Imperative Mood - Introduction
We have so far studied the conjugation of verbs in three tenses – Present, Future and Past. The verbs in Pali also conjugate according to the ‘Moods’. A ‘Mood’ is not related to any particular tense, but is used to express – as the name suggests – a mood, an emotion etc. E.g. Moods are used to express an order, a wish, a possibility, a prayer, benediction / blessing etc.
In this Unit, we will be studying the conjugation of verbs in two moods – Imperative mood and Optative / Potential mood. Let us now start with the Imperative mood.
The Imperative Mood is used in Pali to express – order, advice, wish, prayer, request, blessing etc.
The terminations added to the verbal bases denoting the Imperative Mood are :
Terminations added to a, ā o and e-ending verbal bases
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Third Person | tu | ntu |
| Second Person | hi | tha |
| First Person | mi | ma |
Let us study the conjugation of all these types of verbal bases and the roots √hū, √bhū and √as in the Imperative Mood. We will also translate a few simple Pali sentences into English, to understand various possible translations of these conjugated forms.