Describing Words Before Nouns
A describing word comes before the noun and usually stays the same: ডাঙৰ ঘৰ “a big house”.
How It Works
Most Assamese describing words do not change for gender, number or case. ডাঙৰ stays ডাঙৰ everywhere.
| Before a noun | At the end of a sentence |
|---|---|
| ডাঙৰ ঘৰ “a big house” | সেই ঘৰখন ডাঙৰ। “That house is big.” |
| সৰু কুকুৰ “a small dog” | কুকুৰটো সৰু। “The dog is small.” |
With a number, the number and its classifier come first: এখন ডাঙৰ হাস্পতাল “a big hospital”. Then comes the describing word and the noun.
The same word goes with a man or a woman: ডাঙৰ ল’ৰা “a big boy” and ডাঙৰ ছোৱালী “a big girl”.
A few describing words borrowed from Sanskrit come in pairs, such as বুদ্ধিমান and বুদ্ধিমতী “intelligent”.
Examples (5)
- ডাঙৰ ঘৰ
A big house.
ডাঙৰ stands before ঘৰ and takes no ending.
- এইখন এখন ডাঙৰ হাস্পতাল।
This is a big hospital.
The classifier এখন comes first, then ডাঙৰ and the noun.
- তাই এজনী ধুনীয়া ছোৱালী।
She is a beautiful girl.
ধুনীয়া stays the same for a girl.
- সেই ঘৰখন ডাঙৰ।
That house is big.
At the end of a sentence ডাঙৰ follows the noun.
- মোৰ এটা সৰু কুকুৰ আছে।
I have a small dog.
সৰু stands between এটা and the noun.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A describing word stands before the noun in the sentence, so learners need the word order first.
Related Patterns
- বৰ / বহুত / অলপVery, Much and a Little
বৰ strengthens a describing word, as in বৰ ডাঙৰ.
Level 1 - No Gender on Verbs
Verbs and most describing words do not change for gender.
Level 1 - Sentences Without a Verb
A sentence like সেই ঘৰখন ডাঙৰ needs no verb.
Level 1 - -খন for the Flat ThingThe Flat Thing: -খন
-খন makes ঘৰ definite.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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