Assamese Grammar List

Learn the ten digits. They are the same shapes as the Bengali digits.

Put ।, called দাৰি, at the end of a statement. Questions end with ? and exclamations end with !.

In a joined shape the consonants are read left to right, and only the last one takes the vowel.

Learn the letters first. A vowel sign beside a consonant gives that consonant its vowel.

Write ’ in words such as ল’ৰা and ক’ত. Without the mark, the vowel is ô and the word may mean something else.

Say ô after a consonant that has no sign. Skip the last ô of a word, so ঘৰ ends with the r.

Use a full vowel letter when no consonant comes before the vowel. Use a sign when a consonant comes before it.

Say the vowel with air through the nose when you see ঁ. The mark can change the word, so বাহ and বাঁহ differ.

Say the same sound for ই and ঈ, and for উ and ঊ. The spelling of each word tells you which letter to write.

Say s for both চ and ছ. Learn which letter a word uses by its spelling.

Say z for both জ and য. The letter য় with a dot below is a different letter that sounds like y.

A dot below ড and ঢ makes new letters that sound like r.

In most words, say x, a breathy sound at the back of the mouth, for স, শ and ষ. The letter খ is often said the same way.

Say t at the end of the syllable when you see ৎ. No vowel sign goes on it.

Write ৰ for the r sound and ৱ for the w sound. The Bengali look-alike of ৰ is a different letter.

Add -খন to the noun: কিতাপ is “book” and কিতাপখন is “the book”.

Use -জন for a man or a person in general, and -জনী for a woman: মানুহজন “the man” and ছোৱালীজনী “the girl”.

Add -টো to a noun for “the”: আম is “mango” and আমটো is “the mango”.

Add -ত to the end of a place word: ঘৰত “at home” and পাকঘৰত “in the kitchen”.

Join -ৰ to the owner and put the thing owned after it: ৰিনাৰ ঘৰ “Rina’s house”.

Put the verb at the end of the sentence. The doer comes first, and the thing usually comes right before the verb.

Put the describing word first and the noun after it: ডাঙৰ ঘৰ “a big house”.

The same verb goes with সি “he” and তাই “she”: সি নাযায় and তাই নাযায়.

Say the two ideas next to each other: সি এজন ল’ৰা “he is a boy”.

Use আছে to say that something is in a place or that someone has something. The form does not change.

Say আছোঁ with মই and আমি, আছা with তুমি, and আছে with আপুনি, তেওঁ, সি and তাই.

To say “today” or “now”, use them as they are, with no ending: আজি সোমবাৰ “today is Monday”.

তাৰ is “his” and তাইৰ is “her” for a person you know well. তেওঁৰ is “his” or “her” for a person you respect.

Put ইয়াত or তাত in the sentence like any place word: সেইখন কিতাপ ইয়াত আছে “that book is here”.

Say এই or সেই first and then the noun with its ending: এই আমটো মিঠা “this mango is sweet”.

Use them for a book, a house or a map. They can stand alone or come before the noun.

Use them for a person: এইজন মোৰ ককাই “this is my elder brother”. Use এইজনী and সেইজনী for a woman.

Use them alone, without a noun: এইটো কাৰ ফোন? “whose phone is this?”.

Learn the ten counting words. With a thing or a person you add a small word called a classifier, and the two join into one word.

Join the number and -খন and put the noun after it: এখন কিতাপ “a book”.

Write the number and -জন as one word and put it before the word for the person.

Join the number and -জনী and put the word for the woman after it: এজনী ছোৱালী “a girl”.

Write the number and -টা as one word and put it before the noun: দুটা মেকুৰী “two cats”.

Say কাৰ and then the thing: এইটো কাৰ ফোন? “whose phone is this?”. It can also end a short question.

Put কি in the place of the answer. In a sentence like আপোনাৰ নাম কি? it comes last.

Put কিয় before the verb: তুমি কিয় ভয় কৰা? “why are you afraid?”. With no verb it often comes last.

Put কেতিয়া in the place of the time: তুমি কেতিয়া ব্যস্ত? “when are you busy?”.

Ask কেনে আছা? to a friend and কেনে আছে? to someone you respect. A common answer is ভালে আছোঁ “I am well”.

