Bengali grammar
Bengali grammar is the study of the morphology and syntax of Bengali, an Indo-European language spoken in the Indian subcontinent. Given that Bengali has two forms, চলিত ভাষা and সাধু ভাষা, it is important to note that the grammar discussed below applies fully only to the চলিত form. Shadhu bhasha is generally considered outdated and no longer used in neither writing nor in normal conversation. Although Bengali is typically written in the Bengali script, a Romanization scheme is also used here to suggest the pronunciation.
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Bengali personal pronouns are somewhat similar to English pronouns, having different words for first, second, and third person, and also for singular and plural. Bengali pronouns, unlike their English counterparts, do not differentiate for gender; that is, the same pronoun may be used for "he" or "she". However, Bengali has different third-person pronouns for proximity. The first are used for someone who is nearby, and the second are for those who are a little further away. The third are usually for those who are not present. In addition, each of the second- and third-person pronouns have different forms for the familiar and polite forms; the second person also has a "very familiar" form. It may be noted that the "very familiar" form is used when addressing particularly close friends or family as well as for addressing subordinates, or in abusive language. In the following tables, the abbreviations used are as follows: VF=very familiar, F=familiar, and P=polite ; H=here, T=there, E=elsewhere, and I=inanimate.The nominative case is used for pronouns that are the subject of the sentence, such as "I already did that" or "Will you please stop making that noise?"
The objective case is used for pronouns serving as the direct or indirect objects, such as "I told him to wash the dishes" or "The teacher gave me the homework assignment". The inanimate pronouns remain the same in the objective case.
The possessive case is used to show possession, such as "Where is your coat?" or "Let's go to our house". In addition, sentences such as "I have a book" or "I need money" also use the possessive.
Indefinite and negative pronouns
Bengali has no negative pronouns. These are typically represented by adding the negative particle না to indefinite pronouns, which are themselves derived from their corresponding question words. Common indefinite pronouns are listed below.| Question word | Indefinite pronoun | Indefinite negative pronoun |
| কে | কেউ | কেউ না |
| কার | কারও | কারও না |
| কাকে | কাউকে | কাউকে না |
| কোন | কোনও | কোনও না |
| কি | কিছু | কিছু না |
Relative pronouns
The relative pronoun যে and its different variants, as shown below, are commonly employed in complex sentences. The relative pronouns for animate objects change for number and honor, but those for inanimate objects stay the same.| Nominative | Genitive | Objective | |
| Singular | যে | যার | যাকে |
| Singular | যিনি | যাঁর | যােঁকে |
| Plural | যারা | যাদের | যাদের |
| Plural | যাঁরা | যাঁদের | যাঁদের |
Nouns
Case
Nouns are also inflected for case, including nominative, objective, genitive, and locative. The case marking pattern for each noun being inflected depends on the noun's degree of animacy. The objective case cannot be inflected upon nouns which are inanimate, and the locative case cannot be inflected upon nouns which are animate. When a definite article such as -ţa or -gulo is added, nouns are also inflected for number. In formal contexts, especially in writing, the definite article -ţa is replaced by -ţi. There is also an alternative way of using the plural definite article, -gulo, by making it -guli. For animate nouns, -gulo/-guli are often replaced by -ra Below are two tables which show the inflections of an animate noun, ছাত্র chhatrô, and an inanimate noun, জুতা juta.All of the inflected nouns above have an indefinite article preceding their case markers. There are some basic rules to keep in mind about the cases, apart from the "default" nominative.
For the objective case, the ending -রে -re may be used in certain non-standard dialects of Bengali. For example, the non-standard ছাত্রটারে chhatrô-ţa-re may be used instead of the standard ছাত্রটাকে chhatrô-ţa-ke.
For the genitive case, the ending may change, though never with a definite article attached. A noun which ends in a consonant or the inherent vowel, অ ô, is inflected by adding – ের -er to the end of the word. An example of this would be the genitive of মাংস mangshô "meat" being মাংসের mangsher "of meat" or " meat's". A noun which ends in any vowel apart from the inherent vowel will just have a -র -r following it, as in the genitive of ছেলে chhele being ছেলের chheler " boy's". The genitive ending is also applied to verbs, which is most commonly seen when using postpositions.
