Basic Word Order

FoundationsSounds Like vākyātīla śabdakrama

Time and place words come before the object, and a question word stays in the place where the answer would stand.

How It Works

English puts the verb in the middle. Marathi puts it at the end.

DoerTime or placeObjectVerb
सईचहापिते.
ओंकाररोज शाळेतजातो.
आजोबासकाळीपेपरवाचतात.

Case endings and postpositions stay on their noun, and the noun keeps its place before the verb: मी तुला फोन करतो.

Questions use the same order. The question word stands where the answer would stand: तू काय करतेस? (What are you doing?), तुम्ही कुठे राहता? (Where do you live?)

Helping verbs close the sentence after the main verb: सई चहा पीत आहे. The main verb and आहे stay together at the end.

Examples (5)

  1. सई चहा पिते.

    Sai drinks tea.

    The verb पिते stands last.

  2. ओंकार रोज शाळेत जातो.

    Omkar goes to school every day.

    Time and place come before the verb जातो.

  3. आई बाजारातून भाजी आणते.

    Mom brings vegetables from the market.

    The object भाजी comes before the verb आणते.

  4. मी तुला फोन करतो.

    I call you. A man is speaking.

    तुला and फोन come before the verb.

  5. आजोबा सकाळी पेपर वाचतात.

    Grandfather reads the newspaper in the morning.

    The order is doer, time, object, verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting आहे before the main verb.

    सई चहा आहे पीत.
    सई चहा पीत आहे.

    The main verb comes first, and आहे closes the sentence after it.

How It Connects

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Basic Word OrderFoundations

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