Lesson 75: The Pair
Index · Lesson 74: Smaller and Smallest · Lesson 76: The King's Son
Two nouns joined as a pair are one word. School calls that compound द्वन्द्व. माता च पिता च is मातापितरौ, “mother and father,” already named in Lesson 29: Mother and Father. The compound takes the dual, because the pair is two.
रामलक्ष्मणौ means “Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa.” फलपुष्पे means “fruit and flower,” neuter dual, because both are neuter like पुस्तकम्.
The last member decides the endings when the two are not a simple pair of the same gender. In this lesson, keep the pairs the same gender, and use the dual you already know.
| Compound | The two words | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| मातापितरौ | माता, पिता | mother and father |
| रामलक्ष्मणौ | रामः, लक्ष्मणः | Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa |
| फलपुष्पे | फलम्, पुष्पम् | fruit and flower |
| हस्तपादौ | हस्तः, पादः | hand and foot |
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मातापितरौ गृहे स्तः। | Mother and father are at home. आमाबाबा घरमा हुनुहुन्छ। |
| रामलक्ष्मणौ वनं गच्छतः। | Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa go to the forest. |
| फलपुष्पे वृक्षे स्तः। | Fruit and flower are on the tree. |
| हस्तपादौ स्वच्छौ स्तः। | The hand and the foot are clean. स्वच्छः means “clean,” and it matches like नवीनः. The dual is स्वच्छौ. |
Practice
- Say मातापितरौ, रामलक्ष्मणौ, फलपुष्पे, हस्तपादौ.
- Say मातापितरौ गृहे स्तः।
- Say रामलक्ष्मणौ वनं गच्छतः।
Next
Lesson 76: The King's Son is राजपुत्रः, a compound whose first member is a case.