For the locative case, the marker also changes in a similar fashion to the genitive case, with consonants and the inherent vowel having their own ending, – ে -e, and all other vowels having another ending, -তে -te, with one exception. If a noun ends with – া -a, then it's locative case marker would be -য় -y, as in কলকাতায় Kolkata-y "to Kolkata". However, this special exception for -a ending nouns is often ignored, and colloquially many will say কলকাতাতে Kolkata-te instead of the proper Kolktata-y.
Measure words
When counted, nouns must also be accompanied by the appropriate measure word. As in many East Asian languages, nouns in Bengali cannot be counted directly by adding the numeral directly adjacent to the noun. The noun's measure word must be used in between the numeral and the noun. Most nouns take the generic measure word ţa, although there are many more specific measure words, such as jon, which is only used to count humans.| Bengali | Literal translation | - |
| Nôy-ţa ghoŗi | Nine-MW clock | Nine clocks |
| Kôy-ţa balish | How many-MW pillow | How many pillows |
| Ônek-jon lok | Many-MW person | Many people |
| Char-pañch-jon shikkhôk | Four-five-MW teacher | Four or five teachers |
Measuring nouns in Bengali without their corresponding measure words would typically be considered ungrammatical. However, omitting the noun and preserving the measure word is grammatical and not uncommon to hear. For example, Shudhu êk-jon thakbe. would be understood to mean "Only one person will remain.", since jon can only be used to count humans. The word lok "person" is implied.
Adjectives
Adjectives do not inflect for case, gender, or number in Bengali and are placed before the noun they modify.Some adjectives form their opposites by prefixing অ- or অন- : for example, the opposite of সম্ভব is অসম্ভব.
Demonstrative adjectives - this and that - correspond to এই and ওই respectively, with the definite article attached to the following noun. Their plural forms remain the same, with the plurality denoted by the definite article or the classifier. Thus, this book would translate to এই বইটি, while those books would translate to ওই বইগুলো.
Comparatives and superlatives
Bengali adjectives form their comparative forms with আরও, and their superlative forms with সবচেয়ে. Comparisons are formed by using genitive form of the object of comparison, followed by the postposition চেয়ে or the postposition মতো and then by আরও or কম. The word for "more" is optional, but the word for "less" is required, so in its absence "more" is inferred. Adjectives can be additionally modified by using অনেক or অনেক বেশি, which are especially useful for comparing quantities.| Bengali | Literal Translation | Meaning |
| সুভাষ রাহিমের চেয়ে লম্বা | Subhash of Rahim than tall | Subhash is taller than Rahim |
| সুভাষ রাহিমের চেয়ে আরও লম্বা | Subhash of Rahim than more tall | Subhash is taller than Rahim |
| সুভাষ রাহিমের চেয়ে কম লম্বা | Subhash of Rahim than less tall | Subhash is shorter than Rahim |
| সুভাষ রাহিমের মতো লম্বা | Subhash of Rahim like tall | Subhash is as tall as Rahim |
| সুভাষ রাহিমের চেয়ে অনেক লম্বা | Subhash of Rahim than much tall | Subhash is much taller than Rahim |
Verbs
Bengali verbs are highly inflected and are regular with only few exceptions. They consist of a stem and an ending; they are traditionally listed in Bengali dictionaries in their "verbal noun" form, which is usually formed by adding -a to the stem: for instance, করা is formed from the stem কর. The stem can end in either a vowel or a consonant. Verbs are conjugated for tense and person by changing the endings, which are largely the same for all verbs. However, the stem vowel can often change as part of the phenomenon known as "vowel harmony", whereby one vowel can be influenced by other vowels in the word to sound more harmonious. An example would be the verb "to write", with stem lekh-: লেখো but also লিখি. In general, the following transformations take place: ô → o, o → u, æ → e, e → i, and a → e, where the verbal noun features the first vowel but certain conjugations use the second. In addition, the verbs দেওয়া and নেওয়া switch between e, i, a, and æ. If verbs are classified by stem vowel and if the stem ends in a consonant or vowel, there are nine basic classes in which most verbs can be placed; all verbs in a class will follow the same pattern. A prototype verb from each of these classes will be used to demonstrate conjugation for that class; bold will be used to indicate mutation of the stem vowel. Additionally, there are irregular verbs, such as যাওয়া that change the first consonant in their stem in certain conjugations.Like many other Indo-Aryan languages, nouns can be turned into verbs by combining them with select auxiliary verbs. In Bengali, the most common such auxiliary verb is করা ; thus, verbs such as joke are formed by combining the noun form of joke with to do to create রসিকতা করা. When conjugating such verbs the noun part of such a verb is left untouched, so in the previous example, only করা would be inflected or conjugated. Other auxiliary verbs include দেওয়া and নেওয়া, but the verb করা enjoys significant usage because it can be combined with foreign verbs to form a native version of the verb, even if a direct translation exists. Most often this is done with English verbs: for example, "to vote''" is often referred to as ভোট করা.
