Lesson I

A. Declension of Nouns ending in " a "

				Nara*,  m**. man
			SINGULAR		PLURAL
Nominative              naro***	                naraa
			a man, or the man 	men, or the men 
Accusative 		nara.m			nare
			a man, or the man 	men, or the men

				Terminations
			SINGULAR		PLURAL
Nominative 	        o			aa
Accusative 		.m			e

* In Paa.li nouns are declined according to the terminated 
  endings a, aa, i, ii, u, uu, and o. There are no nouns 
  ending in " e ". 
  All nouns ending in " a " are either in the masculine or 
  in the neuter gender.

** There are three, genders in Paa.li. As a rule males and 
   those things possessing male characteristics are in the 
   masculine gender, e.g., nara, man; suriya, sun; gaama, village. 
   Females and those things possessing female characteristics 
   are in the feminine gender, e.g., itthi, woman; gangaa, 
   river. Neutral nouns and most inanimate things are in the 
   neuter gender, e.g., phala, fruit; citta, mind. 

*** Nara + o = naro.  Nara + aa = naraa. 

   When two vowels come together either the preceding or the 
   following vowel is dropped. In this case the preceding 
   vowel is dropped.

Masculine Substantives :
Buddha 		The Enlightened One
Daaraka 	child
Dhamma 		Doctrine, Truth, Law 
Gaama 		village
Gha.ta 		pot, jar
Janaka 		father 
Odana 		rice, cooked rice
Putta 		son 
Suuda 		cook
Yaacaka 	beggar

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      B. Conjugation of Verbs

      PRESENT TENSE - ACTIVE VOICE

3rd person terminations
SINGULAR ti	PLURAL anti

paca = to cook
SING. 		So pacati*	he cooks, he is cooking
		Saa pacati	she cooks, she is cooking
PLU. 		Te pacanti, 	they cook, they are cooking

 * The verbs are often used alone without the corresponding 
   pronouns since the pronoun is implied by the termination.

Verbs :
Dhaavati* 	(dhaava) 	runs
Dhovati 	(dhova) 	washes
Vadati		(vada)		speaks, declares 
Vandati 	(vanda)	salutes 
Rakkhati 	(rakkha) 	protects

  * As there are seven conjugations in Paa.li which differ 
    according to the conjugational signs, the present tense 
    third person singulars of verbs are given. The roots are 
    given in brackets.

Illustrations*:

1. Suudo	pacati
   The cook 	is cooking

2. Suudaa	pacanti
   The cooks 	are cooking

3. Suudo 	odana.m		pacati
   The cook 	rice 		is cooking

4. Suudaa 	gha.te 		dhovanti
   The cooks 	pots 		are washing

* In Paa.li sentences, in plain language, the subject is placed first, the verb last, and the object before the verb.

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  Exercise 1-A

  TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH

1. Buddho vadati. 
2. Dhammo rakkhati. 
3. Saa dhovati. 
4. Yaacako dhaavati. 
5. Suudaa pacanti. 
6. Janakaa vadanti.
7. Te vandanti. 
8. Naraa rakkhanti. 
9. Puttaa dhaavanti. 
10. Daarako vandati. 
11. Buddho dhamma.m rakkhati. 
12. Daarakaa Buddha.m vandanti. 
13. Suudo gha.te dhovati. 
14. Naraa gaama.m. rakkhanti.
15. Saa odana.m pacati.
16. Buddhaa dhamma.m vadanti.
17. Puttaa janake vandanti.
18. Yaacakaa. gha.te dhovanti. 
19. Te gaame rakkhanti.
20. Janako Buddha.m vandati.

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  Exercise 1-B
  TRANSLATE INTO PALI

1. He protects.
2. The man salutes. 
3. The child is washing.
4. The son speaks. 
5. The beggar is cooking. 
6. They are running.
7. The children are speaking.
8. The fathers are protecting. 
9. The sons are saluting.
10. The cooks are washing. 
11. The men are saluting the Buddha. 
12. Fathers protect men. 
13. The cook is washing rice. 
14. The truth protects men. 
15. She is saluting the father. 
16. The Enlightened One is declaring the Doctrine. 
17. The boys are washing the pots. 
18. The men are protecting the villages.
19. The beggars are cooking rice. 
20. The cook is washing the pot.