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Arnab
December 27, 2007, 10:16 PM
This Bengali lessons thread is meant to get you up and running in Bengali quickly. By "you" I mean someone who doesn't know how to speak or write Bengali. Someone who considers himself/herself poor at Bengali.

Before you start, think a little bit about what learning a language means. The immediate and basic purpose of a language is to communicate. Speaking a language is basically being able to describe actions or events or objects/animals/persons around us to other human beings. To describe an action, an event or an object/animal/person using Bengali language, you need to know the words in Bengali that let you describe Actions, Events and Objects/Animals/Persons.

Actions are things that are done by some agent. Sentences about actions answer this question: Who did what, to whom, with what, why, when, where and how?

Events are things that happen by themselves, without any agent. Sentences about events answer this question: What happened, when, where, why, and how?

Of course, we can choose to describe just Objects/Animals/Persons as well. Statements about objects answer mainly this question: What kind of Object/Animal/Person?

The three scenarios above pretty much nail down the very essence of any language.

You need to simultaneously learn two kinds of things to express yourself in Bengali: words, and the rules that let you string together words into sentences.

We will first start by introducing the different kinds of words.

Arnab
December 27, 2007, 11:06 PM
The words of Event

These are the verbs "to be", "to become", "to happen" in English.
There are mainly three verbs in Bengali for this: [বাংলা]হওয়া[/বাংলা], [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা] and [বাংলা]ঘটা[/বাংলা]
Just like the verbs to be, to become, to happen are the most important verbs in English to describe an event, similarly, the Bengali verbs [বাংলা]হওয়া[/বাংলা], [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা] and [বাংলা]ঘটা[/বাংলা] are very important.

So, to recap:

to be = [বাংলা]হওয়া[/বাংলা], [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা]
to become = [বাংলা]হওয়া[/বাংলা], [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা]
to happen = [বাংলা]হওয়া[/বাংলা], [বাংলা]ঘটা[/বাংলা]

The words of action

These are the rest of the verbs which describe actions done by some agent. There are many hundreds of them. We do many kinds of basic actions, and we have a verb for each of them in Bengali.

Here are some very familiar action words in Bengali:

to do = [বাংলা]করা[/বাংলা]
to make = [বাংলা]বানানো[/বাংলা]
to have/possess = [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা]

to give = [বাংলা]দেওয়া[/বাংলা]
to throw = [বাংলা]ছোঁড়া[/বাংলা]
to take = [বাংলা]নেওয়া[/বাংলা]
to hold/catch = [বাংলা]ধরা[/বাংলা]

to pull =[বাংলা] টানা[/বাংলা]
to push =[বাংলা] ঠেলা[/বাংলা]
to lift = [বাংলা]তোলা, উঠানো[/বাংলা]
to put sth. down = [বাংলা]নামানো[/বাংলা]

to wake up = [বাংলা]জাগা[/বাংলা]
to sleep = [বাংলা]ঘুমানো[/বাংলা]

to lie (as in lie down) = [বাংলা]শোওয়া[/বাংলা]
to get up/go up = [বাংলা]উঠা[/বাংলা]

to sit = [বাংলা]বসা[/বাংলা]
to stand = [বাংলা]দাঁড়ানো[/বাংলা]

to go = [বাংলা]যাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to come = [বাংলা]আসা[/বাংলা]
to walk = [বাংলা]হাঁটা[/বাংলা]
to run = [বাংলা]দৌড়ানো[/বাংলা]
to jump = [বাংলা]লাফানো[/বাংলা]

to go down = [বাংলা]নামা[/বাংলা]
to fall = [বাংলা]পড়া[/বাংলা]

to fly = [বাংলা]ওড়া[/বাংলা]
to swim = [বাংলা]সাঁতরানো[/বাংলা]

to wear = [বাংলা]পরা[/বাংলা]

to eat =[বাংলা] খাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to drink = [বাংলা]খাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to cook = [বাংলা]রাঁধা[/বাংলা]

to see/look = [বাংলা]দেখা[/বাংলা]
to touch = [বাংলা]ছোঁয়া[/বাংলা]
to smell = [বাংলা]শোঁকা[/বাংলা]
to taste = [বাংলা]স্বাদ নেওয়া, চাখা[/বাংলা]
to listen/hear = [বাংলা]শোনা[/বাংলা]
to speak =[বাংলা] বলা[/বাংলা]
to read = [বাংলা]পড়া[/বাংলা]
to write = [বাংলা]লেখা[/বাংলা]