Copula
Bengali is considered a zero copula language in some aspects.- In the simple present tense there is no verb connecting the subject to the predicative. There is one notable exception, however, which is when the predicative takes on the existential, locative, or possessive aspects; for such purposes, the incomplete verb আছ- is used, which is conjugated according to the rules given below.
- In the past tense, the incomplete verb আছ- is always used as the copula, regardless of the nature of the predicative.
- For the future tense and non-finite structures, the copula is supplied by the verb হওয়া, with the only exception being the possessive predicative for which the verb থাকা is utilized.
| English | Bengali | Notes |
| I am happy | আমি খুশী | No verb used to denote the copula |
| There is time | সময় আছে | আছ- used to connect to an existential predicative |
| I am at home | আমি বাড়িতে আছি | আছ- used to connect to a locative predicative |
| We were happy | আমরা দু:খিত ছিলাম | In the past tense, আছ- is used as the copula |
| I will be at home | আমি বাড়িতে হবে | In the future tense, হওয়া is used as the copula |
| He will have a car | তার একটা গাড়ি থাকবে | In the future tense, থাকা is used to connect to a possessive predicative |
Negation
There are four sentence negators employed in Bengali:- The zero verb copula is negated using the incomplete negator ন-, which is conjugated as নই, নও, নন, নয়.
- Existential sentences that use the verb আছ- are negated with নেই, which does not need to be conjugated.
- All other verbs are negated using the universal negative particle না, which can also refer to "no" in yes-no questions. না is typically placed after the finite verb, but can also be placed at the end of the sentence, which negates the whole sentence. না can be used in all tenses except two: the present perfect and the past perfect.
- Verbs in the present perfect and the past perfect tenses are negated using the suffix -নি attached to the simple present verb form; this naturally means that in negative sentences the distinction between the two tenses is lost, since they both use the same verb form.
| English | Bengali | Notes |
| I am not happy | আমি সুখী নই | Incomplete negator ন- conjugated for first-person |
| We don't have a car | আমাদের গাড়ি নেই | নেই used to negate আছ-, which is completely replaced |
| I don't work | আমি কাজ করি না | না is used to negate all other finite verbs |
| I didn't help him | আমি তাকে সাহায্য করিনি | The suffix -নি is attached to the simple present form of করা to negate the past perfect form |
Person
Verbs are inflected for person and honour, but not for number. There are five forms: first person, second person, second person, third person, and second/third person. The same sample subject pronouns will be used for all the example conjugation paradigms: ami, tui, tumi, she and apni. These have the following plurals respectively: amra, tora, tomra, tara and apnara.Mood
There are two moods for Bengali verbs: the indicative and the imperative. The indicative mood is used for statements of fact; its various tenses are given below.The imperative mood is used to give commands. Just as in other Indo-Aryan languages, the imperative form of a verb differs on the basis of honorifics. The three sets of second-person pronouns - তুই/তোরা, তুমি/তোমরা, আপনি/আপনারা - combined with slight modifications to the stem of any verb form the imperatives for that verb; these are described in the table below. Note that the plural command forms change the pronoun but not the verb ending.
