Case 3: "with"

Also known as: instrumental case, tṛtīyā vibhakti ("third case")

We have already learned that case 3 means about the same thing as the English word "with," but we haven't learned exactly what it describes. In this lesson, we will take a closer look at how case 3 is used.

Introduction

Case 3 captures the idea of the English word "with," in two senses of the word "with." The two senses are:

• means, as in "I hit the coconut with my hammer" and
• accompaniment, as in "I hit the coconut with my friend."

Don't forget these two distinct meanings. (Otherwise, your friend might have something to say about it!) But if you're concerned that you might, take a look at the two example sentences below. Together, these sentences emphasize the twin meanings of case 3.

• गजेन गच्छामि

  gajena gacchāmi

  I go by means of (with) the elephant

• गजेन गच्छामि

  gajena gacchāmi

  I go alongside (with) the elephant

As you can see, the two sentences can have different interpretations. The first meaning is more common. If we want to emphasize the second meaning, we can use some special uninflected words, which are mentioned further below.

Inflection

The case 3 endings are identical for masculine and neuter nouns.

The -ena ending, just like the plural of case 6, can change to a retroflexed -eṇa in certain circumstances.

saha and vinā

saha and vinā are uninflected words that reinforce the "accompany" meaning of case 3. saha emphasizes that the case 1 noun acts alongside the case 3 noun. But vinā changes the meaning of case 3 and shows that the case 1 noun acts without the case 3 noun.

• अहं गजेन सह गच्छामि

  ahaṃ gajena saha gacchāmi

  I go alongside the elephant.

• अहं गजेन विना गच्छामि

  ahaṃ gajena vinā gacchāmi

  I go without the elephant.

saha is related to the prefixes sa- and sam. vinā is probably related to the prefix vi.

Other -ḥ Sandhi

The case 3 plural follows the rules of "other -ḥ" sandhi that were described when we studied case 6. But words that follow these rules actually follow one other restriction:

If the letter that follows the visarga is r, then the visarga disappears.

• नरैः गच्छन्ति → नरैर् गच्छन्ति

  naraiḥ gacchanti → narair gacchanti

  They go with the men.

• नरैः रामो गच्छति→ नरै रामो गच्छति

  naraiḥ rāmo gacchati → narai rāmo gacchati

  Rama goes with the men.

• नरैः पश्यन्ति → नरैः पश्यन्ति

  naraiḥ paśyanti → naraiḥ paśyanti

  They see with the men.

• नरैः तिष्ठन्ति → नरैस् तिष्ठन्ति

  naraiḥ tiṣṭhanti → narais tiṣṭhanti

  They stand with the men.

The intuition for this change is simply that the combination rr never occurs in Sanskrit.

Pronouns

As always, note the parallel behavior of mad and tvad.

In the next lesson, we will study one of the most common uses of case 3. Until then, practice with the exercises on the next page.