Verbs
Bengali verbs are inflected in person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), in degrees of
politeness (intimate, familiar, respectful), and in tense (past, present,
future). The intimate forms are not shown here.
Stem
Drop the final vowel from the noun-form (dictionary form) to get the stem
of a verb. Example: khela (to play). The stem is khel.
Vowel Mutations
All Bengali verbs mutate between pairs of vowels. These pairs are:
o - o
e - e
o - u
e - i
a - e
(The first two pairs are also mutations -- but here the mutation is
in the way they are pronounced, and not in the way they are written.)
Infinitive
The infinite form is constructed by adding -te to the stem. The
second vowel in the mutation pair is used (with the exception of a/e)
Examples:
| kora |
korte |
to do |
| dekha |
dekhte |
to see |
| shona |
shunte |
to hear |
| lekha |
likhte |
to write |
| rakha |
rakhte |
to keep |
| khaoya |
khete |
to eat |
| dhoya |
dhute |
to wash |
| hooya |
hote |
to become |
|
|
|
To have and to be
No verb is required in sentences like:
My name is Poul -- amar nam poul (my name Poul)
The verb ach is used in sentences denoting presence:
I am here -- ami ekhane achi (I here am-present)
The past tense of ach is chilam, chile,
chilo,
chilen.
Possession is expressed like this:
You (f) have a car -- tomar gari ache (of you a car it is)
The negation of ach is in the present nei in all persons.
Chilam
is negated like normal verbs by adding na to the end of the verb.
The negation of the "zero" verb is noi, noo,
noy,
and non.
Present
The present tense is formed by adding -i, -o, -e, or -en to the stem:
| Person |
|
Ending |
| 1 |
|
-i |
| 2 f |
|
-o |
| 3 f |
|
-e |
| 2+3 r |
|
-en |
Example: She (f) plays ball -- se bol khele (she ball plays)
There is also a vowel mutation in the first person except in the a/e
case, where 'a' is used in all persons. The first five examples are consonat
stems (ending in a consonat). The last four are vowel stems.
| Person |
|
kora (to do) |
| 1 |
|
ami kori |
| 2 f |
|
tumi koro |
| 3 f |
|
se kore |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini koren |
| Person |
|
dekha (to see) |
| 1 |
|
ami dekhi |
| 2 f |
|
tumi dekho |
| 3 f |
|
se dekhe |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini dekhen |
| Person |
|
shona (to hear) |
| 1 |
|
ami shuni |
| 2 f |
|
tumi shono |
| 3 f |
|
se shone |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini shonen |
| Person |
|
lekha (to write) |
| 1 |
|
ami likhi |
| 2 f |
|
tumi lekho |
| 3 f |
|
se lekhe |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini lekhen |
| Person |
|
rakha (to keep) |
| 1 |
|
ami rakhi |
| 2 f |
|
tumi rakho |
| 3 f |
|
se rakhe |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini rakhen |
| Person |
|
khaoya (to eat) |
| 1 |
|
ami khai |
| 2 f |
|
tumi khao |
| 3 f |
|
se khay |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini khan |
| Person |
|
dhoya (to wash) |
| 1 |
|
ami dhui |
| 2 f |
|
tumi dhoo |
| 3 f |
|
se dhoy |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini dhon |
| Person |
|
hooya (to become) |
| 1 |
|
ami hoi |
| 2 f |
|
tumi hoo |
| 3 f |
|
se hoy |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini hon |
| Person |
|
deoya (to give) |
| 1 |
|
ami dii |
| 2 f |
|
tumi dao |
| 3 f |
|
se dey |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini den |
Present & Past Continuous
The continuous tenses are used for actions taking place at the present
or actions that went on for an amount of time in the past. They correspond
to the English -ing forms: I am running (present continuous), he was swimming
(past continuous). The present continuous is formed from the stem by adding:
| Person |
|
Present Continuous endings |
| 1 |
|
-chi / -cchi |
| 2 f |
|
-cho / -ccho |
| 3 f |
|
-che / -cche |
| 2+3 r |
|
-chen / -cchen |
The past continuous is formed from the stem by adding:
| Person |
|
Past Continuous endings |
| 1 |
|
-chilam / -cchilam |
| 2 f |
|
-chile / -cchile |
| 3 f |
|
-chilo / -cchilo |
| 2+3 r |
|
-chilen / -cchilen |
Future
The future tense is formed by adding -bo, -be, or -ben to the stem and
changing the vowel of the stem as was done in the first person in the present
tense (to the second vowel in the vowel pairs). There are no vowel mutations
within the future tense.
| Person |
|
kora (to do) |
| 1 |
|
ami korbo |
| 2 f |
|
tumi korbe |
| 3 f |
|
se korbe |
| 2+3 r |
|
apni/tini korben |
| Verb |
|
Future |
| kora |
|
korbo |
|
I shall do |
| dekha |
|
dekhbo |
|
I shall see |
| shona |
|
shunbo |
|
I shall hear |
| lekha |
|
likhbo |
|
I shall write |
| rakha |
|
rakhbo |
|
I shall keep |
| khaoya |
|
khabo |
|
I shall eat |
| dhoya |
|
dhobo |
|
I shall wash |
| hooya |
|
hobo |
|
I shall become |
| deoya |
|
debo |
|
I shall give |
Past Participle
The past participle is a frequently used form in Bengali. It is formed
almost like the infinitive, but without the 't'.
Examples:
| kora |
kore |
having done |
| dekha |
dekhe |
having seen |
| shona |
shune |
having heard |
| lekha |
likhe |
having written |
| rakha |
rekhe |
having kept |
| khaoya |
kheye |
having kept |
| dhoya |
dhuye |
having washed |
| hooya |
hoye |
having become |
| deoya |
diye |
having given |
The past participle is used in different ways than in English, for example
to connect two sentences where 'and', 'when' or 'after' would be used in
English.
Past
The past tense is used for recent past actions. It is formed from the stem
(but using the second of the mutation vowels) by adding the following endings:
| Person |
|
Past |
| 1 |
|
-lam |
| 2 f |
|
-le |
| 3 f |
|
-lo |
| 2+3 r |
|
-len |
Negatives
Add na to the end of the verb.