| Verb | VF | F | P |
| bôla | tui bôl | tumi bôlo | apni bolun |
| বলা | তুই বল্ | তুমি বলো | আপনি বলুন |
| khola | tui khol | tumi kholo | apni khulun |
| খোলা | তুই খোল্ | তুমি খোলো | আপনি খুলুন |
| khêla | tui khêl | tumi khêlo | apni khelun |
| খেলা | তুই খেল্ | তুমি খেল | আপনি খেলুন |
| chena | tui chen | tumi cheno | apni chinun |
| চেনা | তুই চেন্ | তুমি চেন | আপনি চিনুন |
| jana | tui jan | tumi jano | apni janun |
| জানা | তুই জান্ | তুমি জান | আপনি জানুন |
| hôoa | tui hô | tumi hôo | apni hôn |
| হওয়া | তুই হ | তুমি হও | আপনি হন |
| dhoa | tui dho | tumi dhoo | apni dhon |
| ধোয়া | তুই ধো | তুমি ধোও | আপনি ধোন |
| khaoa | tui kha | tumi khao | apni khan |
| খাওয়া | তুই খা | তুমি খাও | আপনি খান |
| deoa | tui de | tumi dao | apni din |
| দেওয়া | তুই দে | তুমি দাও | আপনি দিন |
Non-finite forms
- আঁকা ãka – verbal noun
- আঁকতে ãkte – verbal infinitive
- আঁকতে-আঁকতে ãkte-ãkte – progressive participle
- আঁকলে ãkle – conditional participle
- এঁকে ẽke – perfect participle
- এঁকে-এঁকে ẽke-ẽke – iterative participle
The verbal noun can act like a regular noun, and can therefore take case-endings and classifier particles; additionally it can also function as an adjective. Both the verbal noun and the verbal infinitive are often used in constructions where the infinitive is needed.
Impersonal structures
Many common sentence constructions, such as those involving obligation, need, and possibility are built in Bengali without using nominative subjects; instead, the subject is omitted or often, used in the genitive case. These are typically constructed using the verbal noun along with other nouns or verbs.- Obligation is expressed using the verbal infinitive and a third-person form of হওয়া, with the subject in the objective case. For example: আমাকে খেতে হবে.
- Need is expressed by using the verbal noun with the noun দরকার, and the subject in the genitive. For example: আমার কথা বলা দরকার.
- Constructions involving "should", "ought to", or "must" are constructed with the verbal noun and the adjective উচিত, and the subject in the genitive. For example: আমাদের যাওয়া উচিত.
Passive
Causative
Most verbs can be made causative by adding the suffix -ন/নো to it. For example: "to do" is করা, which takes the -নো suffix to become করানো, or "to cause to do". The stem of such a causative verb - to be used when conjugating it - is thus the verbal noun form of the base verb. However, such stems do not undergo any vowel transformations when conjugating for tenses.Tense
Bengali has four simple tenses: the present tense, the past tense, the conditional or habitual past tense, and the future tense. These combine with mood and aspect to form more complex conjugations: the perfect tenses, for example, are formed by combining the perfect participles with the corresponding tense endings.Aspect
There are three aspects for Bengali verbs: simple aspect, the progressive/continuous aspect, and the perfect. The progressive aspect is denoted by adding prefix the regular tense endings with ছ or চ্ছ, while the perfect aspect requires the use of the perfect participle. These are combined with the different tenses described below to form the various verbal conjugations possible.Simple present tense
The present tense in Bengali is similar to that of English: I eat, you run, he reads. The endings are -i, -sh, -o, -e, and -n, and only the 1st-person and the VF forms require stem transformations for vowel harmony.| Verb | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2/3 |
