Grammar (Vyākaraṇam): Declension, Conjugation, Sandhi, Samāsa
What is tested
Subanta (declension), tiṅanta (conjugation), sandhi and samāsa - usually as tables to complete, forms to identify, and words to split or join.
Subanta
Eight cases from prathamā to sambodhana, in three numbers. Learn by stem class: rāma (a), phala (a-neuter), kanyā (ā), muni (i), nadī (ī), guru (u), plus consonant stems like rājan and ātman. Note the overlaps: rāmau is both dual nominative and accusative; kanyāyāḥ is ablative and genitive singular; nadī gives nadyaḥ and nadīnām.
Tiṅanta
Ten lakāras; in practice laṭ, laṅ, lṛṭ, loṭ and vidhiliṅ carry most marks. Know the pada: gam, paṭh, likh are parasmaipada; sev, bhaj, labh are ātmanepada in the relevant senses. Model: paṭhati, apathat, paṭhiṣyati, paṭhatu, paṭhet.
Sandhi
- Vowel: kavi + indraḥ → kavīndraḥ (savarṇadīrgha); nara + indraḥ → narendraḥ (guṇa); sadā + eva → sadaiva (vṛddhi); iti + api → ity api (yaṇ).
- Visarga: rāmaḥ + api → rāmo 'pi; rāmaḥ + gacchati → rāmo gacchati.
- Consonant: tat + jalam → taj jalam (jaśtva); tat + ca → tac ca (cartva).
Samāsa
Tatpuruṣa (the vigraha uses a case), karmadhāraya (adjective + noun), dvigu (numeral first), bahuvrīhi (denotes someone or something else), dvandva (and), avyayībhāva (indeclinable first).
Worked example
devālayaṃ gacchati: split sandhi first - deva + ālaya (a + ā → ā, savarṇadīrgha); vigraha is devānām ālayaḥ, so a ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa; as object of gacchati it stands in dvitīyā, and before g- the final -m becomes anusvāra.
Traps
A plausible but wrong vigraha; mistaking a bahuvrīhi for a tatpuruṣa when the compound names a third party; naming a sandhi rule that does not fit (a + i → e is guṇa, not savarṇadīrgha); and confusing laṅ with liṭ past forms.