to beat = [বাংলা]মারা[/বাংলা]
to cut = [বাংলা]কাটা[/বাংলা]
to choose = [বাংলা]বাছা[/বাংলা]

to want = [বাংলা]চাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to search = [বাংলা]খোঁজা[/বাংলা]
to get = [বাংলা]পাওয়া[/বাংলা]

to live = [বাংলা]বাঁচা[/বাংলা]
to die = [বাংলা]মরা[/বাংলা]

to buy = [বাংলা]কেনা[/বাংলা]
to sell = [বাংলা]বেচা[/বাংলা]

to smile/laugh = [বাংলা]হাসা[/বাংলা]
to cry = [বাংলা]কাঁদা[/বাংলা]

Arnab
December 27, 2007, 11:47 PM
The Who words

You now know quite a number of basic action words. Well, right now, you just know their basic infinitive or dictionary form. The Bengali action words, however, changes their form depending on

-Who is doing the action
-When is the action taking place
-Whether the action is completed, ongoing, or habitual.

But we are not going to worry about all of those at the moment. We will focus, for now, on the "Who is doing the action" part.

In order to use the action words properly in Bengali sentences, we will have to learn the essential Who words.

Who words can be any noun/pronoun that has the ability to do something. These include:

a) Some person's name: Tehsin, Rana, Zunaid, etc. These are trivial. These are equivalent of he/she/they type of pronouns.
b) All the pronouns that can be used as Who words: I, you, he/she, we, they, etc. in English. What are the pronouns in Bengali, then?

I = [বাংলা]আমি[/বাংলা]
You (someone close, someone "equal to you") = [বাংলা]তুমি[/বাংলা]
You (elders, honorable persons, or someone "above you") = [বাংলা]আপনি[/বাংলা]
You (someone very close, or someone "beneath you") = [বাংলা]তুই[/বাংলা]
He/She = [বাংলা]সে[/বাংলা]
He/She (honorable) = [বাংলা]তিনি[/বাংলা]

We =[বাংলা] আমরা[/বাংলা]
You (close) = [বাংলা]তোমরা[/বাংলা]
You (elder/honor) = [বাংলা]আপনারা[/বাংলা]
You (very close/beneath) = [বাংলা]তোরা[/বাংলা]
They = [বাংলা]তারা[/বাংলা]
They (honor.) = [বাংলা]তাঁরা[/বাংলা]

Each of the pronouns/Who words above affect the form of any verb/action word.

Arnab
December 28, 2007, 12:11 AM
Ok, so now you know a bunch of essential Who words and a bunch of essential Action words (in their dictionary form).

Let's put these two types of words together to build some very simple Bengali sentences. But remember the catch: The Actions word change their endings depending on the nature of the Who word. So what you need to know first is how to get the root of an Action word and then attach the correct ending to those roots, depending on the Who word.

How to get the root of an Action word from its dictionary form:

It's quite straightforward.

1. If the dictionary form of an Action word ends in [বাংলা]-আ [/বাংলা](excluding those ending with [বাংলা]ওয়া[/বাংলা]), then strip that [বাংলা]আ [/বাংলা]to get the root.
2. If the dictionary form of an Action word ends in [বাংলা]-ওয়া[/বাংলা], strip that [বাংলা]ওয়া[/বাংলা].
3. If the dictionary form of an Action word ends in [বাংলা]-নো[/বাংলা], strip that [বাংলা]নো[/বাংলা].

Example 1: [বাংলা]করা [/বাংলা]--> [বাংলা]কর[/বাংলা]
Example 2: [বাংলা]খাওয়া[/বাংলা] --> [বাংলা]খা[/বাংলা]
Example 3: [বাংলা]উঠানো[/বাংলা] --> [বাংলা]উঠা[/বাংলা]

That's it. Here are the same essential Action words I gave before, but now they are categorized according to their endings. See if you can find the root for them.

