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Summary of Grammar Rules for Conversational Bangla

We have covered the major rules describing grammatical syntax of colloquial Bangla. In this Chapter, we will summarize the rules.

• The Sentence Rule

  A complete sentence consists of a Subject Phrase, a Verb and an Object Phrase.
  The order of the Subject, Object and Verb will vary by language

• Order of Subject, Object & Verb

  English is a "Head-First" language. An English Sentence will always have a "Subject-Verb-Object" or "S-V-O" structure.
  Bangla is a "Head-Final" language. A Bangla Sentence will always have a "Subject-Object-Verb" or "S-O-V" structure.

• The Minimal Subject/Object Rule

  A minimal Subject or Object is made up of a Noun with an optional Determiner.

• The Determiner Rule

  A Determiner is used to specify an instance of a noun.
  • The Determiner "the" is handled by simply adding a suffix -Ta to the noun -- the dog becomes কুকুরটা (kukuroTa). "This" for nearby and "that" for distance are expressed as এই (ei) and ওই (Oi) respectively and put before the Noun. The Noun is always tagged with the -Ta suffix.
  • Possessive Pronoun Determiners like "my, your, his/her" are formed from the Pronouns by adding the "-ar" sound to the Pronoun. This will result in আমার, তোমার, ওর (amar, tOmar, Or) to describe the Noun.

• Pronoun Rule

  A Pronoun can replace a Noun in a Subject or Object Phrase

• Verb Conjugation Rules

• Start with the Root Verb [eg. to see দেখা = দ + ে + খ + া (d e kh a) ]
• Truncate the Vowel sound at the end [eg. দ + ে + খ া = দেখ (d e kh a) ]
• There are 24 possible combinations possible. There are 3 Persons - First, Second and Third. Past Tense has 4 forms (Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Habitual). Present Tense has 3 forms (Simple, Continuous, Perfect). Future Tense has one form. The guide below shows the Past Continuous, Present Continuous and Future forms.
• In the First Person
  • The Past Continuous Tense, ends with the "-ছিলাম" ("-chhilam") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছিলাম = দেখছিলাম (dekh o chhilam) ]
  • The Present Continuous Tense ends with the "-ছি" ("-chhi") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছি = দেখছি (dekh o chhi) ]
  • The Future Tense ends with the "-ব" ("-bo") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ব = দেখব (dekh o bo) ]
• In the Second Person
  • The Past Continuous Tense ends with the "-ছিলে" ("-chhile") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছিলে = দেখছিলে (dekh o chhile) ]
  • The Present Continuous Tense ends with the "-ছ" ("-chho") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছ = দেখছ (dekh o chho) ]
  • The Future Tense ends with the "-বে" ("-be") sound
    [eg. দেখ + বে = দেখবে (dekh o be) ]
• In the Third Person
  • The Past Continuous Tense ends with the "-ছিল" ("-chhilo") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছিল = দেখছিল (dekh o chhilo) ]
  • The Present Continuous Tense ends with the "-ছে" ("-chhe") sound
    [eg. দেখ + ছে = দেখছে (dekh o chhe) ]
  • The Future Tense ends with the "-বে" ("-be") sound
    [eg. দেখ + বে = দেখবে (dekh o be) ]

The Glossary of Words shows the root and inflected versions of all Verbs in this book.

Here are some examples of the Verb Rules.

Root Verb see » দেখা dekha
	Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
First Person	দেখেছি dekhechhi	দেখছি dekhochhi	দেখব dekhobo
Second Person	দেখেছিলে dekhechhile	দেখছো dekhochhO	দেখবে dekhobe
Third Person	দেখেছে dekhechhe	দেখছে dekhochhe	দেখবে dekhobe
Root Verb read » পড়া poRa
	Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
First Person	পড়েছি poRechhi	পড়ছি poRochhi	পড়ব poRobo
Second Person	পড়েছিলে poRechhile	পড়ছো poRochhO	পড়বে poRobe
Third Person	পড়েছে poRechhe	পড়ছে poRochhe	পড়বে poRobe
Root Verb write » লেখা lekha
	Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
First Person	লিখেছি likhechhi	লিখছি likhochhi	লিখব likhobo
Second Person	লিখেছিলে likhechhile	লিখছো likhochhO	লিখবে likhobe
Third Person	লিখেছে likhechhe	লিখছে likhochhe	লিখবে likhobe

• The Adverb Rule

  A Verb Phrase can contain any number of Adverbs that give information about the Verb in the Sentence.

For example, let us add the adverb quickly to the verb walk.

walk quickly

তাড়াতাড়ি হাঁটব

• The Adjective Rule

  A Subject or Object Phrase can contain any number of Adjectives that describe the relevant Noun.

