Bengali grammar

Case

Nouns are also inflected for case, including nominative, objective, genitive (possessive), and locative. The case marking pattern for each noun being inflected depends on the noun's degree of animacy. The objective case cannot be inflected upon nouns which are inanimate, and the locative case cannot be inflected upon nouns which are animate. When a definite article such as -ţa (singular) or -gulo (plural) is added, nouns are also inflected for number. In formal contexts, especially in writing, the definite article -ţa is replaced by -ţi. There is also an alternative way of using the plural definite article, -gulo, by making it -guli. Below are two tables which show the inflections of an animate noun, ছাত্র chhatrô (student), and an inanimate noun, জুতা juta (shoe).

It should be noted that all of the inflected nouns above have an indefinite article preceding their case markers. There are some basic rules to keep in mind about the cases, apart from the "default" nominative.

For the objective case, the ending -রে -re may be used in certain non-standard dialects of Bengali. For example, the non-standard ছাত্রটারে chhatrô-ţa-re may be used instead of the standard ছাত্রটাকে chhatrô-ţa-ke.

For the genitive case, the ending may change, though never with a definite article attached. A noun (without an article) which ends in a consonant or the inherent vowel, অ ô, is inflected by adding - ের -er to the end of the word (and deleting the inherent vowel if applicable). An example of this would be the genitive of মাংস mangshô "meat" being মাংসের mangsher "of meat" or "(the) meat's". A noun which ends in any vowel apart from the inherent vowel will just have a -র -r following it, as in the genitive of ছেলে chhele being ছেলের chheler "(the) boy's".

For the locative case, the marker also changes in a similar fashion to the genitive case, with consonants and the inherent vowel having their own ending, - ে -e, and all other vowels having another ending, -তে -te, with one exception. If a noun ends with - া -a, then it's locative case marker would be -য় -y, as in কলকাতায় Kolkata-y "to Kolkata". However, this special exception for -a ending nouns is often ignored, and colloquially many will say কলকাতাতে Kolkata-te instead of the proper Kolktata-y.

Measure words

When counted, nouns must also be accompanied by the appropriate measure word. As in many East Asian languages (e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc.), nouns in Bengali cannot be counted directly by adding the numeral directly adjacent to the noun. The noun's measure word (MW) must be used in between the numeral and the noun. Most nouns take the generic measure word ţa, although there are many more specific measure words, such as jon, which is only used to count humans.

Measuring nouns in Bengali without their corresponding measure words (e.g. aţ biŗal instead of aţ-ţa biŗal "eight cats") would typically be considered ungrammatical. However, omitting the noun and preserving the measure word is grammatical and not uncommon to hear. For example, Shudhu êk-jon thakbe. (lit. "Only one-MW will remain.") would be understood to mean "Only one person will remain.", since jon can only be used to count humans. The word lok "person" is implied.

Non-finite forms

The Bengali verb can occur in six non-finite forms: by definition, they do not offer any information on tense (whether the event is in the present, past, or future) or number (whether the event involves one or more subject). They do, however, indicate other information – these are shown below using the verbal root jan- "know":

Person

Verbs are inflected for person and honour, but not for number. There are five forms: first person, second person (very familiar), second person (familiar), third person (familiar), and second/third person (polite). The same sample subject pronouns will be used for all the example conjugation paradigms: ami (Bengali: আমি), tui (তুই), tumi (তুমি), she (সে) and apni (আপনি). These have the following plurals respectively amra (আমরা), tora (তোরা), tomra (তোমরা), tara (তারা) and apnara (আপনারা).

Mood

There are two moods for Bengali verbs: the indicative and the imperative. The imperative mood is used to give commands. The indicative mood is used for statements of fact; its various tenses are given below.

Aspect

There are three aspects for Bengali verbs: simple aspect, the progressive/continuous aspect, and the perfect. These are combined with the different tenses described below to form the various verbal conjugations possible.

