Exercise Page 325
CORRECTION: On Page 320, the imperative middle III/1 form सुनुताम् has an asterisk indicating it takes the 'strong' form of the stem. This is incorrect and there should be no asterisk as the imperative middle III/1 does not take the strong stem.

Non-thematic Verbs

The verbs of Classes 5 and 8 (along with 2, 3, 7, and 9, which are taught in Lesson 26) belong to the 'non-thematic' group or conjugation. The main differences between these 'non-thematic' verbs and the 'thematic' verbs that have been seen so far are:
  • Verb stems do not end in अ, so some will undergo sandhi when certain suffixes are added.
  • The following suffixes take an alternative 'strong' form of the verb stem: all 'active' (परस्मैपद) singular suffixes of the present and imperfect; all first person suffixes and the परस्मैपद III/1 suffix of the imperative.
  • Several suffixes are slightly different from those used for 'thematic' verbs. In particular, in the formation of the optative the 'ए' of the thematic suffixes is replaced by 'या' for परस्मैपद and 'ई' for आत्मनेपद with non-thematic verbs.
TIP: Recall that the division of verbs into different classes is only relevant for the following forms: present, imperfect, imperative, optative, and present active participle. The perfect, future, past passive participle, present passive participle, gerund, and infinitive are all formed the same way, regardless of the verb class.
The following set of charts may be useful as a reference for learning the formation of the present, imperative, imperfect, and optative for all classes of verbs. Verb stems are formed by adding the appropriate 'class ending' to the root. Complete verbs are formed by adding the appropriate suffix to this stem. For example, the stem of कथ् (Class 10) is formed कथ् + अय = कथय, and this is conjugated in परस्मैपद present tense III/1 by adding the suffix 'ति', i.e. कथय + ति = कथयति ('He tells').

Suffixes for the present and imperative are given separately. Where two suffixes are given for a single person and number, the first is used only for thematic verbs, and the second is used only for non-thematic verbs, e.g. the आत्मनेपद present III/+ affix for thematic verbs is अन्ते, and for non-thematic verbs is अते.

The imperfect and optative suffixes are combined in one chart, since most of them are the same. Where optative suffixes are different, they are written below the imperative suffixes, e.g. the परस्मैपद imperative III/+ is अन् while the optative is युः. The optative is formed for thematic verbs by adding ए before the suffixes, while for non-thematic verbs instead of ए, या is added before परस्मैपद suffixes, and ई is added before आत्मनेपद suffixes.
It is undoubtedly difficult to remember all the rules and patterns for conjugating non-thematic verbs. It is useful to be aware of the general processes by which verbs of different classes form their stems to be able to guess the root and class of a verb. Then the conjugation table of this root can be looked up to confirm. Look under 'Grammar' on the Resources page for a useful online verb conjugation engine.

Class 5 and 8 Verbs

The stem of Class 5 verbs is formed by adding '-नु' to the root. The stem of Class 8 verbs is formed by adding '-उ' to the root. Hence the stems of all Class 5 and 8 verbs end in -उ. When a suffix is added that takes a 'strong' stem (see above), this उ will become ओ. For example, the stem of the Class 5 root सु ('press') is सुनु, and when the present III/1 suffix '-ति' is added, the form is सुनोति. When the present III/2 suffix '-तः' is added however, the form is simply सुनुतः.

The following sandhi rules must be kept in mind when adding suffixes:
  • उ becomes व् when followed by any vowel, e.g. सुनु + अन्ति = सुन्वन्ति (Present III/+)
  • ओ becomes अव् when followed by any vowel, e.g. सुनो + आनि = सुनवानि (Imperative I/1)
  • स् becomes ष् when it follows क् or any vowel other than अ/आ, e.g. सुनो + सि = सुनोषि (Present II/1)

As a result of stem formation and sandhi rules, each Class 5 or 8 stem will typically manifest in four forms:
  • Ending in -ओ before suffixes beginning with a consonant that take the strong stem, e.g. सुनोति
  • Ending in -अव् before suffixes beginning with a vowel that take the strong stem, e.g. असुनवम्
  • Ending in -उ before suffixes beginning with a consonant that take the weak stem, e.g. सुनुतः
  • Ending in -व् before suffixes beginning with a vowel that take the weak stem, e.g. सुन्वन्ति
    Note: If the root ends in a consonant, the stem will end in -उव् instead of व्, e.g. आप् + नु + अन्ति = आप्नुवन्ति

An exception to this is the root कृ, which manifests in five forms:
  • करो before suffixes beginning with a consonant that take the strong stem, e.g. करोति
  • करव् before suffixes beginning with a vowel that take the strong stem, e.g. अकरवम्
  • कुरु before suffixes beginning with a consonant that take the weak stem, e.g. कुरुतः
  • कुर् before suffixes beginning with व् or म् that take the weak stem, e.g. कुर्वः
  • कुर्व्् before suffixes beginning with a vowel that take the weak stem, e.g. कुर्वन्ति

Desiderative

Most verbs can be transformed into their desiderative form, meaning "desire to VERB" by adding the suffix स/इष. This suffix causes the verb to undergo reduplication just as in the formation of the perfect tense (see Lesson 21), with the following rule: the vowel of the reduplicated root is replaced by इ, except if the vowel is उ. For example:
  • लिख् ('write') becomes  लिलिखिष, so लिलिखिषति means 'he desires to write'
  • गम् ('go') becomes जिगमिष, so जिगमिषति means 'he desires to go'
  • दृश् ('see') becomes दिदृक्ष, so दिदृक्षति means 'he desires to see'
  • बुध् ('understand') becomes बुबुत्स, so बुबुत्सति means 'he desires to understand'

The desiderative form can be turned into an adjective meaning "desirous of VERBing" by replacing the final अ with उ. For example:
  • लिलिखिष becomes लिलिखिषु meaning 'desirous of writing'
  • जिगमिष becomes जिगमिषु meaning 'desirous of going'
  • दिदृक्ष becomes दिदृक्षु meaning 'desirous of seeing'
  • बुबुत्स becomes बुबुत्सु meaning 'desirous of understanding'
This adjective will decline like भानु (or धेनु if it describes a feminine noun).