Use কেনেকৈ before a verb to ask how: কেনেকৈ কৰোঁ? Use কেনে to ask what something is like: তুমি কেনে আছা?

Use কোন for a person: ঘৰত কোন আছে? Put it before a noun to pick one: কোন শ্ৰেণী “which class”.

Add -ওঁ after মই and আমি, -া after তুমি, and -ে after আপুনি, তেওঁ, সি and তাই.

Put ক’ত before the verb: বাথৰুম ক’ত আছে? In a short question the verb can be left out.

The verb খা means “eat” and also “drink”. Its forms are মই খাওঁ, তুমি খোৱা and সি খায়.

Pick তুমি or আপুনি first, and then use the verb ending that goes with it: -া for তুমি and -ে for আপুনি.

Use তেওঁ for an older or respected person. Its verb ending is the same as the one for আপুনি.

Write ন- before the verb. The vowel after ন usually matches the first vowel of the verb form: নকৰোঁ, নাখাওঁ, নিদিওঁ and নোখোৱা.

Say নমস্কাৰ as a polite hello. Say ধন্যবাদ to thank someone.

Put নহয় after the noun or the describing word. In everyday speech it stays the same for every person. The short “yes” is হয়.

Use নাই as the opposite of আছে. It stays the same for every person.

Say the sentence and put নেকি last. Answer “yes” with হয় or অঁ, and “no” with নহয় “it is not” or নাই “there is none”, whichever fits.

Put বৰ before a describing word: চাহ বৰ গৰম “the tea is very hot”.

Say মই for one person and আমি for more than one. The verb ends in ওঁ for both.

Use তোমাৰ for a friend or a younger person and আপোনাৰ for someone you respect. All three stand before the noun.

Say মই যাওঁ, তুমি যোৱা and সি যায়. The negative of the first is নাযাওঁ.

Say সি for a man or boy and তাই for a woman or girl. The verb is the same for both.

Say হয় to agree with someone. Say অঁ for a quick, casual “yes”. To say no, say নহয় or নাই.

A noun that does something often takes -এ, as in মাকে ভাত ৰান্ধে “Mother cooks rice”. The pronouns মই, তুমি and আপুনি take no ending.

Add -ও to the word that is “also” true: মই becomes ময়ো, তুমি becomes তুমিও, তাই becomes তায়ো. After the doer ending -ৱে it becomes -ৱেও.

Add -ক to the person who is told, given something, asked or liked, as in ৰফিকুলক কওক “tell Rafiqul”. A thing usually takes no ending.

Add -নে to the end of the sentence, joined to the last word: আপুনি আহিব খোজে becomes আপুনি আহিব খোজেনে? “do you want to come?”.

Add -বোৰ or -বিলাক to a noun for “the many”, as in মানুহবোৰ “the people” and দোকানবিলাক “the shops”.

Add -লৈ to a place to say where you go, as in স্কুললৈ যাওঁ “I go to school”.

Add -সকল to a word for people, as in বন্ধুসকল “the friends”. It is common in writing and sounds respectful.

Add -হে to the word you want to point at: তাই হোৱাইট মীটহে খায় “she eats only white meat”. It tells the listener that this word is the one that counts.

Say যাব বিচাৰোঁ “I want to go” or পঢ়িব খোজে “wants to study”. The ending of খোজ or বিচাৰ shows the person.

Say মোৰ কাষত বহক “please sit beside me”. Add -ৰ to the person or place, then কাষত or ওচৰত.

Say the place or person, then -ৰ পৰা, as in গুৱাহাটীৰ পৰা “from Guwahati”.

Add -ৰ to the person or thing and then বাবে, as in মোৰ বাবে “for me” and আটাইৰে বাবে চাহ “tea for everyone”.

Name the two things with আৰু and put -ৰ মাজত last: ঘৰ আৰু স্কুলৰ মাজত “between the house and the school”. For “among”, use one word for the group: আমাৰ মাজত “among us”.

Add -ৰ to the person and then লগত, as in মোৰ লগত আহক “please come with me”.

Verbs show the person but never the number. The same ending is used for one person and for a group.

