Lesson 6
Common Verbs
Introduction
In Lesson 5, you already got to know your first two verbs, the zero verb (to be) and আছে. However, we did not learn regular verbs yet. In this lesson, you will get to know 15 essential Bengali verbs for everyday use, and understand the basics of present tense conjugating. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to construct basic sentences with commonly used verbs.
1. The Verbal Noun / Dictionary Form
Although this verb form’s name sounds very grammatical and confusing, it is actually very straightforward. In English we call this verb form the “infinitive”, a form that we in English express by the word “to” in from of the infinitive verb form (to go, to eat etc.). However, in Bengali, the “infinitive” refers to a different grammatical concept, and what we know as an infinitive in English is referred to as the “verbal noun”. This is the form you will find in dictionaries when looking at a verb.
In Bengali, verbs in their basic form verbal noun end in -া (-a) or -ওয়া (-oa).
Example: যাওয়া (Jaoya) means “to go.”
Example: লেখা (Lekha) means “to write.”
Below are 15 commonly used Bengali verbs in their verbal noun forms:
to do
to eat
to go
to come
to say
to see
to hear
to write
to read/study
to stay/live
to take
to give
to sit
to get up
to hold / to catch
করা (Kôra)
খাওয়া (Khaoa)
যাওয়া (Jaoya)
আসা (Asha)
বলা (Bôla)
দেখা (Dekha)
শোনা (Shôna)
লেখা (Lekha)
পড়া (Pôra)
থাকা (Thaka)
নেওয়া (Neoa)
দেওয়া (Deoa)
বসা (Bôsha)
ওঠা (Otha)
ধরা (Dhôra)
2. Present Tense Conjugation
Regular Verbs
Verbs are conjugated by dropping the verbal noun ending and attaching the respective verb endings. The verb endings of the present tense typically follow this pattern:
| Subject | Verb Ending (for -া verbs) | Verb Ending (for -ওয়া verbs) |
|---|---|---|
আমি (Ami) – I | -ি (-i) | -ই (-i) |
| তুই (Tui) – you (int.) তোরা (Tora) – you (pl. int.) | -(িস (-ish) | – স (-sh) |
| তুমি (Tumi) – You (inf.) তোমরা (Tomra) – you (pl. inf) | -ো (-o) | -ও (-o) |
| সে (Se) – He/She (inf.) | -ে (-e) | -য় (-y) |
আপনি (Apni) – You (form.) | -েন (-en) | -ন (-n) |
Note: The plural forms are conjugated the same way as their respective person in the singular (verb ending for আমি = verb ending for আমরা, etc.).
Although you see two columns here, you will notice that the endings are almost the same and follow a logic: Take the last row as an example. The -া verbs end with a consonant, so it makes sense to include the -e in -en to make the word sound smoother. The -ওয়া verbs however drop the additional -e because the verb stem already ends with a vowel.
Let’s look at some examples! The verbal noun করা (Kôra) (to do) ends with -া (-a), while খাওয়া (Khaoa) (to eat) belongs to the -ওয়া verbs. If you remove the verbal noun endings and attach the endings above to the verb stem you get:
- করা: আমি করি, তুই করিস, তুমি কর, সে করে, আপনি করেন
- খাওয়া: আমি খাই, তুই খাস, তুমি খাও, সে খায়, আপনি খান
Have you noticed the তুমি form of করা doesn’t have an ending? This is not a typo. Actually, both কর and করো are correct written versions of each other. Remember that the default endings of a consonant in a word is -o if there is no other explicit vowel matra.
Example Sentences:
আমি কাজ করি। (Ami kaj kôri.) – I do work.
তুমি কী করো? (Tumi ki kôro?) – What do you do?
সে ফল খায়। (Se fol khay.) – He/She eats fruit.
Vowel Harmony
Before moving on to the truly irregular verbs, we must first talk about “Vowel Harmony”. Vowel Harmony is a concept where vowels inside a word change in order to match or be more similar to another vowel in the same word. In Bengali, some verbs change their stem vowel to better fit the ending they receive.
In the table below, the verb লেখা (to write) undergoes a stem vowel change from e to i when the ending includes an -i.
Similarly ধোয়া (to wash) and খোলা (to open) change their stem vowel from o to u.
| লেখা (to write) | ধোয়া (to wash) | খোলা (to open) | |
| আমি | লিখি (likhi) | ধুই (dhui) | খুলি (khuli) |
| তুই | লিখিস (likhish) | ধুস (dhus) | খুলিস (khulish) |
| তুমি | লেখ (lekho) | ধোও (dhoo) | খোল (kholo) |
| সে | লেখে (lekhe) | ধোয় (dhoy) | খোলে (khole) |
| আপনি | লেখেন (lekhen) | ধোন (dhon) | খোলেন (kholen) |
Example Sentences:
আমি বাংলা লিখি। (Ami Bangla likhi.) – I write Bengali.
তুমি গল্প লেখো। (Tumi golpo lekho.) – You write stories.
আমি সকালে হাত-মুখ ধুই। (Ami sokale hat-mukh dhui.) – I wash my hands and face in the morning.
তুমি তোমার জামা ধোও। (Tumi tomar jama dho.) – You wash your clothes.
সে দরজা খুলে। (Se dorja khule.) – He/She opens the door.
তুমি বই খোলো। (Tumi boi kholo.) – You open the book.
Irregular Verbs
Most verbs in Bengali are regular with eventual vowel harmony changes. The irregular verbs you should learn are the following two:
| Subject | দেওয়া (deoa) – To give | নেওয়া (neoa) – To take |
| আমি | দিই (dii) | নেই (nei) |
| তুই | দিস (dis) | নিস (nis) |
| তুমি | দাও (dao) | নাও (nao) |
| সে | দেয় (dey) | নেয় (ney) |
| আপনি | দেন (den) | নেন (nen) |
Example Sentences:
আমি তোমাকে বই দিই। (Ami tomake boi dii.) – I give you a book.
তুমি আমার কাছ থেকে টাকা নাও। (Tumi amar kach theke taka nao.) – You take money from me.
The Conjugation of আছে (ache)
We already encountered the verb আছে in a previous lesson when we wanted to use it to express possession in sentences that in English employ the verb “to have”. We already mentioned back then, that আছে equals the third person informal conjugation, but the verb has conjugated forms for the other persons also:
| Singular | Plural | Conjugation of আছে |
|---|---|---|
| আমি | আমরা | আছি (achi) |
| তুই | তোরা | আছিস (achish) |
| তুমি | তোমরা | আছো (acho) |
| সে | তারা | আছে (ache) |
| আপনি / তিনি | আপনারা / তাঁরা | আছেন (achen) |
As a side note, you might notice, that we simply refer to this verb by calling it আছে (ache) which does not carry the usual -া (-a) or -ওয়া (-oa) ending of the verbal noun. That is because আছে does not have a regular ending. Most of the times, it is being referred to as আছে, or আছ-.
Do you remember in what type of sentences, other than those indicating possession, আছে is used?
Here are some example sentences with common usages of আছে (possession, existence, location):
- আমার একটা বই আছে। (Āmār ēkṭā boi āchē.) — I have a book.
- তার কাছে সময় আছে। (Tār kāchē samay āchē.) — He/She has time.
- এই শহরে অনেক বড় বড় বিল্ডিং আছে। (Ei śaharē anēk baṛo baṛo bilḍiṅg āchē.) — There are many tall buildings in this city.
- আমাদের স্কুলে একটা বড় লাইব্রেরি আছে। (Āmādēr skulē ēkṭā baṛo lā’ibrēri āchē.) — Our school has a big library.
