The two English translations are quite different. But the Sanskrit remains simple and clear.

yatra, yadā, and others

There are various other words that we can use to create relative phrases. Here are some common uninflected words:

These words are often paired with the words below:

Likewise, here are some common adjectives:

And the adjectives they are often paired with: