09 Chapter 3 PDF

The Verb Phrase in English and Marathi: A Comparative Study
CHAPTER 3
THE VERB PHRASE IN MARATHI
3.0 Introductory Remarks
The word ‘Marathi’ is derived from ‘Maharashtri’ which means ‘the language of the
great land.’ It is one of the major modern Indo-Aryan languages. It is the official language of
Maharashtra. Marathi has two major dialects, viz., Standard Marathi and Warhadi. The
grammar of Marathi has similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi,
Gujarati and Punjabi. Marathi language is spoken in the region which connects two major
language families – Indo-Aryan in the north and Dravidian in the south. It is surrounded by
Indo-Aryan languages such as Gujarati and Hindi in the north and Dravidian languages such
as Kannada and Telugu in the south. Hence Marathi shares features of both Indo-Aryan and
Dravidian languages. That is the reason it has even been claimed to be a pidgin by some
linguists like Southworth (1971).
Marathi uses the Devanagari script with some modifications. The modified script is
called Baḷbodh. It follows the word order Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). Every word is usually
morphologically marked in Marathi. That is why the word order is less significant in Marathi.
A change in the word order usually does not bring about a change in the basic meaning of the
original sentence. For example,
(77) (a) gaItaanao k ivataalaa maarlao,

gītāne kavitalā mārale
(Geeta hit Kavita.)
(b) k ivataalaa gaItaanao maarlao,.
kavitālā gītāne mārale
(Geeta hit Kavita.)
Thus, Marathi is an inflectional language. Greenberg (1963:93)) asserts, “If a
language is exclusively suffixing, it is postpositional.” Marathi too shares this feature of
inflectional languages. According to Jain and Cardona (2007), Marathi shares the following
prominent characteristics of Indo-Aryan languages
a) The old Indo-Aryan feature of a morphologically related set of verbs (causatives)
b) The modern Indo-Aryan feature of compound verbs
c) Homophonous suffixes for expressing aspect and tense.
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This chapter intends to introduce the verb phrase in Marathi in particular. The various
distinctions of verbs in Marathi are elaborated in section 3.2. The verb phrase in Marathi is
discussed in section 3.3 where the concepts related to the verb phrase such as tense, aspect
and mood are introduced. In this section, the forms and functions of the tense, aspect and
mood in Marathi are elaborated in detail.
3.1 The Verb in Marathi
Marathi words are classified into eight parts of speech, namely, nouns, pronouns,
adjectives, verbs, adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions and interjections. The category of
articles does not exist in Marathi. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs are
inflectional categories having lexical meaning. Postpositions, conjunctions and interjections
are invariable and do not have lexical meanings.
The verb is named ‘kriyapad’ in Marathi. ‘Kriyapad’ in Marathi means an action

word. The meaning of a sentence in Marathi is not complete without a verb. It is as vital and
obligatory element in Marathi sentence structure as in English. Marathi verbs inflect for
person, number and gender of the subject and the direct object in the sentence. They show
grammatical contrasts such as tense, aspect and mood. Like English, Marathi, too, has
inflectional and derivational verb morphology.
Like other parts of speech, verbs in Marathi are classified into various types based on
different parameters. Navalkar (1925) distinguishes Marathi verbs according to their
signification, derivation and conjugation. According to him, the Marathi verbs are classified
into transitive verbs (sakarmak) and intransitive (akarmak) verbs based on their signification.
He divides Marathi verbs into causal (prayojya), potential (shakya) and compound verbs
(samyukta) according to derivation. The Marathi verbs are classified according to their
conjugation into auxiliary verbs (sahaya), defective verbs (gauna), regular verbs (niyamit),
irregular verbs (aniyamit), anomalous verbs (vidhibhanjak), impersonal verbs (bhavakartruk)
and passive verbs (karmani). Walimbe (2004) also gives various classifications of verbs as
akarmak-sakarmak,siddha-sadhit, samyukta-sahaya, and niyamit-aniyamit. He also discusses
about bhavkartruk and dhatusadhit verbs.
3.1.1 Compound Verbs
If a Marathi sentence has two verbs, the first verb is the main verb and the second
verb is the helping verb. The helping verb reflects tense. For example,
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(78) tyaanao AaMbaa Kaallaa Aaho.

tyāne āmbā khāllā āhe
(Meaning: He has eaten a mango.)
The above sentence is in present perfect. The verb phrase consists of two verbs,
viz.,/khāllā/ and /āhe/. Here, ‘/khāllā/’ is the main verb and ‘/ahe/’ is the helping verb
(sahayak kriyapad). In Marathi grammar, such verb phrase consisting of a main verb and a
helping verb (sahayak kriyapad) is known as a compound verb (samyukta kriyapad). The
helping verb (sahayak) helps the main verb to complete the meaning of the sentence. For
example, /as/, /nas/, /ho/, /ye/, /dzā/, /de/, /lāg/, /tāk/, / śak/, /pāhidʒe/ and /nako/. The helping
verbs ‘as’, ‘ho’ and ‘nas’ express tense whereas the helping verbs ‘pahije’, ‘nako’ and ‘naye’
express mood.
3.1.2 Transitive Verbs vs. Intransitive Verbs
Marathi verbs are classified into transitive and intransitive verbs on the basis of
whether they take the direct object or not. According to Navalkar (1925:93)), ‘When an
action denoted by the verb passes on to the object, it is transitive (sakarmak), and when the
action terminates in the subject, it is intransitive (akarmak).’ Transitive (sakarmak) verbs are
the verbs which take a direct object. For example, /dzā/ (Meaning: go), /ye/ (Meaning:
come), /mar/ (Meaning: die), /paḷ/ (Meaning: run), /bas/ (Meaning: sit) etc. Intransitive
(akarmak) verbs are the verbs which do not take a direct object. For example, /khā/
(Meaning: eat), /kar/ (Meaning: do), /pi/ (Meaning: drink), ughad (Meaning: open) etc. Some
transitive verbs can take two objects. They are called ditransitive (dwikarmak) verbs. Some
verbs can be used as both transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. They are called ubhayavidh
verbs in Marathi. Transitive verbs are further divided according to the agreement rules they
follow for the formation of the perfect construction.
There is special class of transitive verbs which form their past tense / perfect
constructions as that of intransitive verbs. These verbs are called special transitive verbs. For
example,
Verb Meaning
/visar/ to forget
/bol-/ to speak
/nes-/ to wear
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/kheḷ -/ to play
/ pī / to drink
/bhet-/ to meet
Apte (1962:137) asserts, ‘There are a number of verbs in Marathi which can be
transformed from one category to another by internal change.’ He shows that this
transformation is a one way transformation, i.e. from intransitive verbs to transitive verbs or
from there to causative verbs. He uses the transformational generative approach in his
analysis. For example, the intransitive verb /mər/ undergoes transitive transformation and the
transitive verb /mar/ is formed. This verb further undergoes causative transformation and the
causative verb /marəw/ is formed. This transformation can be shown as follows.
/mar/ ^ Tr  /mār/
(to die) (to kill)
/ mār / ^ Ca  /māraw/
(to kill) (to cause to kill)
Thus, when the action shown by the verb is not done by the subject but someone makes
the subject do that action, then such a verb is called a ‘causative verb.’ A causative verb can
be derived directly from anintransitive verb by adding the suffix ‘əv’ to the verb. For
example,
(79) (a) AamhI hsalaao.

āmhī hasalo
(Meaning: We laughed.)
(b) tyaanao Aamhalaa hsavalao.
tyāne āmhālā hasavale
(Meaning: He made us laugh.)
In the first sentence, the action of laughing is done by children whereas in the second
sentence, the subject ‘he’ is making the children laugh.
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3.1.3 Regular vs. Irregular Verbs
The verbs in Marathi are classified into two types depending on whether they add
their past tense / perfect endings after their root-forms or after the allomorphic base-forms of
their roots. The verbs that add their past tense / perfect endings immediately after the root-
form are known as regular verbs. For example, the verb ‘/kha-/’ forms its past tense / perfect
form by adding the respective suffix after its stem/root form i.e. ‘/ kha/+ suffix.’
On the contrary, some verbs form their past tense/ perfect forms by adding the
respective suffixes not to their root forms but to their allomorphic base form. Such verbs are
called irregular verbs. For example, the verb ‘/kar-/’ forms its past tense / perfect form by
adding the respective suffix to its base form. The base form of the root verb ‘/kar-/’ is ‘/ke-/.’
Thus, its past tense/ perfect form is ‘/ke-/ + suffix.’
3.1.4 Personal vs. Impersonal Verbs
Verbs are also classified according to whether they have a personal noun as the
subject or not. The verbs which have a personal noun as the subject are called personal
verbs. For example / āwadane/ (like) as in
(80) malaa paor} AavaDtaata.

malā peru: āwadatāt
(Meaning: I like guavas.)
On the contrary, the verbs which do not have a personal noun as theirsubject are
called impersonal verbs. Most of the impersonal verbs are intransitive verbs as well.
For example, /vāḷ /as in
(81) k paDo vaaLtaAahota.

kapade vāḷat āhet
(Meaning: The clothes are drying.)
3.1.5 Stative vs. Dynamic Verbs
As observed in English, all verbs in Marathi do not show action. There are some verbs
which show the state and not the action of the subject. On this basis, verbs are divided into
dynamic and stative verbs. The examples of dynamic verbs are /mār-/, /kar-/ etc. whereas the
examples of the stative verbs in Marathi are /as/, /hot/ etc.
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3.1.6 Anomalous Verbs
The verbs that break the agreement rules are called anomalous (vidhibhanjak) verbs.
For instance, in the past tense or the perfect aspect an intransitive verb agrees with the subject
and a transitive verb agrees with the direct object. But, some verbs violate this rule. For
example,
(82) (a) taoa gaaNMa gaayalaa.

to gāṇə gāyəlā
(Meaning: He sang a song.)
(b) taI gaaNaM gaayalaI.
tī gāṇa gāyalī
(Meaning: She sang a song.)
3.1.7 Sadhit Verbs
The verbs that are derived from other nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs are called
sadhit verbs in Marathi. For example,
(83) maI naohmaI k mpyauTr hataaLtoa.

mī nehamī kampyu:tar hātāḷate
(Meaning: I always use a computer.)
In the above example, the verb ‘/hātāḷ /’ is derived from the noun ‘/hāt/’ and hence is
a sadhit verb.
Sadhit verbs can also be realized in terms of shakya (potential) verbs. Here, the
meaning is such that the subject is capable of doing the action shown by the verb. For
example,
(84) malaa paaca ik laoamaITr caalavatoa.

malā pāts kilomītar tsālavate
(Meaning: I can walk for five kilometers.)
3.2 Concepts Related to the Verb Phrase in Marathi
Marathi, like many other Indian languages, is a verb final language, i.e., it follows
SOV sentence structure. The verb is usually placed at the end of the sentence. As discussed
earlier, the verb stem/root often undergoes morphophonemic changes and transformed into its
base form before it is inflected for tense, aspect and mood. Then the verb stem/baseis
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inflected first for gender and then for number and person. Thus, the verb can be formally
marked for person, gender and number. The following distinctions of person, gender and
number exist in Marathi.
Person: Marathi has three distinctions of person, viz., first person, second person and third
person.
Gender: Three gender distinctions are realized in Marathi, viz., masculine (M), feminine (F)
and neuter (N).
Number: Marathi exhibits two distinctions of number, viz., singular and plural.
The verb construction in a sentence is of two types, viz., unitary and participle. In a
unitary construction all the information about the action is expressed by a single verb. On the
contrary, a participle construction consists of a participle along with the auxiliary. The verb
phrase in Marathi consists of minimum one verb and maximum three verbs. It shows
morphological contrasts of tense, aspect, and mood (TAM). These grammatical categories
are often studied under the heading of ‘Aakhyaata theory’ in Marathi grammar. Aakhyaata is
realized through aakhyaata pratyaya (suffixes).Furthermore, the verb phrase is inflected to
contain information about gender, tense, aspectand number of some of its arguments (subject
and object).The concord suffixes are added after the aakhyaata suffixes. It can be shown as
‘verb + aakhyaata suffix + concord suffix.’
According to Pandharipande (1997), the tense, aspect and mood system of Marathi is
extremely complex due to the following reasons.
1. Tense and aspect markers are often conflated.
2. Many explicator verbs carry the function of tense/aspect markers.
3. Time reference is always not indicated by the tense suffixes on the verb in the same
clause.
3.2.1 Finite Verb Phrase vs Non-finite Verb Phrase
Like English, the distinction of finite and non-finite verbs exists in Marathi as well. A
finite verb is a verb that carries tense, i.e., it is used as the verb element in the sentence
structure. It carries inflections of tense, aspect, mood, gender, person and number.
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A finite verb phrase consists of one or more verbs. If the finite verb phrase consists of
only one verb, it is a finite verb. For example,
(85) samaIr SaaLota goalaa.

samīr śāḷet gelā
(Meaning: Sameer went to school.)
Here, the sentence consists of only verb ‘/gelā/.’ It is the finite verb phrase indicating
the past tense.
A non-finite verb does not function as the verb element in a sentence. It does not
indicate tense. The non-finite verb is called dhatusadhit or krudanta in Marathi. The non-
finite verbs in Marathi are made by adding suffixes like ‘–ne’, ‘-t’, ‘-ta’, ‘-tana’, ‘-u’, ‘-un’
and ‘–we’ to the base form of the verb. The non-finite verbs or krudantas are formed in
Marathi when these derivational morphemes are affixed to the verbal roots in order to derive
nouns, adjectives or adverbs. The non-finite verbs can be classified as per the functions they
perform in a sentence.
 Nouns derived from verbs
For example, rD - rDNao.
 Adjectives derived from verbs
For example, gaa - gaaNaara
 Adverbs derived from verbs
For example, vaaca - vaacataanaa
The non-finite verb phrase can consist of one or more verbs.
For example,
(86) tyaacao baaolaNao malaa KaUpa AavaDlao.

tyātSe bolṇe malā khu:p āvadale/
(Meaning: I liked the way he talked.)
In the above example, ‘/bolṇe/’ is a non-finite verb phrase which functions as a noun.
On the contrary, the verb phrase ‘/āvadale/’ is a finite verb phrase indicating the past tense.
Thus, a non-finite verb phrase is obtained by affixing the derivational morphemes to the verb
root thereby changing the word class of the original word from a verb to a noun, adjective or
adverb.
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3.2.2 Tense System in Marathi
Tense is a grammatical category which is used to refer the location of an action in

time. It is formally marked in Marathi by a suffix (pratyaya) which immediately follows the
verb stem / base and precedes all other concord suffixes. The agreement markers for gender,
person and number are different in different tenses.
According to Pandharipande (1997:407) ‘there is not always a correlation between the

morphological tense forms and the time reference indicated by them.’ For instance, it is
possible to use the present and the past tense forms to indicate past time. For example,
(87) yaaoigataa mhNaalaI k I taI raoja AByaasa k rtao. .

yogitā mhanālī kī tī rodz abyās karate
(Meaning: Yogita said that she studies every day.)
In the above sentence, both the main and the subordinate clauses refer to past time
although morphologically the subordinate clause is in the present tense.
Marathi language morphologically distinguishes three tenses, viz., present, past and
future. Usually, the tense suffix is attached to the root/stem form or the base form of the verb.
Then it is followed by the concord suffix. For example, /bas/ + present tense suffix + concord
suffix (second person singular masculine) is /bastos/. The structure of verbs in all the three
tenses for the third person singular masculine subject can be shown as follow.
Tense Tense Structure Example Example

Sufffix (Regular (Irregular
verbs) verbs)
E.g. /nats/ Eg. /ye/
Present -t Vstem + t + concord suffix nātsto yeto
Past -l Vstem / base + l + concord suffix nātslā ālā
Future Vowel + l/n Vstem + l/n+ concord suffix nātsil / nātsel yeil
Table 3.1: Tense System in Marathi
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The auxiliary verb ‘as’ (Meaning: to be) enjoys special importance in Marathi. It can
either function as an independent verb or as a constituent in a verbal construction. It has a full
range of tenses. The negative counterpart of ‘as’ is ‘nas.’
The present tense forms of the verb ‘as’ are given below
Person Singular Plural
1 āhe āhot
2 āhes āhāt
3 āhe āhet
Figure 3.2: The Present Tense of ‘as’
The present tense forms of the auxiliary ‘/nas/’ are as follow
1 nāhi nāhi
2 nāhis nāhi
3 nāhi nāhit
Figure 3.3: The Present Tense of ‘nas’
The stem of the past affirmative of ‘/as/’ is ‘/hot/’ and ‘/nas/’is ‘/navt/’. Their past tense
endings are as follows
M F N M F N
1 o e - o o -
2 ās is - ā(t) ā(t) -
3 ā i ə: e yā i
Table 3.4: The Past Tense Endings of ‘hot’
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The future tense endings of the auxiliaries ‘/as/’ and ‘/nas/’ are as follow
1 en/el u
2 sil āl
3 el ti
Table 3.5: The Future Tense Endingsof ‘as’ and ‘nas’
3.2.2.1 The Present Tense in Marathi
The present tense, as the name indicates, is the form of the verb used to locate the
situation in the present time.
3.2.2.1.1 The Form of the Present Tense in Marathi
The present tense in Marathi is expressed by the suffix ‘/-t /’. The suffix ‘/-t /’ is
attached to the verb stem and precedes person, number and gender suffixes. All the verbs in
Marathi take their simple present tense endings in the following form-
Stem + t + __________.
The present tense endings of the verbs after adding the suffix ‘/-t/’ are as follows.
Person M F N Plural
1 o e - o
2 os es - ā
3 o e a āt
Table 3.6: The Present Tense Endings of the Verbs
In the present tense, the endings of the first person singular, first person plural and
third person masculine are homophonous. Furthermore, the first person and third person
feminine forms are also syncretized. The verb agrees in gender in the singular masculine and
feminine in the first and second person and all three genders in the third person.
For example, the simple present tense paradigm of the verb ‘kər’ (Meaning: to do) is as
follow
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Person M F N Plural
1 karto karte - karto
2 kartos kartes - kartā
2 karto karte karta kartāt
3.2.2.1.2 The Functions of the Present Tense in Marathi
Like English, there is not always a correlation between morphological tense form and
the time reference indicated by it in Marathi as well. The morphological form “Verb stem + t
+ concord suffix’ of the present tense is used to denote the following meanings in Marathi.
1. Present Truth/ Universal Truth
The present tense form of the verb is used to express the meaning of the present truth and
universal truth in Marathi.
For example,
(88) taI yaaogaa iSak vatao.

tī yogā śikavate
(Meaning: She teaches yoga.)
(89) ku ~aI BMauk taata.
kutrī bhunkatāt
(Meaning: Dogs bark.)
2. Habits in the Present Time
The present tense form of the verb is also used to denote the meaning of present
habitual actions in Marathi.Bernsten and Nimbkar (1975) discuss this function of present
tense under the heading ‘imperfect A.’
For example,
(90) maI raoja vyaayaama k rtaao.

mī rodz vyāyām karto
(Meaning: I exercise every day.)
(91) AamhI raoja baagaota caalaayalaa jaataao.
āmhī rodz bāget tsālāyalā dzāto
(Meaning: We go for walking in the garden every day.)
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3. Immediate Future
The present tense of the verb is used for an activity that is to happen in immediate
future in a conversational situation.
For example,
(92) taara : taU Aattaa k aya k rSaIla?

maInaa: maI Aattaa AByaasa k rtao.
tārā: tu: āttā kāy karśīl?
mīnā : mī āttā abhyās karate
(Meaning: Tara: What will you do now?
Meena: I will study now)
4. Historical Reference
The simple present may also be used in stories for the purpose of narration.
For example,
(93) maga rajaku maarI raajaku maaralaa BaoTayalaa jaatao.

mag rādʒkumārī rādʒkumarālā bhetāyalā dzāte
(Meaning: Then the princess goes to meet the prince.)
3.2.2.2 The Past Tense in Marathi
The past tense is usually used to express an event that refers to past time in Marathi,
i.e., the morphological form of the simple past tense is used to denote an event prior to the
time of utterance.
3.2.2.2.1 The Form of the Past Tense in Marathi
The past tense in Marathi is expressed by the suffix ‘/-l /’. The suffix ‘/-l /’ is attached
to the verb stem / base and precedes person, number and gender suffixes. All the verbs in
Marathi take their simple past tense endings in the following form-
Verb stem / Base + l + ____________
If the verb is regular, it immediately attaches the past tense suffix ‘/-l /’after the verb
stem whereas if the verb is irregular it changes the verb stem into its base form before
attaching the past tense suffix.
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For example,
Regular verb ‘/ bas /’
Structure Verb stem + past tense suffix + concord suffix
/bas-/ + -l + - ā (third person singular masculine)  /baslā / (basalaa)
Irregular verb ‘/ dzā /’
Structure Verb base + past tense suffix + concord suffix
/ge-/ + -l + - ā (third person singular masculine)  /gelā / (gaolaa)
Thus, the verb stems of irregular verbs change before taking the perfect / past tense
suffix ‘l.’ Some of the examples of such irregular verbs in Marathi are as follow.
Verb stem/root Base form
kar (Meaning: do) ke-
dza (Meaning: go) ge-
ye (Meaning: come) ā-
de (Meaning: give) di-
ghāl (Meaning: wear) ghāt-
There are no rules for these morphophonemic changes. However, some of the
phonetic changes in the following verb stems can be given as below.
V  V-it For example, ‘māg’ (Meaning: ask)
V  V-t For example, ‘ghe’ (Meaning: take)
V  V-a For example, ‘nigh’ (Meaning: start going)
V  V-i For example, ‘pāh’ (Meaning: see)
V  V-y For example, ‘gā’ (Meaning: sing)
In Marathi, the rules regarding the past/ perfect endings depend on whether the verb is
transitive or intransitive. In case of the intransitive and special transitive verbs, the verb
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endings agree with the subject and in case of the transitive verbs, the verb endings agree with
the direct object. The process of converting a verb into the past tense / perfect aspect involves
the following steps:
a. The transitive verbs (with some exceptions) agree with the object. In such
sentences the subject is in instrumental case.
b. The intransitive verbs and special transitive verbs agree with the subject.
The past tense endings of the verbs after adding the suffix ‘/-l/’ are as follows.
a)Intransitive and special transitive verbs
M F N M F N
1 o e - o o -
2 ās īs - ā (t) ā (t) -
3 ā ī a* e ya ī
Table 3.7: The Past Tense Endings of the Intransitive and Special Transitive Verbs
For example,
(94) (a) maI Aalaao . (Masculine)

mī ālo
(Meaning: I came.)
(b) maI Aalaoo. (Feminine)
mī āle
(Meaning: I came.)
b) Transitive verbs
M F N
Singular ā ī a:/e
Plural e ā ī
Table 3.8: The Past Tense Transitive Verbs
For example,
(95) (a) maI AMabaa Kaallaa. (Singular)
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mī āmbā khāllā
(Meaning: I ate a mango.)
(b) maI AMabao Kaallao . (Plural)
mī āmbe khālle
(Meaning: I ate some mangoes.)
3.2.2.2.2 The Functions of the Past Tense in Marathi
The morphological form “Verb stem/base + l + concord suffix” of the simple past
tense is used to denote the following meanings in Marathi.
1. Action completed in the past
The past tense is used to refer to an action /event happened prior to the time of utterance.
For example,
(96) taoa SaaLota gaolaa.

to śāḷet gelā
(M Meaning: He went to home.)
2. To refer to habitual actions in the past
The past tense can also be used to refer to habitual beaviour in the past.
For example,
(97) maI SaaLota Asataanaa raoja AByaasa ko laa.

mī śāḷet astānā rodz abhyās kelā
(Meaning: I studied everyday when I was in school.)
3.2.2.3 The Future Tense in Marathi
The future tense is usually used to express an event that refers to future time in
Marathi. The morphological form of the future tense is used to refer to an event after the time
of utterance.
3.2.2.3.1 The Form of the Future Tense in Marathi
The future tense in Marathi is expressed by a set of future endings. The future is a
unitary verbal construction. It consists of the verb stem and a set of personal endings. The
future tense endings in Marathi are as follow
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1 in/en u
2 shil āl
3 il/el til
Table 3.9: The Future Tense Endings
It is to be noted that there are no gender distinctions in this paradigm. The verb in the
future tense is infected only for person and number. For example, the simple future tense
paradigm of the verb ‘kər’ (Meaning: to do) is as follow
1 karin/karen karu
2 karshil karāl
3 karil/karel kartil
However, the stems with a final vowel sound do not take the ‘en’ suffix in the first
person singular form and ‘el’ suffix in the third person singular form. For example, ‘dzā’
(Meaning: go), ‘gā’ (Meaning: sing), ‘pi’ (Meaning: drink), ‘de’ (Meaning: give) etc. The
simple future tense paradigm of the verb ‘gā’ (Meaning: sing) is as follow
1 gāin gāu
2 gāshil gāl
3 gāil gātil
3.2.2.3.2 The Functions of the Future Tense in Marathi
The morphological form of the future tense is used to refer to an activity in future
time. According to Marathe (1972:6), “The basic reference in this tense configuration is
always to a point of time succeeding the time of utterance.” However, it may also express
some ‘modal meanings’ like ‘expectation’, ‘intention’ etc.
1. Future Action
The future tense is used for future action. However, it is less imminent or more remote.
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For example,
(98) maI taulaa {dyaa BaoTona.

mī tulā udyā bheten
(Meaning: I will meet you tomorrow.)
(99) tao Gar ivak taIla.
te ghar wiktil
(They will sell the house.)
2. Request
The future tense can be used to make a polite request using a yes-no question.
For example,
(100) taU malaa madta k rSaIla k a?

tu malā madat karshil kā
(Meaning: Will you help me?)
3.2.3 Aspect System in Marathi
As already discussed in the previous chapter, tense and aspect are two different
grammatical categories related to the verb phrase. Tense refers to the time of the action,
whereas aspect refers to the way we view the action. Bernsten and Nimbkar (1975:55) assert
‘in aspect we have the verbal equivalent of the cameraman’s technique. A verbal
construction combining information about both aspect and tense enables the speaker to
convey the exact nuances he wants to emphasize in regard to a particular action.’ Thus, the
aspect can be compared to the cameraman’s technique in a movie to show an action. Bernsten
and Nimbkar (1975) take an example of a horse jumping over a fence. One way is to show
the action as a complete unit. Another way is to show the action in progress. And the third
way is to show the same action many times to suggest repetition.
The major aspectual contrasts shown in Marathi language are Perfect (purna),
Progressive (chalu) and Habitual (riti). However, Bernsten and Nimbkar (1982) discuss the
various forms used to denote habitual aspect under the heading ‘Imperfect A.’ Furthermore,
they use the term ‘Imperfect B’ for the progressive aspect construction. The tense and aspect
categories in Marathi are combined in various ways. Marathi language allows the following
combinations – present perfect, present progressive, present habitual, past perfect, past
progressive, past habitual, future perfect, future progressive and future habitual. In all these
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combinations, the whole verb phrase i.e. the mainverb followed by an auxiliary shows aspect
whereas the tense is marked on the auxiliary verb.
In addition to the abovementioned aspects, Marathi also shows other aspectual

contrasts such as prospective, ingressive, terminative, iterative, semelfactive, punctual,
durative and simultaneous aspects.
3.2.3.1 The Perfect Aspect in Marathi
The perfect aspect is expressed by ‘verb + -l suffix’ followed by the appropriate form
of the auxiliary ‘/ as /.’ It represents a completed activity. For example,
(101) (a) maI k ama ko la/ ko loala Aaho. (Present perfect)

mī kām kela /kelela āhe
(Meaning: I have worked.)
(b) maI k ama ko la/ ko loala haota. (Past perfect)
mī kām kela / kelela hota
(Meaning: I had worked.)
(c) maI k ama ko la/ ko loala Asaona. (Future perfect)
mī kām kela / kelela asel/n
(Meaning: I will have worked.)
Pandharipande (1997:415) opines that the perfect aspect in Marathi ‘indicates
completion of an action or the resultant state.’ Marathi is morphologically more complex than
English. It is more inflected as compared to English. The perfect aspect is no exception to this
characteristic of Marathi. The formal and functional features of the perfect aspect in Marathi
are given below.
3.2.3.1.1 The Form of the Perfect Aspect in Marathi
The perfect aspect in Marathi is marked by the suffix (pratyaya) ‘/-l /’. Thus, the past
tense and perfect suffixes are homophonous in Marathi. As discussed earlier, it is one of the
characteristics of Indi-Aryan languages to have homophonous suffixes for tense and aspect.
As discussed in section 3.2.2.2.1, the regular verbs attach the perfect suffix‘/-l /’immediately
after their stem forms whereas the irregular verbs are transformed into their base forms before
affixing the perfect suffix. Thus, the suffix ‘/-l /’ is attached to the verb stem/base and
precedes person, number and gender suffixes. It is followed by the auxiliary ‘/əs/’ (Meaning:
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‘to be’). Both these verb forms together express the perfect aspect in Marathi. It can be shown
as
‘V –l-E perf Aux’
Here ‘E perf ’ stands for the set of perfect endings. The combination of tense and aspect also
exists in Marathi. Various tense forms of ‘/əs/’ express the perfect aspect in different tenses
i.e. present, past and future.
As discussed earlier, the rules regarding the perfect endings in Marathi depend on
whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. In case of the intransitive and special transitive
verbs, the verb endings agree with the subject and in case of the transitive verbs, the verb
endings agree with the object. The process of converting a verb into the perfect aspect
involves the following steps:
a. The transitive verbs (with some exceptions) agree with the object. The subject
is in instrumental case in such sentences.
b. The intransitive verbs and special transitive verbs agree with the subject.
The perfect endings of the verbs after adding the suffix ‘/-l/’ are as follows.
a)Intransitive and special transitive verbs
M F N M F N
1 o e - - o -
2 ā ī - - ā -
3 ā ī a: e yā ī
Table 3.10: The Perfect Endings of the Intransitive and Special Transitive Verbs
For example,
(102) (a) maI Aalaao Aaho. (Masculine)

mī ālo āhe
(Meaning: I have come.)
(b) maI Aalao Aaho . (Feminine)
mī āle āhe
(Meaning: I have come.)
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(c) AamhI Aalaao Aahaota / Aaho.

āmhī ālo āhot / āhe
(Meaning: We have come)
b) Transitive verbs
M F N
Singular ā ī a:/e
Plural e ā ī
Table 3.11: The Perfect Endings of the Transitive Verbs
For example,
(103) (a) maI AaMbaa AaNalaa.

mī āmbā āṇalā
(Meaning: I brought a mongo.)
(b) maI AaMbao AaNalao.
mī āmbe āṇale
(Meaning: I brought the mangoes.)
(c) maI vahI AaNalaI.
mī vahī āṇalī
(Meaning: I brought a notebook.)
(d) maI vahyaa AaNalyaa.
mī vahyā ānalyā
(Meaning: I brought the notebooks.)
(e) maI paustak AaNalaM.
mī pustak ānalya
(Meaning: I brought a book,)
(f) maI paustako AaNalaI.
mī pustake ānalī
(Meaning: I brought the books.)
As discussed earlier, the perfect verb endings agree with the direct object and the
subject is usually in the instrumental case. The singular instrumental postposition is ‘ne’, ‘ni’
or ‘nə’ and the plural postposition is ‘ni’ When the third person noun or pronoun is used as
the subject in a perfect construction, the instrumental postposition is added to the respective
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noun or pronoun. However, the instrumental postposition is not used in case of the first and
second person pronouns. Like other postpositions, the instrumental postposition requires the
preceding noun to be in the oblique from. However, if the subject is plural, the oblique form
must have an anuswar. For example,
Subject Instrumental
maI maI
AamhI AamhI
taU taU
taumhI taumhI
taao, tao tyaanao , tyaanaI, tyaanaM
taI itanao, itanaI, itanaM
rama ramanao, ramanaI, ramanaM
tao, tyaa, taI tyaaMnaI
However, when the subject is in the second person singular, the main verb agrees with
the direct object and the auxiliary agrees with the subject. In all other cases, the auxiliary
agrees with the direct object. For example,
(104) (a) maI maasaa AaNalaa Aaho.

mī māsā ānalā āhe
(Meaning: I have brought a fish.)
(b) maI maasao AaNalao Aahota.
mī māse ānale āhet
(Meaning: I have brought some fish.)
(c) taU maasaa AaNalaa Aahosa.
tu: māsā ānalā āhes
(Meaning: You have brought a fish.)
(d) taU maasao AaNalao Aahosa.
tu: māse ānale āhes
(Meaning: You have brought some fish.)
If the verb in the sentence is a transitive verb and the direct object is a person, the
postposition ‘la’ is affixed to the noun representing the person. This transforms the direct
object into an indirect object and the perfect verb takes the neuter singular endings. For
example,
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(105) tyaanao yaaogaoSalaa saaMigatalMa.

tyāne yogeślā sāngitala
(Meaning: He told Yogesh.)
The negative form of the auxiliary ‘/as/’ is ‘/nas/.’ The forms of the auxiliaries ‘/as/’
and ‘/nas/’ are used in all tenses (Refer to section 3.2.2 on tenses in Marathi). Thus, the forms
of the auxiliaries express tense, whereas the combination of the suffixed verb and the
auxiliary express aspect.
For example,
(106) (a) Present perfect

taara naaTk alaa gaolaI Aaho.
tārā nātakālā gelī āhe
(Meaning: Tara has gone to watch a play.)
(b) Past perfect
taara naaTk alaa gaolaI haotaI.
tārā nātakālā gelī hotī
(Meaning: Tara had gone to watch a play.)
(c) Future perfect
taara naaTk alaa gaolaI Asaona.
tārā nātakālā gelī asen
(Meaning: Tara will have gone to watch a play.)
The form of the perfect aspect discussed above is similar to the form of the perfect
aspect in other Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi and Punjabi. However, the perfect aspect
in Marathi is also expressed in Marathi by using the form of the perfect participle similar to
the form in Kannada. Pandharipande (1997) expresses a similar view. Some grammarians
also call it pluperfect or second perfective. It is marked by the suffix ‘-lel.’ For example,
(107) (a) taao baajaarata gaolaa Aaho . (Indo-Aryan feature)

to bādzārāt gelā āhe
(Meaning: He has gone to the market.)
(b) taao baajaarata gaolaolaa Aaho . (Dravidian feature)
to bādzārāt gelelā āhe
(Meaning: He has gone to the market.)
Thus, the past tense and perfect forms are syncretized in the first person and the third
person. When the subject is in the first or third person if the verb marked with –l and other
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agreement suffixes is not followed by any auxiliary verb, it expresses the past tense in
Marathi. Dhongade and Wali (2009:89) also assert, “The perfective aspect without an AUX is
like the English simple past tense while with an AUX it is a perfect more or less in the
English sense.”
The perfect and the progressive aspects are blended in Marathi to form the perfect
progressive form. The perfect progressive aspect fuses the forms and functions of the perfect
and the progressive aspects together. However, this use in infrequent in Marathi. For
example,
(108) taI lahanapaNaapaasaUna Toinasa KaoLta AalaolaI Aaho.

tī lahānpanāpāsu:n tenis kheḷat āleli: āhe
(Meaning: She has been playing tennis since her childhood.)
Contraction is a special feature observed in spoken language. When the perfect aspect
is used with the present auxiliaryin informal speech, it is contracted. In Marathi perfect
construction, the main verb gets contracted with the auxiliary verb while speaking. For
example,
(109) taao gaolaa Aaaho. (Uncontracted form)

to gelā ahe
taao gaolaaya. (Contracted form)
to gelāy
(Meaning: He has gone.)
3.2.3.1.2 The Functions of the Perfect Aspect in Marathi
The semantic features of the perfect aspect in Marathi are as follow.
1) Perfect of result
The present perfect is used to indicate that some activity happened in the past and its
result is seen now. According to Bernsten.and Nimbkar (1982:370), ‘It gives the completed
action present relevance.’
For example,
(110) maI f rSaI pausalaI Aaho

/mī pharaśī puslī āhe /
(Meaning: I have mopped the floor.)
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2) Completed Action
The most important function of the perfect aspect is to represent a completed action in past,
present or future. The perfect participle can be combined with the present, past and future
forms of the auxiliary.
For example,
(111) (a) taI SaaLota gaolaI Aaho.

tī śāḷet gelī āhe
(Meaning: She has gone to school.)
(b) taI SaaLota gaolaI haotaI.
tī śāḷet gelī hotī
(Meaning: She had gone to school.)
(c) taI SaaLota gaolaI Asaola.
tī śāḷet gelī asel
(Meaning: She will have gone to school.)
3) Perfect of experience
The perfect aspect is also used to say that the activity shown by the verb has taken
place at least once in the period leading up to the reference point. For example,
(112) (a) maI ek da gaaovyaalaa gaolaI Aaho .

mī ekdā govyālā gelī āhe
(Meaning: I have been to Goa once.)
(b) maaJyaa AajaIonao daonada BaUta paihlao haotoa.
mādʒhyā ādʒīne donadā bhu:t pāhīle hote
(Meaning: My grandmother had seen ghost twice.)
4) Perfect of persistent situation
The perfect aspect is used in Marathi for an activity that began at a prior point of time
and continues up to a later point of time. For example,
(113) (a) taI daona vaajalyaapaasaUna paustak vaacata basalaI Aaho.

tī don vādzalyāpāsu:n pustak vātsat basəlī āhe
(Meaning: She has been reading the book since 2 o’clock.)
(b) maI gaolaI dha vaYao- iSak vata AalaolaI Aaho.
mī gelī dahā varṣe sikwət ālelī āhe
(Meaning: I have been teaching for ten years.)
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Here, it seems that the progressive aspect and the perfect aspect are combined to give the
precise description of the action. Bernsten and Nimbkar (1982) also refer to such occasional
combination of aspects, which is not a usual feature of Marathi.
5) Perfect of recent past
The present perfect is often used to talk about activities that have been completed
recently. The adverbs such as ‘nuktəc’ and ‘attac’ (Meaning: just) are used in such sentences.
For example,
(114) (a) maI nauk taca jaovaNa ko laM Aaho .

mī nuktats dʒevan kela āhe
(Meaning: I have just had lunch.)
(115) (b) taI Aattaaca baahor gaolaI Aaho .
tī āttāts bāher gelī āhe
(Meaning: She has just gone out.)
6) Past in the Past
The past perfect is often used for a completed action that follows another action in the past. It
is similar to the past-in-the-past function of the English past perfect.
For example,
(116) maI GarI paaocalao taovha taao gaolaolaa haotaa.

mī gharī potsle tevhā to gelelā hotā
(Meaning: When I reached home, he had gone.)
According to Bernsten and Nimbkar(1982), the past perfect in Marathi is also used to open
a discourse in the past. For example,
(117) rama : maI k ala ipa@carlaa goalaao haotaoa. (Past perfect) rām: mī kāl piktSaralā gelo hoto
(Meaning: Ram: I went for a movie yesterday.)
rmaoSa : k saa haotaa ipa@car?(Simple past) rameś : kasā hotā piktSar?
(Meaning: Ramesh: How was the movie?)
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Nowadays there is a trend among people to use the past participle instead of the past
perfect construction. For example,
(118) (a) maI taIlaa k ala inaraopa dIlaa haotaa.

mī tīlā kāl nirop dīlā hotā
(Meaning: I gave her the message yesterday.)
(b) maI taIlaa k ala inaraopa dIlaolaa.
mī tīlā kāl nirop dīlelā
(Meaning: I gave her the message yesterday.)
In the above sentences, there is a trend to use ‘/dīlelā /’ instead of / dīlā hotā /. This is a
modern trait. It is basically a spoken expression. There is a tendency to drop the auxiliary and
use past participle of the verb instead of the past perfect construction.
3.2 The Progressive Aspect in Marathi
The progressive aspect, as the name suggests, refers to an ongoing activity. Bernsten
and Nimbkar (1982) discuss this aspect under the heading ‘Imperfect B.’ The syntactic and
semantic features of the progressive aspect in Marathi are as follow.
3.2.3.2.1 The Form of the Progressive Aspect in Marathi
The progressive aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by anappropriate form

of the auxiliary ‘as.’ All the verbs in Marathi form their progressive aspect using the formula
‘Verb stem + t + Aux’
Sometimes the vowel /i:/ may be attached to the verb before adding the /t/ suffix
while forming the progressive construction in Marathi. For example,
Stem Progressive participle
kar karīt / karat
shikav shikavīt / shikavat
It is to be noted that the auxiliary ‘əs’ in the progressive construction can be in the present,
past or future tense. It represents an ongoing activity. For example,
(119) (a) maI k ama k rta Aaho. (Present Progressive)
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mī kām karat āhe

(Meaning: I am working.)
(b) maI k ama k rta haotao. (Past Progressive)
mī kām karat hote
(Meaning: I was working.)
(c) maI k ama k rta Asaona. (Future Progressive)
mī kām karat asen
(Meaning: I will be working.)
3.2.3.2.2 The Functions of the Progressive Aspect in Marathi
The semantic features of the perfect aspect in Marathi are given as follows.
1) Action happening in the present time
The morphological form “Verb + t + Aux” of the progressive aspect in Marathi refers to an
ongoing activity in the present time Marathi.
For example,
(120) taI gaaNaM gaata Aaho.
tī gāṇa gāt āhe
(Meaning: She is singing a song.)
2) Persistent Situation
To express that an action started at a prior point of time and is continuing up to the later point
of time, Marathi speakers usually use the progressive aspect.
For example,
(121) (a) taI daona vaajalyaapasaUna tyaacaI vaaT pahata Aaho.

tī don wādzalyāpāsu:n tyātSī vāt pahāt āhe
(Meaning: She has been wating for him since two o’clock.)
(b) maI caar vaYaa-MpaasaUna iSakvata Aaho.
tī tSār warṣānpāsu:n śikvat āhe
(Meaning: I have been teaching for four years.)
Sometimes the perfect and the progressive aspects are combined in order to emphasize
continuity. For example,
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(122) (a) taI daona vaajalyaapasaUna tyaacaI vaaT pahata basalaI Aaho.
tī don wādzalyāpāsu:n tyātSī vāt pahāt basalī āhe
(Meaning: She has been waiting for him since two o’clock.)
(b) maI caar vaYaa-MpaasaUna iSakvata AalaolaI Aaho.
tī tSār warṣānpāsu:n śikvat ālelī āhe
(Meaning: I have been teaching for four years.)
3.2.3.3 The Habitual Aspect in Marathi
The Habitual Aspect, as the name indicates, expresses the meaning of habitual
activities in the present, past or future time. The various grammatical forms that represent
habitually are discussed under the heading ‘Imperfect A’ by Bernsten and Nimbkar (1982).
As discussed in the section 3.2.2.1.2, the present tense is used for denoting habitual activities
in the present time. The past tense is used to express the meaning of past habituality. The
future tense is used to express habitual actions in the future time. However, some other forms
are also used to express habituality in Marathi.For example,
(123) (a) maI raoja k ama k rta Asatao. [Alternative form: maI raoja k ama k rtao.]
(Present Habitual)
mī rodz kām karat asate [Alternative form: mī rodz kām karate]
(Meaning: I work every day.)
(b) maI raoja k ama k rta Asao/k rayacao/k rI. (Past Habitual)
mī rodz kām karat ase / karāytSe / karī
(Meaning: I used to work / worked every day.)
(c) maI raoja k ama k rona /k rta jaa[-na. (Future Habitual)
mī rodz kām karen / karat dzāi:n
(Meaning: I will work every day.)
The various forms denoting habitual aspects in different tenses are given below.
3.2.3.3.1 Habitual Aspect in the present time
The following forms of verbs are used to express the meaning of habitual activities in the
present time.
1) The present tense is used to refer to present habit (See section 3.2.2.1).
For example,
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(124) maI raoja svayaMpaak k rtao.

mī rodz svayampāk karate
(Meaning: I cook every day.)
ii. The habitual aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by the appropriate form of the
auxiliary ‘as + t + Ehab .’ Here Ehab refers to the following present habitual endings attached to
the auxiliary.
M F N M F N
1 o e o o
2 os es ā ā
3 o e a āt āt āt
Table 3.12: The Habitual Endings in the Present Time
For example,
(125) maI raoja k ama k rta Asatao.
mī rodz kām karat asate
(Meaning: I am used to work every day / I work every day.)
3.2.3.3.2 Habitual Aspect in the Past Time
The past habitual is used to refer to a habitual action in the past time. The English
equivalent of these constructions is ‘used to + base form of the verb.’ The past habitual is
grammatically realized using the following constructions in Marathi.
i. The past tense is used to refer to past habit (See section 3.2.2.2).
For example,
(126) maI maahorI Asataanaa raoja svayaMpaak ko laa.
mī māherī astānā rodz svayampāk kelā
(Meaning: I cooked every day when I was at my mothers’)
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ii. The habitual aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by the appropriate past tense
form of the auxiliary ‘as.’ The negative counterpart of the auxiliary ‘as’ is ‘nas.’ The habitual
endings of these auxiliaries are as follows
1 e u
2 as ā
3 e at
Table 3.13: The Habitual Endings in the Past Time 1
For example,
(127) maI raoja k ama k rta Asao.

mī rodz kām karat ase
(Meaning: I used to work every day.)
iii. The past habitual is also grammatically realized using the formula ‘V-aych-Eph.’ Here Eph
indicates the following past habitual suffixes.
M F N M F N
1 o e o o
2 ās is ā ā
3 ā i a e yā i
These habitual endings agree with the subject of the sentence. For example,
(128) maI raoja k ama k rayacao.

mī rodz kām karāytSe
iv. The verb structure ‘V-E hab’ is also used to express the meaning of past habitual in
Marathi. However, this use is not so common in speech. It is more used in written narration.
This use is restricted to the first and third person singular and third person plural. Here, E hab
stands for the following set of habitual endings.
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1 i, e -
2 - -
3 i, e t, a, it
For example,
(129) maI raoja k ama krI.

mī rodz kām karī
3.2.3.3.3 Habitual Aspect in the Future Time.
The following forms of verbs are used to express the meaning of habitual activities in
the future time.
i. The future tense is used to refer to future habit (See section 3.2.2.3).
For example,
(130) maI lagna Jaalyaavar raoja svayaMpaak k rona.

mī lagna dzhālyāvar rodz svayampāk karen
(Meaning: I will cook every day after marriage.)
ii. The habitual aspect is marked by ‘verb + -t suffix’ followed by the appropriate form of the
auxiliary ‘ja.’The future habitual endings for the auxiliary ‘dzā’ are as follow
1 in u
2 shil āl
3 il til
Table 3.16: The Habitual Endings in the Future Time
For example,
(131) maI raoja AByaasa k rta jaa[-na.

mī rodz abyās karat dzāin
(Meaning: I will study every day.)
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3.2.3.4 Other Aspects in Marathi
In addition to the abovementioned aspects, Marathi also shows other aspectual

contrasts such as prospective, ingressive, terminative, iterative, semelfactive, punctual,
durative and simultaneous aspects.
Bernsten and Nimbkar (1982) and Dhongade and Wali (2009) have discussed about
the prospective aspect in detail. It is expressed by the suffix ‘/ṇār /’.It is a participle
construction. The main verb is followed by the appropriate tensed form of the auxiliary /əs/.
The auxiliary can be in present, past or future tense. The form of the auxiliary is governed by
person and number (and in case of the past tense, by the gender) of the subject. The main
verb in the prospective aspect is never inflected for gender, number and person. It is roughly
equivalent to the ‘going to + verb’ construction in English.
When the prospective aspect is used with the present auxiliary, it expresses the
meaning of future. However, it expresses more certainty than the future tense (future with l/n
form). For example,
(132) maI {dyaa naagapaUrlaa jaaNaar Aaho.

mī udyā nāgpurlā dzaṇār āhe
(Meaning: I am going to go to Nagpur tomorrow.)
(133) taoa k ala malaa f aona k rNaar haotaa.
to malā kāl fo:n karṇār hotā
(Meaning: He was going to call me yesterday.)
The negative of the prospective is formed by the appropriate form of the auxiliary
/nəs/.
For example,
(134) taoa tao k rNaar naahI.

to te karṇār nahī
(Meaning: He is not going to do it.)
In spoken Marathi, the present auxiliary and prospective participle get contracted. For
example,
(135) taao yaoNaaraya.

to yeṇārāy
(Meaning: He is going to come.)
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The prospective participle used with the past auxiliary for an action that was felt
imminent in the past.
For example,
(136) taao yaoNaar hoataa.

to yeṇār hotā
(Meaning: He was going to come.)
The prospective participle is used with the future auxiliary for the presumption that
the action is imminent. For example,
(136) taU k rNaar AsaSaIla.

tu: karṇār asaśīl
(Meaning: I think you are going to do it.)
The prospective can be used without the auxiliary. This has the effect of leaving the
time of the action unspecified and of focusing on the action itself. For example,
(137) taao k QaI yaoNaar?

to kadhī yeṇār?
(Meaning: When is he going to come?)
3.2.4 Mood in Marathi
Sometimes the form of the verb expresses the attitude of the speaker such as request,
order, advice, wish and intention. Marathi expresses these meanings by suffixes, auxiliaries
or by the combination of both. When such meanings are reflected through the forms of verbs,
it is known as ‘mood’ (artha) in grammar. There are four basic moods in Marathi, viz.,
Swartha (indicative), Adnyartha (Imperative), Vidhyartha (Subjunctive) and Sanketartha
(Conditional).Marathi shares this feature of Indo-Aryan languages.
3.2.4.1 The Indicative Mood
The indicative mood (swartha) is used in Marathi in sentences which are statements of
facts. It is an unmarked mood. It expresses the basic meaning of the verb. It does not indicate
any additional meaning. The verb forms in all tenses are in the indicative mood.
For example,
(138) taI GarI gaolaI .

tī gharī gelī
(Meaning: She went home.)
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(139) sauroSa caaMgalaa gaataao.

sureś tsāngalā gāto
(Meaning: Suresh sings well.)
3.2.4.2 The Imperative Mood
The imperative mood (Adnyartha) is used in Marathi to express order, request,

blessing and advice. When the form of the verb expresses one of these meanings, it is said to
be in imperative mood. Thetraditional grammarians have accommodated requests for
permissionand questions seeking information using the first person in the imperative
category. Such sentences are usually interrogative sentences. One manifestations of this form
is by ‘verb root + u + kā’.
For example,
(140) maI Aata yao{] k a ?

mī āt yeu kā?
(Meaning: May I come in?)
This is equivalent to the ‘Yes-No Questions’ in English. Here the imperative sentence
is used to express meaning of a polite request. However, the imperative in the first person
can also be used to ask a question seeking specific information. This is equivalent to the ‘Wh-
Questions’ in English.
For example,
(141) (a) maI taIlaa ik taI vaajataa paaz{] ?

mī tīlā kitī vādzatā pāṭhau:?
(Meaning: What time shall I send her?)
(b) AamhI ku zo jaa{] ?
āmhī kuṭhe dzāu:?
(Meaning: Where should we go?)
The second person singular imperative form of the verb is the same as the verb stem.
However, the rising intonation of the sentence distinguishes it from the stem. It expresses the
meanings of order or request. The plural/polite form of the second person imperative verb is
marked by the suffix ‘ā.’ However, the verb stem may undergo some morphophonemic
changes before adding this suffix. For example,
Imperative Singular Imperative Plural/ Polite
kar karā
102
tsal tsalā
ye yā
bol bolā
ghe ghyā
For example,
(142) (a) SaaMta basa.

śānt bas
(Meaning: Keep quiet.)
(b) plaIja dar baMd kr.
plīdz dār banda kar /
(Meaning: Please close the door.)
(c) drraoja AByaasa kr .
dararodz abhyās kar
(Meaning: Study every day.)
The use of the imperative in the third person is very less frequent. When the
imperative form of the verb is used in the third person, it usually expresses the meaning of
blessings and prayers. The English equivalent of this form is “May N V.’
The formula for the third person imperative is V-Eimp.
Here V-Eimp. refers to the set of suffixes used for forming the third person imperative form of
the verb. These suffixes are as follow
Singular Plural
o ot
For example,
(143) (a) dova taulaa sauKaI zovaao.

