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

बोध्
bodh
बोधति
bodhati
awaken, recognize, understand [buddha]
स्मर्
smar
स्मरति
smarati
remember
हस्
has
हसति
hasati
smile, laugh, mock
! गम्
gam
गच्छति
gacchati
go [come]
! स्था
sthā
तिष्ठति
tiṣṭhati
stand, be established in [stand]
! दर्श्
darś
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

चर्
car
चरति
carati
go, walk, move, practice
जय्
jay
जयति
jayati
conquer, gain, vanquish
जीव्
jīv
जीवति
jīvati
live
तर्
tar
तरति
tarati
cross, overcome [avatar]
निन्द्
nind
निन्दति
nindati
deride, despise, condemn
नय्
nay
नयति
nayati
lead, guide, correct
भव्
bhav
भवति
bhavati
be, become, arise [be]
शोच्
śoc
शोचति
śocati
suffer, grieve
मोह्
moh
मुह्यति
muhyati
lose one's way, become confused, lose consciousness
तोद्
tod
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.

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.

Answers

Devanagari

For your curiosity, each answer also comes with the English translation of the word.

Verb Classes

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