Grammar (Vyakaran): Declension, Conjugation, Sandhi, Samāsa, and Kāraka
What the grammar section tests
This section tests formal control: declining nouns and pronouns, conjugating verbs in present, past, and future, joining sounds by sandhi, analysing compounds, and assigning kāraka roles. Questions often ask you to justify a form, not merely produce it.
Declension and conjugation
- Noun stems: राम (a-stem masculine), फल (a-stem neuter), सीता (ā-stem feminine), गुरु (u-stem), नदी (ī-stem). Learn case-number endings as a paradigm, not as isolated words.
- Verbs: लट् present, लङ् past, लृट् future, लोट् imperative. Distinguish Parasmaipada and Ātmanepada; पठति is Parasmaipada, सेवते is Ātmanepada.
- Agreement: the finite verb agrees with the subject in person and number; the participle agrees in gender, number, and case.
Sandhi and samāsa
- Vowel sandhi: नील + उत्पल = नीलोत्पल (अ + उ becomes ओ).
- Consonant sandhi: तत् + हितम् = तद्धितम् (final त् becomes द् before ह्).
- Visarga sandhi: रामः + अस्ति = रामोऽस्ति.
- Samāsa types: Tatpuruṣa (case relation), Karmadhāraya (qualifier-qualified), Bahuvrīhi (possessive), Dvandva (coordination), Avyayībhāva (adverbial).
Kāraka
कर्ता doer, कर्म object, करण instrument, सम्प्रदान recipient, अपादान source, अधिकरण locus. Case choice follows the role, not English word order.
Worked example
Sentence: बालकः नीलोत्पलानि आनयत्।
Reasoning: बालकः is nominative singular, the boy. नीलोत्पलानि is nominative/accusative plural neuter; it is a Karmadhāraya compound from नील and उत्पल, with sandhi अ + उ becoming ओ. आनयत् is लङ् third-person singular Parasmaipada from आ + √नी, meaning brought. The boy brought blue lotuses. The verb agrees with बालकः, and the neuter plural object takes the accusative form नीलोत्पलानि.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing up instrumental and ablative endings.
- Forgetting that neuter plural nominative and accusative often look alike.
- Applying vowel sandhi where consonant sandhi is required.
- Naming a compound without giving its vigraha.
- Assigning kāraka by translation rather than by syntactic role.