Say the thing with -ৰ and then আগত or পিছত, as in ঘৰৰ আগত “in front of the house”. On their own, আগত means “ahead” and পিছত means “later”.

Put আৰু between two words: ৰূপজ্যোতি আৰু জোনালী “Rupjyoti and Jonali”. Put কিন্তু at the start of a second idea, after a comma: তাই সাঁতোৰে, কিন্তু নুডুবে “she swims, but she does not sink”.

Say the number, the measure word and then the thing: এক কাপ চাহ “a cup of tea”, এক কেজি আলু “a kilo of potatoes”. With এ- “one”, the number and গিলাচ join: এগিলাচ পানী “a glass of water”.

Put the number and -গৰাকী before the person word: এগৰাকী শিক্ষক “one teacher”, দুগৰাকী শিক্ষক “two teachers”. It is a polite way to count men and women alike.

Join the number to -ডাল: এডাল, দুডাল. Then write the thing: এডাল টাই “a tie”, দুডাল কলম “two pens”. Do not use it for people.

Say টেবুলৰ ওপৰত “on the table” and টেবুলৰ তলত “under the table”. They stand after the place.

Use কওঁ with মই, কোৱা with তুমি and কয় with সি, তাই and আপুনি. The negative adds ন-: নকওঁ, নকয়.

Put কিছু before a noun for “a little” or “some”: কিছু চাহ “a little tea”. Put কিছুমান before a noun for “some” out of a bigger group: কিছুমান মানুহ “some people”.

Put কিমান where the amount belongs. To ask a price, say the thing, then দাম, then কিমান: এইটোৰ দাম কিমান? To ask “how much” of something, put কিমান before it.

Put কেই- before the same counting word you would use for the answer: কেইটা for things and animals, কেইজন for men and people, কেইজনী for women, কেইখন for things counted with -খন, such as books, houses and chairs.

For আপুনি, say চাহ দিয়ক “please give tea”. For তুমি, say ইয়ালৈ আহাঁ “come here”, with the nasal mark ঁ.

Say কৰি আছোঁ for মই, কৰি আছা for তুমি and কৰি আছে for আপুনি, তেওঁ, সি and তাই.

Say থাকি থকা নাই for “am not staying”. The ending is the same for every person.

Use -িম with মই and আমি, -িবা with তুমি, and -িব with আপুনি, তেওঁ, সি and তাই. So মই কৰিম means “I will do it”.

Use চাওঁ with মই, চোৱা with তুমি and চায় with সি, তাই, তেওঁ and আপুনি. The negative is নাচায়, with না-.

Say ছাৰ or বাইদেউ after a greeting or at the start of a question, as in নমস্কাৰ ছাৰ! and বাইদেউ, আপোনাৰ নাম কি? They are used in place of a name.

The first-person ending is -ওঁ, but after ঙ, ঞ, ণ, ন and ম it is usually written -ো without the nasal mark. So the usual spellings are জানো, শুনো “I hear” and কিনো “I buy”.

Add -ক to the person word when that person receives the action: মই তাক ভাল পাওঁ “I like him”. তাক is for সি, তাইক is for তাই, তেওঁক is for someone you respect, and সিহঁতক is for সিহঁত.

Add -লোক to তোমা- or আপোনা- to speak to a group. The verb ends in -া for তোমালোক and -ে for আপোনালোক.

Say the number before the thing: দহ টকা “ten rupees”. Things you count take a counting word after the number, such as বাৰটা “twelve (things)”. Some writers spell twenty বিছ.

For “father” and “mother”, say মোৰ দেউতা and মোৰ মা for “my”, তোমাৰ দেউতাৰা and তোমাৰ মাৰা for “your” to a friend, and আপোনাৰ দেউতাক and আপোনাৰ মাক for “your” to a person you respect.

Say খং নকৰিব! to a respected person and ভয় নকৰিবা to a friend. A friend's command often ends in the nasal mark: চিন্তা নকৰিবাঁ!

Put বা between the two choices: ৰাজু বা মিনু “Raju or Minu”. In a question that asks which one, put নে between the choices: তাই গ্ৰীক নে ৰাছিয়ান? “is she Greek or Russian?”.

