Lesson 2: To Go
Index · Lesson 1: Cases and To Be
This lesson is the present of गम्, “to go.” The present stem is गच्छ, not गम. The persons are the same rows as “to be” in Lesson 1: अहम्, त्वम्, सः / सा / तत्, and भवान् / भवती. The endings on the verb are the same ones on पठ्, “to study.” पठति, “he studies,” is already in Lesson 1. पठामि and पठसि are new.
A teacher is still तपाईं, so a teacher takes गच्छति, not गच्छसि. कुत्र means “where,” and it makes the question, the way किम् does in the introduction.
The endings
| गम्, “to go” | पठ्, “to study” | Nepali, for “go” | |
|---|---|---|---|
| अहम्, I | गच्छामि, “I go” | पठामि, “I study” | जान्छु |
| त्वम्, तिमी | गच्छसि, “you go” | पठसि, “you study” | जान्छौ |
| सः / सा / तत् | गच्छति, “he, she, or it goes” | पठति, “he or she studies” | जान्छ |
| भवान् / भवती, तपाईं | गच्छति | पठति | जानुहुन्छ |
सः पाठं पठति। “He studies a lesson.” पाठम् means “a lesson,” the object form from Lesson 1. ऊ पाठ पढ्छ।
Where someone goes
The place they go to uses the object ending from Lesson 1, -म्. गृहम्, “house,” and नगरम्, “city,” are new.
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अहं गृहं गच्छामि। | I go home. म घर जान्छु। |
| त्वं नगरं गच्छसि। | You go to the city, said to a friend. तिमी सहर जान्छौ। |
| गुरुः गृहं गच्छति। | The teacher goes home. गुरु घर जानुहुन्छ। |
| भवान् कुत्र गच्छति। | Where are you going? Said to a man at the तपाईं level, including a teacher. तपाईं कहाँ जानुहुन्छ? |
| भवती कुत्र गच्छति। | Where are you going? Said to a woman at the तपाईं level. |
| अहं छात्रेण सह गच्छामि। | I go with the student. सह means “with,” and छात्रेण is the “with” ending from Lesson 1. म विद्यार्थीसँग जान्छु। |
A line people recite is बुद्धं शरणं गच्छामि। That is still three words. The first two end in ं because each म् is said before a consonant. With the object ending written out, before the next word changes it, the same three words are बुद्धम् शरणम् गच्छामि। बुद्धम् means “the Buddha.” शरणम् means “refuge.” गच्छामि is “I go,” from the table above. Both things you go toward take -म्: you go to the Buddha, and you go for refuge. म बुद्धको शरण लिन्छु। Lesson 22: Joining Words is this change from म् to ं. It does not make the line one word. The teaching and the community are the next two lines, on Common chants.
Practice
- Say where you are going, with अहं … गच्छामि।
- Ask a teacher where they are going, with भवान् कुत्र गच्छति।
- Say that a friend goes to the city, with त्वं नगरं गच्छसि।
Next
Lesson 3: Verb Plural is “we,” “you all,” and “they.”