Sanskrit Grammar (Vyākaraṇa)
What the exam tests
Sanskrit Grammar (Vyākaraṇa) checks control of sandhi, samāsa, kāraka–vibhakti, verbal conjugation and pratyaya. Questions ask you to split or join forms, name a compound, justify a case ending, or correct a faulty sentence. Learn Pāṇinian labels such as guṇa, vṛddhi and savarṇa as names for operations you can show.
Core rules
- External sandhi applies across word boundaries; internal sandhi applies inside a word before a suffix.
- A vibhakti is chosen by the kāraka relation and verbal meaning, not by English word order.
- Analyse a compound by restoring the deleted vibhakti and naming the principal member.
- Kṛt and taddhita pratyayas differ: one typically builds a verbal derivative, the other a new nominal stem.
Worked example
Join सूर्य + उदयः. Final -a plus initial u- gives guṇa o: सूर्योदयः, sunrise. The reasoning is external vowel sandhi: a + u → o. This is not a compound, because no vibhakti has been deleted and no single principal member is being analysed. If the same vowels met before a suffix, you would still cite the operation but label the context internal.
Traps
Do not give a sandhi form without naming the operation. Do not call every multi-word phrase a samāsa. In kāraka questions, identify the action and participant first, then choose the case. Do not confuse a taddhita derivative with a vibhakti ending.