गर्- / जा-

Stems Ending in Consonants and Vowels

Level 1Sounds Like gar- ra jā

Three kinds of stem take the present ending in three ways.

How It Works

The stem is the dictionary form without -नु. The last sound of the stem decides how you join the ending.

Stem ends inStemPresent (ऊ)
a consonantगर्, बस्गर्छ, बस्छ
a vowelजा, खा, हुजान्छ, खान्छ, हुन्छ
उ after a vowelपिउ, आउपिउँछ, आउँछ

With a vowel stem, a न् slips in before the ending, so जा plus -छ gives जान्छ. With पिउ and आउ, the vowel turns nasal and there is no न्.

The same changes happen with every plain ending: म जान्छु, तिमी जान्छौ, म पिउँछु, तिमी पिउँछौ. The polite -नुहुन्छ is different: it joins the stem with no change, as in जानुहुन्छ and पिउनुहुन्छ.

The chandrabindu is part of the spelling. पिउछ is wrong, and so is पिउन्छ.

Examples (5)

  1. ऊ काम गर्छ।

    He works.

    गर् ends in a consonant, so -छ is added directly.

  2. ऊ यहाँ बस्छ।

    He lives here.

    बस् also ends in a consonant.

  3. म भात खान्छु।

    I eat rice.

    खा ends in a vowel, so न् comes before -छु.

  4. तिमी चिया पिउँछौ।

    You drink tea.

    पिउ turns nasal and takes -छौ.

  5. भोलि मेरा साथी आउँछन्।

    My friends are coming tomorrow.

    आउ turns nasal in the same way.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -छ straight to a vowel stem.

    ऊ भात खाछ।
    ऊ भात खान्छ।

    A vowel stem needs the न् before -छ.

  • Using न् instead of the nasal on पिउ.

    म चिया पिउन्छु।
    म चिया पिउँछु।

    After उ the vowel turns nasal and there is no न्.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

गर्- / जा-Level 1Stems Ending in Consonants and Vowels

Learn This First

Stems end in consonants or vowels, so the learner needs a verb to look at.