• আঁকা ãka – verbal noun ("act of drawing")
• আঁকতে ãkte – verbal infinitive ("to draw")
• আঁকতে-আঁকতে ãkte-ãkte – progressive participle ("while drawing")
• আঁকলে ãkle – conditional participle ("if X draws")
• এঁকে ẽke – perfect participle ("having drawn")
• এঁকে-এঁকে ẽke-ẽke – iterative participle ("having drawn many times")

Tense

Bengali has four simple tenses: the present tense, the past tense, the conditional or habitual past tense, and the future tense. These combine with mood and aspect to form more complex conjugations, such as the past progressive, or the present perfect.

Postpositions that require genitive (possessive) case

• আগে age 'before': সকালের আগে shôkal-er age 'before the morning'
• পরে pôre 'after': সন্ধ্যার পরে shondha-r pôre 'after the evening'
• উপরে upore 'on top of', 'above': বিছানার উপরে bichhana-r upore 'on top of the bed'
• নিচে niche 'below', 'under': বইয়ের নিচে boi-er niche 'under the book'
• পিছনে pichhone 'behind': আলমারির পিছনে almari-r pichhone 'behind the cupboard'
• সামনে shamne 'in front of': গাড়ির সামনে gaŗi-r shamne 'in front of the car'
• ওই পারে oi pare 'across': নদীর ওই পারে nodi-r oi pare 'across the river'
• কাছে kachhe 'near': জানালার কাছে janala-r kachhe 'near the window'
• পাশে pashe 'beside': চুলার পাশে chula-r pashe 'beside the stove'
• জন্য jonno 'for': শিক্ষকের জন্য shikkhôk-er jonno 'for the teacher'
• কাছ থেকে kach theke 'from' (people): বাবার কাছ থেকে baba-r kach theke 'from father'
• দিকে dike 'towards': বাসার দিকে basha-r dike 'towards the house'
• বাইরে baire 'outside': দেশের বাইরে desh-er baire 'outside the country'
• ভিতরে bhitore 'inside': দোকানের ভিতরে dokan-er bhitore 'inside the store'
• মধ্যে moddhe 'in the middle of': সমুদ্রের মধ্যে shomudr-er moddhe 'in the middle of the ocean'
• ভিতর দিয়ে bhitor die 'through': শহরের ভিতর দিয়ে shôhorer bhitor die 'through the city'
• মতো môto 'like': তোমার মতো tom-ar môto 'like you'
• সঙ্গে shôngge 'with': আমার সঙ্গে am-ar shôngge 'with me'
• কথা kôtha 'about': সেটার কথা sheţa-r kôtha 'about that'
• সম্মন্ধে shômmondhe 'about': ইতিহাসের সম্মন্ধে itihash-er shômmondhe 'about history'
• সাথে shathe 'with'(animate): মায়ের সাথে ma-er shathe 'with Mother'

Postpositions that require accusative (objective) case

• করে kore 'by means of': টেকসই করে ţêksi kore 'by taxi'
• ছাড়া chhaŗa 'without', 'aside from': আমাকে ছাড়া ama-ke chhaŗa 'aside from me'
• থেকে theke 'from' (places): বাংলাদেশ থেকে Bangladesh theke 'from Bangladesh'
• দিয়ে diye 'by': তাকে দিয়ে ta-ke diye 'by him'
• ধরে dhore 'for' (time): দুদিন ধরে dudin dhore 'for two days'
• নিয়ে niye 'including'(animate+inanimate), 'with'(inanimate): তোমাকে নিয়ে toma-ke niye 'including you'
• পর্যন্ত porjonto 'until': দশটা পর্যন্ত dôshţa porjonto 'until ten o' clock'
• সহ shôho 'with', 'including': টাকা সহ ţaka shôho 'along with the money'
• হয়ে hoe 'via': কলকাতা হয়ে Kolkata hoe 'via Kolkata'
• তে te 'to': মাঠেতে mathete 'to the temple'

Prepositions that require locative case

• বিনা bina 'without': বিনা অনুমতিতে bina onumoti-te 'without permission'