Sanskrit/Basic grammar

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'Basic' grammar in Sanskrit may be an oxymoron, but here are some fundamentals.

Sanskrit is an inflected language, meaning that the nouns are declined and the verbs are conjugated.

The Sanskrit language tends toward the subject-object-verb word ordering, but does allow for multiple type of sentence formulations particularly in the sutra form.

There are three principal numbers used in the inflection of the Sanskrit language. These are singular (1 thing), dual (2 things), and plural (many things).

In declining Sanskrit nouns, there are eight cases used. These are nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, and vocative.

Nouns are declined according to their endings, with the exception of pronouns which have specific declensions.

The short a masculine declension:

deva-, god Singular Dual Plural
Nominative devas / devaḥ devau devās / devāḥ
Accusative (Erg./Abs.) devam devau devān
Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») devena devābhyām devais / devaiḥ
Dative (Obl. + Un) devāya devābhyām devebhyas / devebhyaḥ
Ablative (Obl) devāt devābhyām devebhyas / devebhyaḥ
Genitive (Obl. + akh) devasya devayos / devayoḥ devānām
Locative deve devayos / devayoḥ deveṣu
Vocative deva devau devās / devāḥ

The short a neuter declension:

phala-, fruit Singular Dual Plural
Nominative phalam phale phalāni
Accusative (Erg./Abs.) phalam phale phalāni
Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») phalena phalābhyām phalais / phalaiḥ
Dative (Obl. + Un) phalāya phalābhyām phalebhyas / phalebhyaḥ
Ablative (Obl) phalāt phalābhyām phalebhyas / phalebhyaḥ
Genitive (Obl. + akh) phalasya phalayos / phalayoḥ phalānām
Locative phale phalayos / phalayoḥ phaleṣu
Vocative phala phale phalāni

The long ā feminine declension:

mālā-, garland Singular Dual Plural
Nominative mālā māle mālās / mālāḥ
Accusative (Erg./Abs.) mālām māle mālās / mālāḥ
Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») mālayā mālābhyām mālābhis / mālābhiḥ
Dative (Obl. + Un) mālāyai mālābhyām mālābhyas / mālābhyaḥ
Ablative (Obl) mālāyāḥ mālābhyām mālābhyas / mālābhyaḥ
Genitive (Obl. + akh) mālāyāḥ mālayos / mālayoḥ mālānām
Locative mālāyām mālayos / mālayoḥ mālāsu
Vocative māle māle mālās / mālāḥ