Ending in আ:
to do = [বাংলা]করা[/বাংলা]
to have/possess = [বাংলা]থাকা[/বাংলা]
to throw = [বাংলা]ছোঁড়া[/বাংলা]
to catch = [বাংলা]ধরা[/বাংলা]
to pull = [বাংলা]টানা[/বাংলা]
to push = [বাংলা]ঠেলা[/বাংলা]
to lift = [বাংলা]তোলা[/বাংলা]
to wake up =[বাংলা] জাগা[/বাংলা]
to get up/go up = [বাংলা]উঠা[/বাংলা]
to sit = [বাংলা]বসা[/বাংলা]
to come = [বাংলা]আসা[/বাংলা]
to walk = [বাংলা]হাঁটা[/বাংলা]
to go down = [বাংলা]নামা[/বাংলা]
to fall = [বাংলা]পড়া[/বাংলা]
to fly = [বাংলা]ওড়া[/বাংলা]
to wear = [বাংলা]পরা[/বাংলা]
to cook =[বাংলা] রাঁধা[/বাংলা]
to see/look = [বাংলা]দেখা[/বাংলা]
to smell = [বাংলা]শোঁকা[/বাংলা]
to listen/hear = [বাংলা]শোনা[/বাংলা]
to speak = [বাংলা]বলা[/বাংলা]
to read = [বাংলা]পড়া[/বাংলা]
to write = [বাংলা]লেখা[/বাংলা]
to beat = [বাংলা]মারা[/বাংলা]
to cut = [বাংলা]কাটা[/বাংলা]
to choose = [বাংলা]বাছা[/বাংলা]
to taste = [বাংলা]চাখা[/বাংলা]
to search = [বাংলা]খোঁজা[/বাংলা]
to live = [বাংলা]বাঁচা[/বাংলা]
to die = [বাংলা]মরা[/বাংলা]
to buy = [বাংলা]কেনা[/বাংলা]
to sell = [বাংলা]বেচা[/বাংলা]
to smile/laugh = [বাংলা]হাসা[/বাংলা]
to cry = [বাংলা]কাঁদা[/বাংলা]

Ending in -ওয়া:
to give = [বাংলা]দেওয়া[/বাংলা]
to take = [বাংলা]নেওয়া[/বাংলা]
to lie (as in lie down) = [বাংলা]শোওয়া[/বাংলা]
to go = [বাংলা]যাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to eat = [বাংলা]খাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to drink = [বাংলা]খাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to touch = [বাংলা]ছোঁয়া[/বাংলা]
to taste = [বাংলা]স্বাদ নেওয়া[/বাংলা]
to want = [বাংলা]চাওয়া[/বাংলা]
to get = [বাংলা]পাওয়া[/বাংলা]

Ending in -আনো:
to make = [বাংলা]বানানো[/বাংলা]
to lift = [বাংলা]উঠানো[/বাংলা]
to put sth. down = [বাংলা]নামানো[/বাংলা]
to sleep = [বাংলা]ঘুমানো[/বাংলা]
to stand = [বাংলা]দাঁড়ানো[/বাংলা]
to run = [বাংলা]দৌড়ানো[/বাংলা]
to jump = [বাংলা]লাফানো[/বাংলা]
to swim = [বাংলা]সাঁতরানো[/বাংলা]

Arnab
December 28, 2007, 01:27 AM
So let's see if you have correctly found the roots of the Action words using the techniques I gave above. Match your attempts with the solutions given below. The following are all the correct roots for all the Action words I have given so far.

Group 1 (ending with আ): [বাংলা]কর, থাক, ছোঁড়, ধর, টান, ঠেল, তোল, জাগ, উঠ, বস, আস, হাঁট, নাম, পড়, ওড়, পর, রাঁধ, দেখ, শোঁক, শোন, বল, পড়, লেখ, মার, কাট, বাছ, চাখ, খোঁজ, বাঁচ, মর, কেন, বেচ, হাস, কাঁদ[/বাংলা]

Group 2 (ending with ওয়া): [বাংলা]দে, নে, শো, যা, খা, ছোঁ, স্বাদ নে, চা, পা[/বাংলা]

Group 3 (ending with নো): [বাংলা]বানা, উঠা, নামা, ঘুমা, দাঁড়া, দৌড়া, লাফা, সাঁতরা[/বাংলা]

How did you do? Hopefully, it was easy.