For example, let us add the adjective white and the adjective many to the noun cloud.

many white clouds

অনেক সাদা মেঘ

onek sada megh

• The Preposition Rule

  A Subject or Object Phrase can contain any number of Prepositions that give information about time, place and direction of the Noun. The Preposition must follow the Noun in Bangla.

For example, let us add the preposition phrase "in the afternoon" to the sentence "I ate rice".

I ate rice in the afternoon

আমি ভাত খেয়েছি + in the afternoon
ami bhat kheyechhi + in the afternoon

আমি ভাত খেয়েছি + দুপুরে
ami bhat kheyechhi + dupure

আমি ভাত দুপুরে খেয়েছি
ami bhat dupure kheyechhi

• The Conjunction Rule

  A Conjunction can be used to join two Noun Phrases or two Sentences. The Conjunction is placed between the two Noun Phrases it joins or between the two Sentences it joins.

Example of Conjunction joining two Nouns
mother and father

মা আর বাবা
ma ar baba

Example of Conjunction joining two sentences
I am clever and I am beautiful

আমি চালাক এবং আমি সুন্দর
ami chalak ebong ami sundor

• Determiners - Possessive Case Rule

  The Possessive case Determiners are applied to Nouns.
  • If the noun ends with a vowel, add the -r sound -র.
  • Otherwise, add the -er sound -এর, modifying the last consonant with the "e" sound followed by the "r" sound.

For example, mother's = মা + -র = মার (ma + -r = mar) and father-in-law's = শ্বশুর + -এর = স্বশুরের (shwoshur + -er = shwoshurer)

• The Verb Negation Rule

  "Verb Not" is implemented by adding a না na to the Verb.

For example, I want to eat is আমি খাব while I don't want to eat is আমি খাব না.

Applying All The Rules

We will now create a Bangla grammatical sentence using all the rules shown above.

Starting Sentence:	The boy is going home.
Add an Adjective:	The young boy is going home.
Add an Adverb:	The young boy is going home slowly.
Add a Prepositional Phrase:	The young boy is going home slowly with the dog.
Add a Conjunction and a Noun Phrase:	The young boy and the old man are going home slowly with the dog.

Every Sentence is composed of a Subject Phrase and an Object Phrase. In this sentence, the Subject Phrase would be "The boy". The Verb is "is going" and the Object Phrase is "home". We can now look up the Bangla words in the Glossary. Translations:
boy » ছেলে chhele
The determiner "The" is applied to the noun. This will add a suffix -Ti to the noun.
The boy » ছেলেটি chheleTi
"Is going" is the third person, present tense, of the root verb for "go".
is going » যাচ্ছে Jachchhe
home » বাড়ি baRi
We know that, in Bangla, the Verb comes last in the Verb Phrase. So the Sentence would look like this:

English	The boy is going home.
Bangla	ছেলেটি বাড়ি যাচ্ছে chheleTi baRi Jachchhe

Now we want to describe "the boy" by using an Adjective "small". The Adjective will be put before the Noun it describes, hence before "The boy".
small » ছোট chhOTo

English	The small boy is going home.
Bangla	ছোট ছেলেটি বাড়ি যাচ্ছে chhOTo chheleTi baRi Jachchhe

We can further describe the verb "is going" by adding an Adverb "slowly". This will be added before the Verb.
slowly » আস্তেআস্তে asteaste

English	The small boy is going home slowly.
Bangla	ছোট ছেলেটি আস্তেআস্তে বাড়ি যাচ্ছে chhOTo chheleTi asteaste baRi Jachchhe

We want to give add some information about how "the boy is going home". This can be done with the Prepositional Phrase "with the dog". Remember that the Preposition "with" applies to the Noun Phrase "the dog".
dog » কুকুর kukur
The » -র Suffix -er
The dog » কুকুরের kukurer
with » সাথে sathe

English	The small boy is going home slowly with the dog
Bangla	ছোট ছেলেটি কুকুরের সাথে ধীরেধীরে বাড়ি যাচ্ছে chhOTo chheleTi kukurer sathe dhIredhIre baRi Jachchhe

Finally, we want to add some more information to the first Noun Phrase "The boy". Using a Conjunction "and", we can add the Noun Phrase "old man" making "The small boy and the old man".
and » এবং ebong
old » বুড়ো buRO
the man » লোকটি lOkoTi

English	The small boy and the old man are going home slowly with the dog
Bangla	ছোট ছেলেটি এবং বুড়ো লোকটি কুকুরের সাথে আস্তেআস্তে বাড়ি যাচ্ছে chhOTo chheleTi ebong buRO lOkoTi kukurer sathe asteaste baRi Jachchhe

This Bangla Sentence follows all the rules we have shown above and is grammatically correct.