Sanskrit Grammar and Syntax: Declensions, Conjugations, Sandhi and Samasa
What the grammar section tests
Declensions (shabda), conjugations (dhatu and lakara), sandhi and samasa. Expect direct application: fill the correct vibhakti, split a compound, join words, identify lakara and explain a samasa.
Core rules
- a-ending masculine rama: ramah, ramam, ramena, ramaya, ramat, ramasya, rame; plural ramah, raman, ramaih.
- Present tense (lat) parasmaipada: gacchati, gacchatah, gacchanti; pathati, pathatah, pathanti.
- Sandhi: savarna-dirgha (deva + alaya = devalaya); guna (nara + indra = narendra); visarga changes before voiced or consonant sounds.
- Samasa: tatpurusha (rajaputra = king's son), dvandva (rama-lakshmanau), bahuvrihi (dashanana = ten-faced), avyayibhava (upaganga).
Worked example
Join deva + alaya. Reasoning: final -a and initial a are both vowels of the same savarna class; savarna-dirgha sandhi gives devalaya. It is not deva-alaya in normal writing. If asked for samasa, rajaputra is tatpurusha because the first member qualifies the second and the compound denotes the son.
Traps
Do not apply guna when savarna-dirgha is required. Do not call every compound tatpurusha. Check whether the compound denotes another entity, which points to bahuvrihi. Match vibhakti endings to number and gender.