Say ব’লাঁ and the verb in the মই form: ব’লাঁ নদীৰ ফালে যাওঁ “let us go to the river”. ব’লাঁ can come first or last. Use it with a friend you call তুমি.

ভাই “brother”, ভনী “younger sister” and ককাই “elder brother” are the words for “my”: মোৰ ভাই, মোৰ ভনী, মোৰ ককাই. For “his”, “her” or a name they become ভায়েক, ভনীয়েক and ককায়েক.

Say মই চাহ ভাল পাওঁ “I like tea” and সি চাহ ভাল পায় “he likes tea”. The person who likes comes first.

Put the person first with -ৰ, then the thing, then ভাল লাগে, as in মোৰ কেণ্ডেললাইট ভাল লাগে “I like candlelight”.

Say ঘৰৰ ভিতৰত “inside the house” and ঘৰৰ বাহিৰত “outside the house”. With no noun in front, they mean “inside” and “outside”.

Use মোক for me, তোমাক for a friend and আপোনাক for someone you respect. So মোক নক’ব means “do not tell me”.

যা “go” gives যাম, যাবা and যাব. The -ি of কৰিম is not needed after a vowel.

Use লওঁ with মই, লোৱা with তুমি and লয় with সি, তাই and আপুনি. The negative adds ন-: নলওঁ, নলয়.

Say মোক চাহ লাগে “I want tea” and মোক সহায় নালাগে “I do not need help”.

সকলো stands alone as “everything” or “everyone”: মই সকলো জানো “I know everything”. আটাই comes before a counting word: আটাইকেইটা আপেল “all the apples”. When everyone does something to something, সকলো usually becomes সকলোৱে.

Say সিহঁত for friends, family, children, animals and things, and তেওঁলোক for elders and people you respect. The verb ends in -ে for both.

The days are সোমবাৰ, মঙলবাৰ, বুধবাৰ, বৃহস্পতিবাৰ, শুকুৰবাৰ, শনিবাৰ and দেওবাৰ. Add -ে to say “on” that day: আমি দেওবাৰে খেলোঁ “we play on Sundays”.

Use হওঁ with মই, হোৱা with তুমি and হয় with সি, তাই, তেওঁ and আপুনি. হয় also means “it happens” and “it becomes”.

Say মই হ’ম, তুমি হ’বা and সি হ’ব for “will be” or “will become”. Keep the apostrophe.

Add -ই to the word you want to stress. Its shape changes a little after different letters.

ভাইটি is ভাই “brother” with the ending -টি. It is a warm word for a younger brother.

Put -তকৈ on the thing you compare with, then say the describing word.

Add -িবলৈ to the stem to say why someone does something. After a stem that ends in a vowel, such as খা or দি, add -বলৈ.

Put the verb in the -ি form and add দিয়ক, দিলে or another form of দিয়া.

Put the verb in the -ি form and add পেলালোঁ, পেলালা or পেলালে for the past.

Put the verb in the -ি form and add যায়, যাব, গৈছে or গ’ল. The result is a change that goes on or finishes.

Put the verb in the -ি form and add লওক, ল’লে or another form of লোৱা.

Add -েৰে to a word that ends in a consonant and -ৰে to a word that ends in a vowel, to say what you use or how you go.

Put the thing you compare with first, then -ৰ, then দৰে as a separate word.

Use the -িব form for আপুনি and the -িবা form (often written -িবাঁ) for তুমি to ask politely. Add ন- to say “please do not”.

Put the -া form of a verb right before a noun to say “the one who …” or “that was …”.

Say the person with -ৰ, then the feeling, then লাগে or লাগিছে, as in মোৰ ভোক লাগিছে “I am hungry”.

Say the number and বজা, and add -ত to say “at”. To ask the time, say কিমান বাজিছে?

Write years, clock times and numbers such as ৫ নং with Assamese digits. Small counts of things are still words with a classifier.

আছিল is the past of আছে. Its ending changes with the person: আছিলোঁ, আছিলা, আছিল. নাছিল is the negative.

ইমান goes before a describing word or a verb to say how much. সিমান points to an amount already mentioned.

Use একো with a negative verb or নাই to say “nothing”. Use কোনো before a noun to say “any” or “no”.