| bôla | ami boli | tui bolish | tumi bôlo | she bôle | apni bôlen |
| বলা | আমি বলি | তুই বলিস | তুমি বল | সে বলে | আপনি বলেন |
| khola | ami khuli | tui khulish | tumi kholo | she khole | apni kholen |
| খোলা | আমি খুলি | তুই খুলিস | তুমি খোল | সে খোলে | আপনি খোলেন |
| khêla | ami kheli | tui khelish | tumi khêlo | she khêle | apni khêlen |
| খেলা | আমি খেলি | তুই খেলিস | তুমি খেল | সে খেলে | আপনি খেলেন |
| chena | ami chini | tui chinish | tumi cheno | she chene | apni chenen |
| চেনা | আমি চিনি | তুই চিনিস | তুমি চেন | সে চেনে | আপনি চেনেন |
| jana | ami jani | tui janish | tumi jano | she jane | apni janen |
| জানা | আমি জানি | তুই জানিস | তুমি জান | সে জানে | আপনি জানেন |
| hôoa | ami hoi | tui hosh | tumi hôo | she hôe | apni hôn |
| হওয়া | আমি হই | তুই হোস | তুমি হও | সে হয় | আপনি হন |
| dhoa | ami dhui | tui dhush | tumi dhoo | she dhoe | apni dhon |
| ধোয়া | আমি ধুই | তুই ধুস | তুমি ধোও | সে ধোয় | আপনি ধোন |
| khaoa | ami khai | tui khash | tumi khao | she khae | apni khan |
| খাওয়া | আমি খাই | তুই খাস | তুমি খাও | সে খায় | আপনি খান |
| deoa | ami dii | tui dish | tumi dao | she dêe | apni dên |
| দেওয়া | আমি দিই | তুই দিস | তুমি দাও | সে দেয় | আপনি দেন |
Present progressive tense
The present progressive tense in also similar to that of English: I am eating, you are running, he is reading, etc. This tense is formed by combining the progressive aspect suffix with the present tense endings; we thus get -chi, -chish, -cho, -che and -chen, and all forms require stem transformations for vowel harmony.| Verb | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2/3 |
| bôla | ami bolchi | tui bolchish | tumi bolcho | she bolche | apni bolchen |
| বলা | আমি বলছি | তুই বলছিস | তুমি বলছ | সে বলছে | আপনি বলছেন |
| khola | ami khulchi | tui khulchish | tumi khulcho | she khulche | apni khulchen |
| খোলা | আমি খুলছি | তুই খুলছিস | তুমি খুলছ | সে খুলছে | আপনি খুলছেন |
| khêla | ami khelchi | tui khelchish | tumi khelcho | she khelche | apni khelchen |
| খেলা | আমি খেলছি | তুই খেলছিস | তুমি খেলছ | সে খেলছে | আপনি খেলছেন |
| chena | ami chinchi | tui chinchish | tumi chincho | she chinche | apni chinchen |
| চেনা | আমি চিনছি | তুই চিনছিস | তুমি চিনছ | সে চিনছে | আপনি চিনছেন |
| jana | ami janchi | tui janchish | tumi jancho | she janche | apni janchen |
| জানা | আমি জানছি | তুই জানছিস | তুমি জানছ | সে জানছে | আপনি জানছেন |
| hôoa | ami hochi | tui hochish | tumi hocho | she hoche | apni hochen |
| হওয়া | আমি হচ্ছি | তুই হচ্ছিস | তুমি হচ্ছ | সে হচ্ছে | আপনি হচ্ছেন |
| dhoa | ami dhuchi | tui dhuchish | tumi dhucho | she dhuche | apni dhuchen |
| ধোয়া | আমি ধুচ্ছি | তুই ধুচ্ছিস | তুমি ধুচ্ছ | সে ধুচ্ছে | আপনি ধুচ্ছেন |
| khaoa | ami khachi | tui khachish | tumi khacho | she khache | apni khachen |
| খাওয়া | আমি খাচ্ছি | তুই খাচ্ছিস | তুমি খাচ্ছ | সে খাচ্ছে | আপনি খাচ্ছেন |
| deoa | ami dichi | tui dichish | tumi dicho | she diche | apni dichen |
| দেওয়া | আমি দিচ্ছি | তুই দিচ্ছিস | তুমি দিচ্ছ | সে দিচ্ছে | আপনি দিচ্ছেন |
Simple past tense
The past tense differs from its use in English in that it is usually reserved for events that have occurred recently; for instance, less than a day ago. It would be translated into the English simple past tense: I ate, you ran, he read. The endings are -lam, -li, -le, -lo, -len, and all forms require stem transformations for vowel harmony. For example:Habitual past tense
