Sanskrit Words and Their Marathi Forms
तत्सम words are the Sanskrit ones, and तद्भव words are the ones that grew from them into everyday Marathi.
How It Works
Marathi has two layers. Words that kept their Sanskrit shape are तत्सम. Words that changed over the centuries into the sounds of Marathi are तद्भव. A pair often exists for the same thing.
| तत्सम (formal) | तद्भव (everyday) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| हस्त | हात | hand |
| कर्ण | कान | ear |
| ग्राम | गाव | village |
| दुग्ध | दूध | milk |
| अग्नी | आग | fire |
| मस्तक | माथा | forehead, head |
In conversation, use the तद्भव word: गावात, हाताने, दूध. In news and official text the तत्सम word often appears inside compounds: ग्रामसभा, दुग्धशाळा, अग्निशमन, कर्णरोगतज्ज्ञ.
The two forms often sit in one sentence: अग्निशमन दलाने आग विझवली. The formal compound names the fire brigade, and the plain word names the fire.
Some तत्सम words are used in everyday speech with no change, such as फळ, पुस्तक and वन. Only the words that changed form come in pairs.
When you meet a long formal word, look for the तत्सम part inside it, and you can guess the everyday word it came from.
Examples (5)
- ग्रामसभेत पाणीटंचाईवर चर्चा झाली.
The village assembly discussed the water shortage.
ग्राम is the तत्सम form, and the everyday word is गाव.
- आजीने हाताने पुरणपोळ्या लाटल्या.
Grandmother rolled out the puran polis by hand.
हात is the तद्भव form of हस्त.
- अग्निशमन दलाने आग विझवली.
The fire brigade put out the fire.
अग्नी appears in the formal compound and आग in the plain word.
- दुग्धशाळेतून रोज ताजे दूध येते.
Fresh milk comes from the dairy every day.
दुग्ध is the तत्सम form in the compound, and दूध is the everyday word.
- कानात त्रास होत असल्याने तो कर्णरोगतज्ज्ञाकडे गेला.
Because his ear was troubling him, he went to an ear specialist.
कान is the everyday word, and कर्ण appears in the formal title.
Common Mistakes
Using the Hindi spelling हाथ.
आजीने हाथाने पुरणपोळ्या लाटल्या.आजीने हाताने पुरणपोळ्या लाटल्या.हाथ is Hindi. The Marathi word is हात.
Splitting a formal compound.
ग्राम सभेत पाणीटंचाईवर चर्चा झाली.ग्रामसभेत पाणीटंचाईवर चर्चा झाली.A compound is written as one word.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Sanskrit-derived and everyday words form two layers of vocabulary, which only makes sense beside the standard-versus-spoken distinction and word-building.
Related Patterns
- Compound Words
These formal compounds are built from तत्सम parts.
Level 6 - Sound Joins in Formal Words
तत्सम parts also merge their sounds.
Level 6 - -पणा / -ता / -त्वMaking Abstract Nouns
These endings attach to Sanskrit words.
Level 5 - निर्णय घेणे / प्रयत्न करणेFormal Noun and Verb Phrases
Formal writing often pairs तत्सम nouns with a plain verb.
Level 5
Practice Sanskrit Words and Their Marathi Forms in Bubblegum
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