Exercises
Exercise 1: Reading Practice
Read the following paragraph and identify the conjugated verbs:
আমি সকালে উঠে বাজারে যাই। সেখানে আমি সবজি কিনি এবং দোকানদারকে টাকা দিই। এরপর আমি বাসায় ফিরে ভাত রান্না করি এবং দুপুরে খাই। আমার ভাই বই পড়ে এবং মা গান শোনেন। রাতে আমরা সবাই একসঙ্গে বসে গল্প করি। এছাড়াও, আমি হাত-মুখ ধুই এবং বাবা দরজা খোলেন।
Transliteration: Ami sokale uṭhe bāzāre jāi. Sekhāne ami sabji kini ebong dokāndārke ṭākā dii. Erpor ami bāsāẏ phire bhāt rānnā kori ebong dupure khāi. Āmār bhāi boi poṛe ebong mā gān śonen. Rāte āmrā sabāi eksaṅge bose golpo kori. Echāṛāo, ami hāt-mukh dhui ebong bābā dorjā kholen.
Translation: I wake up in the morning and go to the market. There, I buy vegetables and give money to the shopkeeper. Then, I return home, cook rice, and eat lunch. My brother reads books, and my mother listens to music. At night, we all sit together and chat. Additionally, I wash my hands and face, and my father opens the door.
Exercise 2: Match The Words
Match the Bengali verbs to their English meanings:
করা
খাওয়া
যাওয়া
লেখা
পড়া
A. To eat
B. To do
C. To read / To study
D. To go
E. To write
Exercise 3: Fill in the Blank
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb:
আমি বাংলা ______। (লেখা – to write)
তুমি বই ______। (পড়া – to read)
সে স্কুলে ______। (যাওয়া – to go)
আমরা একসাথে কাজ ______। (করা – to do)
তোমরা ভাত ______। (খাওয়া – to eat)
তারা বাসায় ______। (আসা – to come)
আমি কিছু বলতে ______। (চাই – use বলা – to say)
তুমি টেলিভিশন ______। (দেখা – to watch/see)
সে গান ______। (শোনা – to listen)
আমরা প্রতিদিন বাংলা ______। (পড়া – to study)
তারা এখন এখানে ______। (থাকা – to stay/live)
তুমি পানি ______। (নেওয়া – to take)
আমি তোমাকে বইটা ______। (দেওয়া – to give)
সে চেয়ারে ______। (বসা – to sit)
আমি সকাল ছয়টায় ______। (ওঠা – to get up)
তুমি বলটা ______। (ধরা – to catch/hold)
আমরা নতুন সিনেমা ______। (দেখা – to watch)
সে রেডিওতে খবর ______। (শোনা – to hear)
আমি প্রতি দিন ডায়েরি ______। (লেখা – to write)
তারা অনেক কিছু ______। (করা – to do)
তোমরা কখন স্কুলে ______? (যাওয়া – to go)
আমি সকালে ঘুম থেকে ______। (ওঠা – to get up)
সে তোমাকে কল ______। (দেওয়া – to give)
তুমি সেই ছবিটা ______। (দেখা – to see)
আমরা রাস্তায় ধুলো ______। (ধরা – to catch, e.g. dust)
তারা শীতে এখানে ______। (থাকা – to stay)
আমি মা-বাবার কথা ______। (শোনা – to listen)
সে চুপ করে ______ না। (বসা – to sit)
আমরা তোমার কাছ থেকে টাকা ______। (নেওয়া – to take)
তুমি বাংলা ভালো করে ______। (বলা – to speak/say)
Exercise 4: Translate the Sentences
Translate the following sentences into Bengali:
I eat rice.
They go to the market.
You write a letter.
He watches TV.
We live in Dhaka.
She reads a book.
I get up early in the morning.
You all listen to music.
They sit on the bench.
I do my homework.
He gives me a pen.
We hear a sound.
She says something.
You take the water bottle.
They see a bird.
Summary
This lesson was a big step in your Bengali learning journey! You now understand the difference between regular and irregular verbs and practiced their conjugations in different contexts. Keep practicing these verbs frequently—it’s the key to building fluency. Try using them in your own sentences and conversations to reinforce what you’ve learned!