The habitual past tense has a few different uses. It is used for events that happened regularly, such as "I used to eat out every day" or "He wrote poems when he was young", the equivalent of an imperfect. It may also be used as a sort of conditional, such as the following: "If you asked I would come" or "If you had asked I would have come". It is easy to form the habitual past tense: simply start with the simple past tense and change the l to t. The endings are -tam, -tish, -te, -to, -ten, and all forms require stem transformations for vowel harmony. For example: ami dekhtam, tui dekhtish, tumi dekhte, she dekhto, apni dekhten. In less standard varieties of Bengali, "a" is substituted for "e" in second-person familiar forms; thus tumi bolta, khulta, khelta etc.| Verb | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2/3 |
| bôla | ami boltam | tui boltish | tumi bolte | she bolto | apni bolten |
| বলা | আমি বলতাম | তুই বলতিস | তুমি বলতে | সে বলত | আপনি বলতেন |
| khola | ami khultam | tui khultish | tumi khulte | she khulto | apni khulten |
| খোলা | আমি খুলতাম | তুই খুলতিস | তুমি খুলতে | সে খুলত | আপনি খুলতেন |
| khêla | ami kheltam | tui kheltish | tumi khelte | she khelto | apni khelten |
| খেলে | আমি খেলতাম | তুই খেলতিস | তুমি খেলতে | সে খেলত | আপনি খেলতেন |
| chena | ami chintam | tui chintish | tumi chinte | she chinto | apni chinten |
| চেনা | আমি চিনতাম | তুই চিনতিস | তুমি চিনতে | সে চিনত | আপনি চিনতেন |
| jana | ami jantam | tui jantish | tumi jante | she janto | apni janten |
| জানা | আমি জানতাম | তুই জানতিস | তুমি জানতে | সে জানত | আপনি জানতেন |
| hôoa | ami hotam | tui hotish | tumi hote | she hoto | apni hoten |
| হওয়া | আমি হতাম | তুই হতিস | তুমি হতে | সে হত | আপনি হতেন |
| dhooa | ami dhutam | tui dhutish | tumi dhute | she dhuto | apni dhuten |
| ধোওয়া | আমি ধুতাম | তুই ধুতিস | তুমি ধুতে | সে ধুত | আপনি ধুতেন |
| khaoa | ami khetam | tui kheltish | tumi khete | she kheto | apni kheten |
| খাওয়া | আমি খেতাম | তুই খেতিস | তুমি খেতে | সে খেত | আপনি খেতেন |
| dêoa | ami ditam | tui ditish | tumi dite | she dito | apni diten |
| দেওয়া | আমি দিতাম | তুই দিতিস | তুমি দিতে | সে দিত | আপনি দিতেন |
Future tense
In less standard varieties of Bengali, "a" is substituted for "e" in second-person familiar forms; thus tumi bolba, khulba, khelba etc. The endings are -bo, -bi, -be, -be, -ben; the তুমি and সে conjugations are identical in this tense, and all forms require stem transformations for vowel harmony.| Verb | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2/3 |
| bôla | ami bolbo | tui bolbi | tumi bolbe | she bolbe | apni bolben |
| বলা | আমি বলব | তুই বলবি | তুমি বলবে | সে বলবে | আপনি বলবেন |
| khola | ami khulbo | tui khulbi | tumi khulbe | she khulbe | apni khulben |
| খোলা | আমি খুলব | তুই খুলবি | তুমি খুলবে | সে খুলবে | আপনি খুলবেন |
| khêla | ami khelbo | tui khelbi | tumi khelbe | she khelbe | apni khelben |
| খেলে | আমি খেলব | তুই খেলবি | তুমি খেলবে | সে খেলবে | আপনি খেলবেন |
| chena | ami chinbo | tui chinbi | tumi chinbe | she chinbe | apni chinben |
| চেনা | আমি চিনব | তুই চিনবি | তুমি চিনবে | সে চিনবে | আপনি চিনবেন |
| jana | ami janbo | tui janbi | tumi janbe | she janbe | apni janben |
| জানা | আমি জানব | তুই জানবি | তুমি জানবে | সে জানবে | আপনি জানবেন |
| hôoa | ami hobo | tui hobi | tumi hobe | she hobe | apni hoben |
