Moods & the Future - Verb Conjugation - Part 2

Tense and Moody? Must be a Verb... Pāḷi has three moods in the present tense, which are used to express the speaker’s attitude toward the action.

• Indicative: used to express statements, proclamations, opinions.
• Optative: used to express the hypothetical, and also wishes or hopes
• Imperative: used to express commands and invitations

The conditional too is often classified as a mood rather than a tense, though it is most often placed with the future tense.
With this exception, all of the above moods exist only in the present tense. Each of the other tenses has only one mood. We saw the indicative mood in the last post.

Imperative mood

The imperative (sometimes called the fifth tense) expresses commands and prohibitions, but also invitations and wishes.

• In the 2nd person, the sense is usually that of a command, whereas,
• the 3rd person imperative expresses a polite invitation, when used with the title or name of the person addressed.
• the 1st person is rare, but tends to express hope 'may I live long'

The imperative verb often stands at the beginning of a sentence and the subject is often an implied (you!).
It uses the present stem but has its own personal endings:

Present Imperative stems endings

	Active voice			Reflexive voice
	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
3rd pers**	-tu	-(a) ntu		-taṁ	-(a) ntaṁ
2nd pers	-(ā) hi, -Ø	-tha		-ssu	-vho
1st pers*	-(ā) mi	-(ā) ma		-e	-(ā) mase

^* the stem endings in -a becomes -ā- before the 1st person singular and plural endings: before -mi, -ma, -hi, and -mase; as indicated by brackets in the table. (The other stem ending aren't affected).
Ø for stem’s in –a  the ending -āhi may be dropped in the active 2nd person singular, and the bare present stem used instead.  The other stem endings all take -hi.
^**stems ending in -ā become -a before the 3rd person plural.

If you compare the the imperative endings with those of the present indicative covered in the last post you will notice that the 1st person & 2nd plural are exactly the same in active voice. Context alone can distinguish them. We also covered the reflexive voice in the last post . 

If you recall, after conjugation, the present stems end in either:-a,-ā,-e, or -o. Thus we can derive the paradigm tables below, as example:

the root √gam, ‘to go’, conjugates to present stem ‘gaccha’:
the root √ki, ‘to buy’, conjugates to present stem ‘kiṇā’:
the root √dis, ‘to teach’, conjugates to present stem ‘dese’
the root √kr, ‘to make’, conjugates to present stem ‘karo’

	Active		Reflexive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	gaccha (go)
3rd pers	gacchatu	gacchantu	gacchataṁ	gacchantaṁ
2nd pers	gaccha, gacchahi	gacchatha	gacchassu	gacchavho
1st pers	gacchāmi	gacchāma	gacche	gacchāmase
	kiṇā (buy)
3rd pers	kiṇātu	kiṇantu	kiṇātaṁ	kiṇantaṁ
2nd pers	kiṇāssu	kiṇātha	kiṇāssu	kiṇāvho
1st pers	kiṇāmi	kiṇāma	kiṇe	kiṇāmase
	dese / desaya (teach)
3rd pers	desetu/desayatu	desentu/desayantu	desayataṁ	desayantaṁ
2nd pers	desehi/desayahi	desetha/desayatha	desayassu	desayavho
1st pers	desemi/desayāmi	desema/desayāma	desaye	desayāmhe
	karo (do)
3rd pers	karotu	karontu	karotaṁ	karontaṁ
2nd pers	karossu	karotha	karossu	karovho
1st pers	karomi	karoma	kare	karomase

Optative mood

The optative (sometimes called the seventh tense) is used for any potential or hypothetical expression. This mood can be translated into English using auxiliary verbs such as: “may,” “might,” “should” or “would”. It can be used in sentences expression a condition, 'If... Then...', and as such, it is usually preceded by ce, sace, yadi (all meaning “if”).
The imperative and optative are often often syntactically interchangeable, meaning the optative also gets used in expression of permissions, invitations & instructions.

The optative verb mood is formed by adding the modal infix -eyya-, -i- or -ya- to the present stem, but due to assimilation and several irregular forms, many grammars treat it as a paradigm on its own.