Use কালি for “yesterday” and কাইলৈ for “tomorrow”.

Put কাৰণ at the start of the part that gives the reason.

Use কিবা for a thing you do not name and কোনোবা for a person you do not name.

কেতিয়াও with a negative verb means “never”. এতিয়াও means “still”, or “not yet” with a negative.

Take the -া form of the verb and add নাই. The form does not change with the person.

Take the -া form and add নাছিলোঁ, নাছিলা or নাছিল with the person ending.

Add -ি to the stem, or -ই after a stem that ends in -া, to say “having done”. The last verb of the sentence carries the tense and the person.

Take the -ি form of the verb and add আছিলোঁ, আছিলা or আছিল. The ending shows the person.

Take the -ি form, then থকা and নাছিলোঁ, নাছিলা, নাছিল or নাছিলে with the person ending.

Add -িছিলোঁ for মই and আমি, -িছিলা for তুমি, and -িছিল for সি, তাই and তেওঁ.

Add -িছোঁ for মই and আমি, -িছা for তুমি, and -িছে for আপুনি, তেওঁ, সি and তাই.

Put the verb in the -িব form (-ব after a vowel, as in খাব), then add পাৰোঁ, পাৰা or পাৰে. For “cannot”, use নোৱাৰোঁ, নোৱাৰা or নোৱাৰে.

Add -িলোঁ, -িলা or -িলে to the verb stem: কৰ gives কৰিলোঁ, কৰিলা, কৰিলে. A stem that ends in a vowel, such as শু, adds -লোঁ, -লা and -লে.

For a stem that ends in a vowel, add -লোঁ, -লা or -লে without the ি. খা “eat” gives মই খালোঁ, তুমি খালা, সি খালে.

Put গতিকে at the start of the part that tells the result.

Most verbs end in -লে for the third person in the past, with ি first after a consonant: কিনিলে “bought”. After a vowel there is no ি: দিলে, ক’লে. The verbs গ’ল, হ’ল, আহিল and সোমাল usually end in -ল.

Use গ’লোঁ with মই and আমি, গ’লা with তুমি, গ’লে with আপুনি and গ’ল with সি, তাই and তেওঁ. The apostrophe is part of the spelling: গ’ল.

Use চিনি পা for a person or place you know. The person known takes -ক.

Join -চোন to the end of a polite request. For আপুনি it follows -ক, and for তুমি it follows -াঁ.

Say a month by name. Add -ত to say “in” that month, or put মাহ “month” after the name.

Both words are time words that usually stand near the start of the sentence, before the verb.

The negative past is ন- plus the past verb, and the vowel after ন copies the first vowel of the verb: নকৰিলোঁ, নুবুজিলে, নিদিলে, নেদেখিলোঁ. Verbs that start with ক’, হ’ or ল’ keep a plain ন.

Use নিজে next to the doer to say “by oneself”. Use নিজৰ before a noun to say “own”.

Put বুলি right after the words that are said or thought, then the verb: ক’লে “said”, ভাবে “thinks”.

Put যে right before the thing that is known, said or thought. The part after যে is a full sentence.

Put যেতিয়া in the first part to say “when”, and তেতিয়া in the second part to say “then”. The second word can be left out.

Put সকলোতকৈ before the describing word to say “the most” or “the -est”.

Put সদায় before the verb to say that something happens all the time.

Use সৌ for a place or thing that is far from both of you but in sight. It usually comes before তাত “there”.

Add -ওঁতে to the stem to say what was going on at the same time as another action.

The ending -তো on a word shows that the speaker expects the listener to agree, like “surely” or “you know”: তুমিতো জানাই “you know that, don’t you”.

Add -ৰ to the person or thing, then write দ্বাৰা as a separate word, to say who did it or what was used.

Put the topic in the -ৰ form and add বিষয়ে, as in চীনৰ বিষয়ে “about China”. সম্পৰ্কে means the same and usually follows the plain noun.

Put মতে after a person in the -ৰ form to say what that person thinks, as in মোৰ মতে “in my view”. Put অনুসৰি after a rule, a record or some information to say “according to” it.

-ৰ সৈতে means “with” a person, and it is common in careful writing, as in মোৰ ল’ৰাৰ সৈতে “with my son”. It can also join a thing to another thing.

