Exercises: Roots and Classes
Vocabulary
I've changed the column with the verb stems to show the 3rd-person singular ("he," "she," "it") form of the present tense ("goes," "sees," "lives"). This form is traditionally used to show the verb stem.
An exclamation mark ( ! ) is placed in front of roots that form stems irregularly. This symbol will be used throughout the guide.
Old Roots
- बोध्bodh
- बोधति bodhati
- awaken, recognize, understand [buddha]
- स्मर्smar
- स्मरति smarati
- remember
- हस्has
- हसति hasati
- smile, laugh, mock
- ! गम्gam
- गच्छति gacchati
- go [come]
- ! स्थाsthā
- तिष्ठति tiṣṭhati
- stand, be established in [stand]
- ! दर्श्darś
- पश्यति paśyati
- see [darshan, dragon, spec-tacles]
- It should be clear that darś and paśya are completely unrelated. It's likely that paśya came from an older verb root that eventually combined with the darś root. We use paśya to form the stem and darś everywhere else. So, we have words like paśyati ("he sees") and darśana ("sight").
New Roots
- चर्car
- चरति carati
- go, walk, move, practice
- जय्jay
- जयति jayati
- conquer, gain, vanquish
- जीव्jīv
- जीवति jīvati
- live
- तर्tar
- तरति tarati
- cross, overcome [avatar]
- निन्द्nind
- निन्दति nindati
- deride, despise, condemn
- नय्nay
- नयति nayati
- lead, guide, correct
- भव्bhav
- भवति bhavati
- be, become, arise [be]
- शोच्śoc
- शोचति śocati
- suffer, grieve
- मोह्moh
- मुह्यति muhyati
- lose one's way, become confused, lose consciousness
- तोद्tod
- तुदति tudati
- push, strike, sting, tear, kill
Devanagari
With the five letters we've learned, we can now read hundreds of Sanskrit words. Write the words below in IAST.
वन
नवतम
वर
रत
मत
नत
मम
रम
तव
नवम
Verb Classes
The Vocabulary section at the top of this page lists 16 roots and their conjugated forms. Classify each of these 16 roots on the basis of the form provided with them. If it is unclear what class a root belongs to, then it belongs to the a+ class. (This principle is almost always true). For example, tar is in the a+ class.
Matching
Almost every Sanskrit verb can be transformed into many other words. During this transformation, the verb root can change significantly. In Sanskrit, the ability to take a word and reduce it back to a simple verb is an essential skill. With that said, take a look at the table below. This table has a list of verb roots and a list of real Sanskrit words. Match the verb root to the word it produces. These exercises might be difficult, but they are good practice.
- Verb Root
- New Word
- śoc
- vijaya
- nay
- gati
- tar
- aśoka
- smar
- babhūva
- jay
- sthāna
- has
- upanayana
- car
- avatāra
- bhav
- ācārya
- gam
- smṛti
- sthā
- upahāsyatā
Translation
Translate from English to Sanskrit.
You conquer.
The two of us cross.
I walk.
She lives.
You despise.
The two of us become confused.
We become.
They lead.
They remember.
You grieve.
You become confused.
I smile.
You walk.
The two of us live.
He conquers.
We despise.
You cross.
We strike.
She leads.
They grieve.
You smile.
It becomes.
I remember.
They strike.
Answers
Devanagari
For your curiosity, each answer also comes with the English translation of the word.
vana
forest
navatama
newest
vara
blessing
rata
enjoyed
mata
thought
nata
bowed down
mama
my
rama
love, enjoyment
tava
your
navama
ninth
Verb Classes
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
a+
ya
a0
Matching
- Verb Root
- New Word
- śoc
- aśoka
- nay
- upanayana
- tar
- avatāra
- smar
- smṛti
- jay
- vijaya
- has
- upahāsyatā
- car
- ācārya
- bhav
- babhūva
- gam
- gati
- sthā
- sthāna
Translation
जयसि
jayasi
तरावः
tarāvaḥ
चरामि
carāmi
जीवति
jīvati
निन्दसि
nindasi
मुह्यावः
muhyāvaḥ
भवामः
bhavāmaḥ
नयन्ति
nayanti
स्मरन्ति
smaranti
शोचसि
śocasi
मुह्यसि
muhyasi
हसामि
hasāmi
चरसि
carasi
जीवावः
jīvāvaḥ
जयति
jayati
निन्दामः
nindāmaḥ
तरसि
tarasi
तुदामः
tudāmaḥ
नयति
nayati
शोचन्ति
śocanti
हससि
hasasi
भवति
bhavati
स्मरामि
smarāmi
तुदन्ति
tudanti