| হওয়া | আমি হব | তুই হবি | তুমি হবে | সে হবে | আপনি হবেন |
| dhooa | ami dhubo | tui dhubi | tumi dhube | she dhube | apni dhuben |
| ধোওয়া | আমি ধুব | তুই ধুবি | তুমি ধুবে | সে ধুবে | আপনি ধুবেন |
| khaoa | ami khabo | tui khabi | tumi khabe | she khabe | apni khaben |
| খাওয়া | আমি খাব | তুই খাবি | তুমি খাবে | সে খাবে | আপনি খাবেন |
| dêoa | ami dibo | tui dibi | tumi dibe | she dibe | apni diben |
| দেওয়া | আমি দিব | তুই দিবি | তুমি দিবে | সে দিবে | আপনি দিবেন |
Postpositions
Whereas English features prepositions, Bengali typically uses postpositions. That is, while these modifying words occur before their object in English, they typically occur after their object in Bengali. Some postpositions require their object noun to take the possessive case, while others require the objective case ; this distinction must be memorised. Most postpositions are formed by taking nouns referring to a location and inflecting them for locative case. They can also be applied to verbal nouns.Postpositions that require genitive (possessive) case
- আগে aage 'before': সকালের আগে shôkal-er age 'before the morning'
- পরে pôre 'after': সন্ধ্যার পরে shondha-r pôre 'after the evening'
- উপরে upore 'on top of', 'above': বিছানার উপরে bichhana-r upore 'on top of the bed'
- নিচে niche 'below', 'under': বইয়ের নিচে boi-er niche 'under the book'
- পিছনে pichhone 'behind': আলমারির পিছনে almari-r pichhone 'behind the cupboard'
- সামনে shamne 'in front of': গাড়ির সামনে gaŗi-r shamne 'in front of the car'
- ওই পারে oi pare 'across': নদীর ওই পারে nodi-r oi pare 'across the river'
- কাছে kachhe 'near': জানালার কাছে janala-r kachhe 'near the window'
- পাশে pashe 'beside': চুলার পাশে chula-r pashe 'beside the stove'
- জন্য jonno 'for': শিক্ষকের জন্য shikkhôk-er jonno 'for the teacher'
- কাছ থেকে kach theke 'from' : বাবার কাছ থেকে baba-r kach theke 'from father'
- দিকে dike 'towards': বাসার দিকে basha-r dike 'towards the house'
- বাইরে baire 'outside': দেশের বাইরে desh-er baire 'outside the country'
- ভিতরে bhitore 'inside': দোকানের ভিতরে dokan-er bhitore 'inside the store'
- মধ্যে moddhe 'in the middle of': সমুদ্রের মধ্যে shomudr-er 'moddhe 'in the middle of the ocean'
- ভিতর দিয়ে bhitor die 'through': শহরের ভিতর দিয়ে shôhorer bhitor die 'through the city'
- মতো môto 'like': তোমার মতো tom-ar môto 'like you'
- সঙ্গে shôngge 'with': আমার সঙ্গে am-ar shôngge 'with me'
- কথা kôtha 'about': সেটার কথা sheţa-r kôtha 'about that'
- সম্মন্ধে shômmondhe 'about': ইতিহাসের সম্মন্ধে itihash-er shômmondhe 'about history'
- সাথে shathe 'with': মায়ের সাথে ''ma-er 'shathe 'with Mother'
Postpositions that require accusative (objective) case
- করে kore 'by means of': ট্যাক্সিকরে ţêksi kore 'by taxi'
- ছাড়া chhaŗa 'without', 'aside from': আমাকে ছাড়া ama-ke chhaŗa 'aside from me'
- থেকে theke 'from' : বাংলাদেশ থেকে Bangladesh theke 'from Bangladesh'
- দিয়ে diye 'by': তাকে দিয়ে ta-ke diye 'by him'
- ধরে dhore 'for' : দুদিন ধরে dudin dhore 'for two days'
- নিয়ে niye 'including', 'with': তোমাকে নিয়ে toma-ke niye 'including you'
- পর্যন্ত porjonto 'until': দশটা পর্যন্ত dôshţa porjonto 'until ten o' clock'
- সহ shôho 'with', 'including': টাকা সহ ţaka shôho 'along with the money'
- হয়ে hoe 'via': কলকাতা হয়ে Kolkata hoe 'via Kolkata'
- তে te 'to': মাঠেতে mathe'te 'to the temple'
Prepositions that require locative case
- বিনা bina 'without': বিনা অনুমতিতে bina onumoti-te 'without permission'