আনকি means “even” and points to a surprising example at the end of a list or a comparison. It often stands with -ও on the word it points to.

Put the -া form of the verb before উচিত to say what someone should do. Add নহয় for “should not”.

Some counting words name a shape or a kind of group: -খিলা for leaves, -জাক for showers and flocks, and -পাট for long thin things such as an arrow or an oar.

এনেকুৱা is “this kind of” and তেনেকুৱা is “that kind of”. They can stand before a noun or on their own at the end of a sentence.

Use the bare stem for the present, -িলি for the past and -িবি for the future after তই.

Use the -া form of the verb with হয় for what is done as a rule, and হ’ল for what was done once.

Use the -া form with হৈছে for what has been done and হ’ব for what will be done.

Take the -া form of a verb, add -ৰ, and put পিছত “after” or আগতে “before” next to it. So হোৱাৰ পিছত means “after it happens”.

Use the -িব form of the verb, then নালাগে, to say “does not have to” or “should not”.

Use the -িব form of the verb, then লাগিব or লাগে, to say “must” or “have to”.

Add -িবলগীয়া to a verb stem to name something that has to be done, as in কৰিবলগীয়া কাম “work to do”.

Lengthen the stem to say that someone does the action for or through another: পঢ় “read” becomes পঢ়া- “teach”.

Use the bare stem to tell a very close person what to do. Use -াঁ for তুমি and -ক for আপুনি.

Use the -া form of the verb and add -টো to talk about the action itself, as in খোৱাটো “eating” or “the eating”.

Say তই for “you”, তোৰ for “your” and তোক for “you” as the receiver. They are rude to most people.

Use তথাপি when a sentence goes against what was said before it. It usually opens the sentence.

Put the negative prefix on the verb’s -া form and add -কৈ to say “without doing” something: কৰা becomes নকৰাকৈ, and কোৱা becomes নোকোৱাকৈ.

Add a comma and নহয় নে after a statement to ask the listener to agree, like “isn’t it?” or “don’t you?”. It is often written as one word, নহয়নে.

প্ৰথম is “first”, দ্বিতীয় is “second” and তৃতীয় is “third”. Put one before a noun, as in তৃতীয় ঘৰ “third home”.

বহুতে means “many people” and কিছুমানে means “some people”. Both take the doer ending -এ and stand before the verb.

The Assamese months are ব’হাগ, জেঠ and আহাৰ; শাওণ, ভাদ and আহিন; কাতি, আঘোণ and পুহ; then মাঘ, ফাগুন and চ’ত. Each starts in the middle of an English month.

Add -কৈ to a describing word to say how an action is done: ভাল “good” gives ভালকৈ “well”, and আগতীয়া “early” gives আগতীয়াকৈ “in advance”.

Two words that go together can be joined with a hyphen to name a pair or a group, as in মাক-দেউতাক “parents” and ল’ৰা-ছোৱালী “children”.

Say a word twice, with a hyphen or a space, to mean “slowly”, “again and again” or “day by day”. লাহে-লাহে means “slowly”, and বাৰে বাৰে means “again and again”.

The ending -লেও on a verb means “even if” or “even when”, as in আৰু একো নহ’লেও মোক এখন চিঠি লিখাঁ “even if nothing else, write me one letter”.

Join -স্বৰূপে to a noun. It gives words such as উদাহৰণস্বৰূপে “for example” and উপহাৰস্বৰূপে “as a gift”.

The ending -হেঁতেন after a past form says what would have happened, but did not. So আমি সুখী হ’লোঁহেঁতেন means “we would have been happy”, and ভাস্কৰে এনেকুৱা কিবা নকৰিলেহেঁতেন means “Bhaskar would not have done such a thing”.

Usually put অৱশ্যে right after the word it points at. অৱশ্যেই is stronger and means “certainly”.

Start a sentence with ইয়াৰ ফলত to say what came out of the sentence before. After a noun, write ৰ ফলত for “as a result of …”.

Put কেৱল before the first thing and নহয় after it. Then name the second thing with the ending -ও.

The ending -লে on a verb means “if” or “when” and sets up a condition. So বৰষুণ দিলে মই নাযাওঁ means “if it rains, I will not go”, and the second part says what follows.

