Verbal Bases and Terminations
Verbal Bases and Terminations
The verbs in Pali can be broadly classified into 4 classes based on the verbal bases.
- a-ending verbal bases
- ā-ending verbal bases
- o-ending verbal bases, and
- e-ending verbal bases
We will be learning conjugation tables for each of this class.
The verbal base is the part of a verb without the termination.
E.g.
gaccha is the verbal base in the verb gacchati, ‘ti’ being the termination.
cara is the verbal base in the verb caratha, ‘tha’ being the termination.
We have been introduced to the Conjugation of Pali verbs in Present Tense, in Unit 3 (Introduction to Pali Sentences) of our course. We studied the terminations corresponding to the present tense and conjugation table of the verb ‘bhāsati’.
Let us once again revise the terminations added to the verbal bases in the Present Tense.
Terminations of Verbs in Present Tense
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Third Person | ____ti | ____nti |
| Second Person | ____si | ____tha |
| First Person | ____mi | ____ma |
These terminations are common to all the verbs in Present Tense, but there are minor variations with respect to each of the above classes of verbal bases.