Now, here's the fun part. Using only and only these Action word roots, you can actually say one-word sentences in Bangla! It just so happens that when you order someone subordinate to perform some action, you use the root of the Action word. Look at these examples:

Do (it)! = [বাংলা]কর![/বাংলা]
Throw (it)! = [বাংলা]ছোঁড়![/বাংলা]
Sit! = [বাংলা]বস![/বাংলা]
Give (it)! = [বাংলা]দে![/বাংলা]
Hold (it)! = [বাংলা]ধর![/বাংলা]
Run! = [বাংলা]দৌড়া![/বাংলা]

etc.

Arnab
December 28, 2007, 01:56 AM
But language isn't always about giving subordinates orders, is it? Remember what our original goal was. We wanted to make simple sentences by combining Who words and Action words. And in order to do that, we needed to find the root of an Action word, so that when we combine them with certain Who words, we can attach the appropriate ending to these roots. Let's get on with that.

The endings also change for two other things:
- when the action is being done (present, past, future)
- whether the action is completed, ongoing, or habitual.

For simplicity, let's build our simple sentences so that the action is being done in the present and the action is habitual. In this way, we can just focus on exactly how the nature of the Who word affects the ending that is to be attached to the Action word.

Let's start with a very simple Action word root: do = [বাংলা]কর[/বাংলা]

I do = [বাংলা]আমি করি[/বাংলা]; We do =[বাংলা] আমরা করি[/বাংলা]
You (close) do = [বাংলা]তুমি করো[/বাংলা]; You (close)(pl) do = [বাংলা]তোমরা করো[/বাংলা]
You (honor) do = [বাংলা]আপনি করেন[/বাংলা]; You (honor)(pl) do = [বাংলা]আপনারা করেন [/বাংলা]
You (subord) do = [বাংলা]তুই করিস[/বাংলা]; You (subord)(pl) do =[বাংলা] তোরা করিস[/বাংলা]
He/She does = [বাংলা]সে করে[/বাংলা]; They do = [বাংলা]তারা করে[/বাংলা]
He/She (honor) does = [বাংলা]তিনি করেন[/বাংলা]; They (honor) do = [বাংলা]তাঁরা করেন[/বাংলা]

One thing to note here that the Action word forms don't change for singular and plural.

But they do change for the first person (I/we), second person(you) and third person (he/she/they) of the Who words.

Can you figure out which ending attaches to the Action word root for each kind of Who word?

For the first person, it's [বাংলা]-ি (কর + ি = করি)[/বাংলা]
For the second person (regular), it's [বাংলা]-ো (কর + ো = করো)[/বাংলা]
For the second person (honor), it's [বাংলা]-েন (কর + েন = করেন)[/বাংলা]
For the second person (subordinate), it's [বাংলা]-িস (কর + িস = করিস)[/বাংলা]
For the third person (regular), it's [বাংলা]-ে (কর + ে = করে)[/বাংলা]
For the third person (honor), it's [বাংলা]-েন (কর + েন = করেন)[/বাংলা]

The process of attaching different endings to Action word roots is called conjugation.

Above, I have shown you the conjugation for the Action word root [বাংলা]কর[/বাংলা].

There are a few other conjugation patterns for Action word roots. I am going to give them below and you will have to figure out how they are subtly different from each other.

Arnab
December 29, 2007, 01:31 AM
Pattern 1:[বাংলা] কর[/বাংলা]-type roots

[বাংলা]আমি/আমরা করি
তুমি/তোমরা করো
আপনি/আপনারা/তিনি/ তাঁরা করেন
তুই/তোরা করিস
সে/তারা করে[/বাংলা]

Similar roots: ধর, বস, পড়, পর, বল, মর, ...

Pattern 2: [বাংলা]তোল[/বাংলা]-type roots

[বাংলা]আমি/আমরা তুলি
তুমি/তোমরা তোলো
আপনি/আপনারা/তিনি/ তাঁরা তোলেন
তুই/তোরা তুলিস
সে/তারা তোলে
[/বাংলা]

Similar roots: ছোঁড়, ওড়, শোঁক, শোন, খোঁজ, ...

Pattern 3: [বাংলা]টান[/বাংলা]-type roots

[বাংলা]আমি/আমরা টানি
তুমি/তোমরা টানো
আপনি/আপনারা/তিনি/ তাঁরা টানেন
তুই/তোরা টানিস
সে/তারা টানে[/বাংলা]

[unfinished]