Use তদুপৰি for “in addition” and আনহাতে for “on the other hand” or “while”. Both start the second part of a pair of ideas.

নহ’লে after a word or a clause means “if not”, as in বাছখন সময়মতে নহ’লে, অনুগ্ৰহ কৰি মোক ফ’ন কৰিব “if the bus is not on time, please phone me”. After a sentence it can mean “otherwise”.

Write what the person said, then বুলি, then কৈছে or ক’লে. A name or a noun for the speaker takes -এ. A pronoun such as মই or তেওঁ usually stays bare.

Say what is not so, with নহয়, then write বৰং and the idea that is so.

যদি starts the condition and তেন্তে starts the result, as in যদি আপুনি সোনকালে আহে তেন্তে ভাল ঠাই পাব “if you come early, you will get a good place”. In writing, তেনেহ’লে also opens the second part.

যদিও means “although” and sets up something that goes against the main part. So যদিও জাৰ বেছি, ৰফিকুল ৰাতিপুৱাই ওলাই গ’ল means “even though it is very cold, Rafiqul left at dawn”.

Say the action first and then যাতে with the goal. The goal is a full clause with its own verb.

যাৰ and তাৰ point twice to the same person, like “whoever has … owns …”, as in জোৰ যাৰ মুলুক তাৰ “the land belongs to whoever has the strength”.

যি “whoever, what” points to something that the second part names with সেই or তাকেই. So যি মৰ্জি তাকেই কৰক means “do whatever you wish”.

যিখন, যিটো and যিজন start a describing clause, and a matching word such as সেইখন or তালৈ, before or after the clause, points to the same thing. So এইখনেই সেইখন গামোচা যিখন মই বজাৰত কিনিছিলোঁ means “this is the gamosa that I bought at the market”.

যিমান and সিমান match two amounts, like “as much as … that much”. So যিমান পাৰে জোৰ দিয়ক means “put in as much effort as you can”.

Put যিহেতু at the start of the reason and the main idea after the comma.

যেন means “as if” or “like”. With লাগে it says how something seems, as in ভাস্কৰক জধলা যেন লাগে “Bhaskar seems clumsy”.

যেনেকৈ and তেনেকৈ match two ways of doing something. So ভাস্কৰে ভাত যেনেকৈ খায়, মই তেনেকৈ নাখাওঁ means “I do not eat rice the way Bhaskar eats it”.

Put সম্ভৱতঃ before the part you are not sure about. The verb keeps its usual form.

Write the reason first and then সেয়েহে with the result. Write the result first and then কিয়নো with the reason.

হয়তো means “maybe” and বোধহয় means “probably”. Both stand early in the sentence, as in নাজমাৰ বোধহয় ভুল হৈছে “Nazma is probably wrong”.

Put হিচাপে after the noun that names the role. The noun takes no ending of its own, and হিচাপে stands apart.

Add -তা to a describing word to name the quality. জড় “dull” gives জড়তা “dullness”, and সফল “successful” gives সফলতা “success”.

Add -ভাৱে to a noun or a describing word to say “in that way”. It is common in formal writing.

A writer picks আপুনি for an elder, তুমি for a friend and তই for a child or a very close friend, and the verb ending follows.

Learn to spot a Sanskrit word by its joined letters and prefixes. Many sound formal, and people have an everyday word for many of them.

Learn a proverb whole. Many have two short halves that rhyme.

Learn an idiom as one block. Its words together mean something other than each word alone.

Put অথচ at the start of the second idea. A comma often comes before it, but not always, and it can begin a new sentence.

অনভ্যাসে means “through lack of practice” and হত means “lost”. Say the whole saying.

The first half names the thing that is not used. The second half uses -তকৈ “than” in থকাতকৈ.

The saying strings actions together with the -ি form পুতি, and আনলৈ means “for another”.

The ending -েই on ভালেই puts the focus on it. The verb is left out.

Even a tiger that kills a hundred cows meets its own death. The proverb uses -লে in মাৰিলে and -ৰো on বাঘ.

Say it whole. The frame যাৰ … তাৰ means “whose … belongs to that one”.