dev tulā sukhī ṭhevo
(Meaning: May God keep you happy.)
(b) taoa bara haovaao.
to barā hovo
(Meaning: May he get well soon.)
Thus, the imperative mood pervades all three persons. In the first person it is used for
polite requests and questions. In the second person, it is used to express the meaning of
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order, command or request. In the third person, it denotes blessings, wishes or prayers. The
imperative forms of the verb /kər/ are as follow
1 karu karu
2 kar kara
3 karo karot
Table 3.17: The Imperative Form
3.2.4.3 The Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive mood (vidyartha) is used to express suggestion, prediction, wish and
obligation. It is also known as optative or hortative mood. The verbs form the subjunctive
form by using the formula ‘V-av-Esubjunct.’Here the Esubjunct refers to the following subjunctive
endings.
Singular Plural
M F N M F N
ā i a: e(t) yā (t) i(t)
Table 3.18: The Subjunctive Endings
However, some verbs undergo some morphophonemic changes before adding the subjunctive
suffixes. For example,
‘ye’ becomes ‘y’
‘pi’ becomes ‘py’
‘ne’ becomes ‘ny’
‘de’ becomes ‘dya’
The subjunctive form of the verb depends on whether the verb is intransitive or
transitive. If the verb is intransitive, the subjunctive endings agree with the subject. If there
is no subject, the verb is neuter singular form. On the contrary, if the verb is transitive, the
subjunctive endings agree with the direct object. If the sentence does not have a direct object,
the verb takes neuter singular form.
104
As discussed earlier, the subjunctive is used to convey the following meanings in

Marathi.
1. Suggestion /Obligation:
(144) lahanaManaI maaozyaMacao eok avao .
lahnānnī moṭhyāntSe aikāve/
(Meaning: Younger ones should listen to their elders.)
2. Wish/ Prediction
(145) maI hI parIXaa paasa vhavaI .
mī hī parīkśā pās vhāvī
(Meaning: I should pass this examination.)
3.2.4.4 The Conditional Mood
The conditional mood (sanketartha) expresses a condition. When one situation

depends on another situation, it expresses the conditional mood. It is a special type of relative
construction in which the first sentence is a condition of the second.
The most commonly used form for a conditional construction in Marathi is ‘jar S1 tar
S2’ (Meaning: If S1 then S2). The clauses in the conditional sentences are joined by the
conjunctions ‘jar..tar’ (Marathi equivalent for ‘if…then’). However, the use of the
conjunction ‘jar’ (Meaning: if) in the conditional/subordinate clause is optional. Marathi
speakers tend to delete it and use ‘tar’ (Meaning: then) in the main clause. According to
Dhongade & Wali (2009:104), “This happens because Marathi has a tendency to keep the
main clause at the end.”
In the ‘jar … tar’ construction, the verb in the conditional clause can be either in past
tense or in future tense. The main clause in both the cases is in the future tense. This is
equivalent to the first conditional in English. It expresses the meaning like ‘if a happens, b
will happen.’
For example,
(146) (a) jar taInao maohnata ko laI tar taIlaa yaSa imaLola.
jar tīne mehnat kelī tar tilā yaś miḷel
(Meaning: If she works hard, she will get success.)
(b) naItaa k ama k rola tar maI k ama k rona,
nītā kām karel tar mī kām karen
(If Nita works, I will work)
105
The conditional mood can also be expressed by the construction ‘gerund + conditional suffix
s.’ Here the verb in the conditional clause is a gerund followed by the suffix-s (V-lyas) and
the verb in the main clause in the future tense.
For example,
(147) (a) taI Aalyaasa maIhI yao[na.

tī alyās mī hī yein
(Meaning: If she comes, I will come.)
(b) taI AByaasa k rta Asalyaasa maI taIlaa {zvaNaar naahI.
tī abhyās karat asalyās mī tīlā uṭhavṇār nāhī
(Meaning: If she is studying, I will not disturb her.)
Some conditional sentences express the meaning of a hypothetical situation. It is equivalent

to the third conditional in English. It expresses the meaning like ‘if a had happened, b would
have happened.’ According to Dhongade & Wali (2009:102), “It expresses a Counter-
Factive state.” Bernsten and Nimbkar (1975) call it ‘the hypothetical conditional.’ The
conditional aspect is marked by the suffix ‘–t.’ The use of conditional with the auxiliary ‘as’
is more common than its use in the main verb. The auxiliary /as / is inflected for gender,
number and person. It agrees with the subject which is always in the nominative case. For
example,
(148) (jar) maI taIlaa saMaigatalao Asataoo tar taI AalaI AsataI.
(jar) mī tīlā sāngitale asate tar tī alī asatī
(Meaning: If I had told her, I would have come.)
3.3 Concluding Remarks
This chapter has elaborated on Marathi grammar in general and the verb phrase in
Marathi in particular. It proves that the verb element plays a very vital role in the sentence
construction of Marathi as well. The chapter has given an elaborate account of the concepts
related to the verb phrase such as tense, aspect and mood. The morphological and semantic
features of the tense, aspect and mood in Marathi are discussed in detail. It is interesting to
note that Marathi verb phrase also shows morphological contrasts of tense, aspect and mood
like many other languages in the world. The chapter also proves the inflectional characteristic
of Marathi language.
106
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The Verb Phrase in English and Marathi: A Comparative Study

THE VERB PHRASE IN MARATHI

3.0 Introductory Remarks

(77) (a) gaItaanao k ivataalaa maarlao,

a) The old Indo-Aryan feature of a morphologically related set of verbs (causatives)

b) The modern Indo-Aryan feature of compound verbs

c) Homophonous suffixes for expressing aspect and tense.

3.1 The Verb in Marathi

The verb is named ‘kriyapad’ in Marathi. ‘Kriyapad’ in Marathi means an action

3.1.1 Compound Verbs

(78) tyaanao AaMbaa Kaallaa Aaho.

3.1.2 Transitive Verbs vs. Intransitive Verbs

(to die) (to kill)

(to kill) (to cause to kill)

(79) (a) AamhI hsalaao.

3.1.3 Regular vs. Irregular Verbs

3.1.4 Personal vs. Impersonal Verbs

(80) malaa paor} AavaDtaata.

For example, /vāḷ /as in

(81) k paDo vaaLtaAahota.

3.1.5 Stative vs. Dynamic Verbs

3.1.6 Anomalous Verbs

(82) (a) taoa gaaNMa gaayalaa.

3.1.7 Sadhit Verbs

(83) maI naohmaI k mpyauTr hataaLtoa.

(84) malaa paaca ik laoamaITr caalavatoa.

3.2 Concepts Related to the Verb Phrase in Marathi

and neuter (N).

1. Tense and aspect markers are often conflated.

2. Many explicator verbs carry the function of tense/aspect markers.

3.2.1 Finite Verb Phrase vs Non-finite Verb Phrase

(85) samaIr SaaLota goalaa.

 Nouns derived from verbs

For example, rD - rDNao.

 Adjectives derived from verbs

For example, gaa - gaaNaara

 Adverbs derived from verbs

For example, vaaca - vaacataanaa

The non-finite verb phrase can consist of one or more verbs.

(86) tyaacao baaolaNao malaa KaUpa AavaDlao.

3.2.2 Tense System in Marathi

Tense is a grammatical category which is used to refer the location of an action in

According to Pandharipande (1997:407) ‘there is not always a correlation between the

(87) yaaoigataa mhNaalaI k I taI raoja AByaasa k rtao. .

Tense Tense Structure Example Example

E.g. /nats/ Eg. /ye/

Present -t Vstem + t + concord suffix nātsto yeto

Past -l Vstem / base + l + concord suffix nātslā ālā

Table 3.1: Tense System in Marathi

Person Singular Plural

Figure 3.2: The Present Tense of ‘as’

The present tense forms of the auxiliary ‘/nas/’ are as follow

Person Singular Plural

Figure 3.3: The Present Tense of ‘nas’

Person Singular Plural

Table 3.4: The Past Tense Endings of ‘hot’

Person Singular Plural

Table 3.5: The Future Tense Endingsof ‘as’ and ‘nas’

3.2.2.1 The Present Tense in Marathi

3.2.2.1.1 The Form of the Present Tense in Marathi

Table 3.6: The Present Tense Endings of the Verbs

1 karto karte - karto