Present Optative stems endings

	Active voice			Reflexive voice
	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
3rd pers	–e, -eyya, -eyyāti, -iyā,	-eyyuṁ, -eyyu, -e		-etha	-eraṁ
2nd pers	-e, -eyya, -eyyāsi, -iyā,	-eyyātha, -etha		-etho	-eyyavho
1st pers	-e, -eyyam -eyyāmi, -eyyahaṁ	-eyyāma, -ema,-emu		-eyya, -eyyaṁ	-eyyāmhe -eyyāmase

Now with the optative endings the final vowel of the present stem is dropped. Notice also the -e form is common to all the active singular. It all starts to get a bit messy here.

Some verbs form the optative by the addition of -(i)yā. For instance:

√jñā → jānā + yā = jaññā
√vad → vada + yā = vajjā
√kr → karo + iyā = kariyā,  kayirā

With the varied alternative endings there can be many combinations so here are just a few examples:

	Active		Reflexive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	gaccha (could go)
3rd pers	gacche, gaccheyya	gaccheyyu, gaccheyyuṁ	gacchetha	gaccheraṁ
2nd pers	gacche, gaccheyya	gaccheyyātha, gacchetha	gacchetho	gaccheyyavho
1st pers	gacche, gaccheyyāmi	gaccheyyāma, gaccema	gaccheyyaṁ	gaccheyyāmase
	kiṇā (could buy)
3rd pers	kiṇeyya	kiṇeyyuṁ	kiṇetha	kiṇeraṁ
2nd pers	kiṇeyyāsi	kiṇeyyātha	kiṇetho	kiṇeyyavho
1st pers	kiṇeyyaṁ, kiṇeyyāmi	kiṇeyyāma	kiṇeyyaṁ	kiṇeyyāmase
	dese / desaya (could teach)
3rd pers	deseyya, desaye	deseyyuṁ	desayetha	desayeraṁ
2nd pers	deseyyāsi, desaye	deseyyātha	desetho	deseyyavho
1st pers	deseyyaṁ, deseyyāmi	deseyyāma	deseyyaṁ, desaye	deseyyāmase
	karo (could do)
3rd pers	kare, kareyya	kareyyu, kareyyuṁ	karetha	kareraṁ
2nd pers	kare, kareyyāsi	kareyyātha	karetho	kareyyavho
1st pers	kare, kareyyāmi	kareyyāma	kareyyaṁ	kareyyāmase

For more alternative forms it's a good idea to search either Muller (pg. 79) or Oberlies (pg.223). Details on the Pali resources page. The important thing here is to be able to recognise the characteristics of the tense endings so you known where to look rather than remembering every combination.

Here's a video recap of the present tense moods in Pali.

Present Verb Moods [ Indicative; Imperative; Optative ]

In this tutorial we look at the present tense verb in the Pali language. Pāḷi grammar has three moods or modes, which are used to express the speaker’s attitude toward the action.

Future tense

The future in Pāḷi expresses the simple future 'I will go...'. It is also used to make generalizing statements more emphatically than the present indicative, such as describing laws of nature:

manussā marissanti"
"Humans will die

The future may also express perplexity, surprise, wonder:

na vatimāni manussabhūtassa padāni bhavissanti“
"These will not be the footprints of a human?!

The meanings of the future tense include the expression of the probable and of the hypothetical future as well as of certainty. 'I shall' vs 'I will' or 'how will he...?'
It is also sometimes used in the imperfective (progressive) sense, 'I will be going...'

So far the inflection of the present tenses (indicative, imperative, & optative) has been formed from the present stem alone, but the non-present tenses (future, & past) are usually formed directly from the root and sometime also from the present stem! (And actually there are some irregular present tense verbs formed from roots too).

The future tense verb is formed by addition of the infix -issa- to either the present stem, or more commonly, directly to the verb root (usually having been strengthened). The present indicative personal endings are then appended to indicate person and number. Note: Stems of the seventh conjugation (ie. those ending in –e) take the infix -essa-

	Verb base
prefix	root/stem	infix	ending
-	√gam	+ issa	+ ti
	gamissati
	gaccha	+ issa	+ ti
	gacchissati

So if we combine the future infix with the present indicative endings, we get:

Future stems endings

	Active voice			Reflexive voice
	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
3rd pers	-ssati	-ssanti		-ssate	-ssante, -ssare
2nd pers	-ssasi	-ssatha		-ssase	-ssavhe
1st pers	-ssāmi, -ssaṁ	-ssāma		-sse	- ssāmhe (-ssāmahe, -ssāmha)

	Active		Reflexive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	gaccha (will go)
3rd pers	gacchissati	gacchissanti	gacchissate	gacchissante
2st pers	gacchissasi	gacchissatha	gacchissase	gacchissavhe
1st pers	gacchissāmi	gacchissāma	gacchissaṃ	gacchissāmhe
	kiṇā (will buy)
3rd pers	kiṇissati	kiṇissanti	kiṇissate	kiṇissante
2st pers	kiṇissasi	kiṇissatha	kiṇissase	kiṇissavhe
1st pers	kiṇissāmi	kiṇissāma	kiṇissaṃ	kiṇissāmhe
	dese / desaya (will teach)
3rd pers	desissati desessati	desissanti desessanti	desessate	desessante
2st pers	desissasi desessasi	desissatha desessatha	desessase	desessavhe
1st pers	desissāmi desessāmi	desissāma desessāma	desessaṃ	desessāmhe
	karo (will do)
3rd pers	karissati	karissanti	karissate	karissante
2st pers	karissasi	karissatha	karissase	karissavhe
1st pers	karissāmi	karissāma	karissaṃ	karissāmhe

Oberlies (pg.249) also identifies other forms which he calls the h-future, cch-future & ñch-future: All these in the active voice:

	h-future			cch-future			ñch-future
	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
3rd pers	-hiti, -hati	-hanti		-cchati	-cchanti		- ñchiti	-ñchinti
2nd pers	-hisi	-hatha, -hitha		-cchasi	-cchatha		- ñchisi	-ñchitha
1st pers	-hāmi	-hāma		-cchāmi, -cchāṁ	-cchāma		-ñchāmi, -ñchāṁ -ñchiṁ	-ñchāma

As there are so many combinations I won't go into a paradigm table here.

Here's another tutorial video covering the future verb form in pali.

Future tense verbs :Learn Pali Language

In this tutorial we look at the future tense in the Pāli language. Specifically, the simple future verb mood. It details how the future tense verb is created and how they are used.

Conditional mood

The conditional verb is rare; the optative is usually used to express the typical sense of given a condition, something may occur. And so it is used for counterfactual assertions, or when an action is unable to be carried out due to some obstacle. It is also used for hypothetical as part of a conditional clause. See my previous post.

The conditional verb is formed from a combination of future and past inflection. i.e. by adding aorist endings to the future base. The aorist augment is ‘a-‘ is obligatory. (aorist will be dealt with in the next post)

Here are a couple of examples:

	Verb Base
prefix	augment	root/stem	infix	ending
-	a	√gam	-issa-.	Ø	2nd per, sgl
	agamissa				= had you gone
-	a	gaccha	-issa-.	+ aṃ	1st per, sgl
	agacchissaṃ				= had I gone

	Active			Reflexive
	Singular	Plural		Singular	Plural
3rd pers	-ssā, -ssa, -ssati	-ssaṁsu		-ssatha	-ssiṃsu
2nd pers	-sse, -ssa, -ssasi	-ssatha		-ssase	-ssavhe
1st pers	-ssaṁ	-ssāma, -ssamhā -ssāmhā		-ssaṁ	-ssamhase -ssāmhase

As these are rare the reflexive endings are mainly theoretical...

	Active		Reflexive
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
	gaccha (would have gone)
3rd pers	agacchissa agacchissā	agacchissaṃsu agacchissiṃsu	agacchissatha	agacchissiṃsu
2st pers	agacchissa agacchisse	agacchissatha	agacchissase	agacchissavhe
1st pers	agacchissaṃ	agacchissamha agacchissamhā agacchissāmhā	agacchissiṃ	agacchissāmhase
	karo (would have done)
3rd pers	akarissa akarissā	akarissaṃsu akarissiṃsu	akarissatha	akarissiṃsu
2st pers	akarissa akarisse	akarissatha	akarissase	akarissavhe
1st pers	akarissaṃ	akarissamha akarissamhā akarissāmhā	akarissiṃ	akarissāmhase

We'll look at the Aorist or past Pali tense in the next posts....