Verb Conjugation (Tiṅanta) and Kṛdanta Forms
What the exam tests
Tiṅanta questions test lakāra, pada, gaṇa and person-number endings; kṛdanta questions test participles, infinitives and absolutes, including their agreement.
Core rules
- Laṭ present parasmaipada: -mi, -si, -ti; -vas, -thas, -tas; -mas, -tha, -nti. Ātmanepada: -e, -se, -te; -vahe, -āthe, -āte; -mahe, -dhve, -ante.
- Gaṇa and vikaraṇa: class 1 (bhū) takes śap -a; class 4 (div) takes śyan -ya; class 6 (tud) takes śa -a; class 10 (cur) takes ṇic -aya. Many roots take guṇa before śap: bhū → bho + a, giving bhavati.
- Past and future: laṅ adds augment a- and secondary endings (abhavat); lṛṭ uses -sya- (bhaviṣyati); liṭ uses reduplication (babhūva).
- Kṛdanta: ktvā/lyap (gatvā, sampūjya) means ‘having done’ and requires the same agent as the main verb; tumun (gantum) means ‘to go’; kta (kṛta) and ktavatu (kṛtavān) are past participles; tavya/anīya (kartavya, karaṇīya) mean ‘to be done’; śatṛ/śānac are present participles (kurvat, kurvāṇa).
Worked example
Conjugate √bhū in laṭ, third person: bhavati, bhavataḥ, bhavanti. The root takes guṇa before the class-1 suffix, then the endings -ti, -tas, -nti are added. The same root with ktvā gives bhūtvā (‘having been’), and with tavya gives bhavitavya (‘to be’).
Traps
Do not mix parasmaipada and ātmanepada endings: √labh is normally labhate, not *labhati, in the sense ‘obtains’. Do not add the laṅ augment in laṭ: *abhavati is wrong for ‘is’. A kṛdanta agrees in gender, number and case; it does not take personal endings. Lyap is not freely interchangeable with ktvā when the agents differ.