For autodidact students of Gujarati, the first thing to know about "be" is that one Gujarati verb, હોવું (hovuṁ), does all the work of English "am, is, are, was, were, will be", and of "there is" and "I have" as well. It is the verb you met at the end of nearly every sentence in Lesson 1: છે (chhe), "is". This lesson teaches it in full, because every other verb in the language leans on it.
The headword is છે, the form you will meet most often. The word list gives "be", and the verb's name in the dictionary is the infinitive હોવું. In use, the verb has three stems, and a learner meets all three early: - The present is built on છ- (chh-): હું છું (huṁ chhuṁ), "I am" - The past is built on હત- (hat-): તે હતો (te hato), "he was" - The future is built on હ- and હો- (ha-, ho-): તે હશે (te hashe), "he will be"
The three stems look unrelated, but they are one verb. The infinitive હોવું, like Hindi होना, goes back to Sanskrit bhavati, "becomes, is". The present stem છ- is simply learned as it stands.
The same verb does four jobs, and in each of them English reaches for a different construction: - Identity and quality: તે ખેડૂત છે (te kheḍūt chhe), "he is a farmer"; ઘર નવું છે (ghar navuṁ chhe), "the house is new" - Place: હું ઘરમાં છું (huṁ gharmāṁ chhuṁ), "I am at home" - Existence: બગીચામાં તળાવ છે (bagīchāmāṁ taḷāv chhe), "there is a pond in the garden". Gujarati has no word for "there": the place comes first and the verb comes last - Having: મારી પાસે ગાડી છે (mārī pāse gāḍī chhe), literally "near me a car is", so "I have a car"
The present forms: - હું છું (huṁ chhuṁ): I am - તું છે (tuṁ chhe): you are (to a child, a close friend, or God in prayer) - તે છે (te chhe): he, she, it is - અમે છીએ (ame chhīe): we are (we, not including you). આપણે છીએ (āpṇe chhīe) is "we" when the person spoken to is included - તમે છો (tame chho): you are (to one person or many; the polite form) - તેઓ છે (teo chhe): they are, and also one person spoken of with respect
In the present, the verb changes for the person and number, and never for gender. A man and a woman both say હું છું. In the past, the verb does change for gender: હતો (hato) is masculine, હતી (hatī) feminine, હતું (hatuṁ) neuter.
The negative of the present is a separate word, નથી (nathī), "is not, am not, are not". It does not change for person at all.
This course teaches standard written Gujarati, the language of the schools, the press and the literature.
Script note: છે is the consonant છ (chh) with the vowel sign ે (e) above it. The letter છ is the aspirated partner of ચ (ch), and it sounds like "ch" in "church" with a strong puff of air. The word છીએ has the long vowel sign ી (ī) after the consonant and a full vowel letter એ (e) after that, so it is read chhī-e. હતો is હ (ha), ત (ta) and the vowel sign ો (o): the inherent vowel a is spoken in both consonants, hato. હોઈશ is હો (ho), the full vowel letter ઈ (ī) and શ (sh).
Key Takeaways: - હોવું (hovuṁ) is "to be"; the present stem is છ-, the past stem is હત-, and the future stem is હ- or હો- - Present: હું છું, તું છે, તે છે, અમે છીએ, તમે છો, તેઓ છે - The present never changes for gender; the past does: હતો, હતી, હતું (singular), હતા, હતી, હતાં (plural) - Future: હું હોઈશ, અમે હોઈશું, તમે હશો, and હશે for he, she, it and they - The present negative is નથી, for every person; the past negative is નહોતો, નહોતી, નહોતું, નહોતા - "There is" is the place followed by the verb, and "I have" is મારી પાસે … છે - For a person to be respected, the plural is used: તે હતા, not તે હતો
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2.1a હું I ઘરમાં in-house છું am
2.1b huṁ (HOON) I.1SG gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC chhuṁ (CHHOON) be.PRES.1SG
2.2a તું you ક્યાં where છે are
2.2b tuṁ (TOON) you.2SG kyāṁ (KYAAN) where chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.2SG
2.3a તમે you કેમ how છો are
2.3b tame (TUH-meh) you.2PL kem (KEHM) how chho (CHHOH) be.PRES.2PL
2.4a અમે we બધા all સાથે together છીએ are
2.4b ame (UH-meh) we.1PL badhā (BUH-dhaa) all.M.PL sāthe (SAA-theh) together chhīe (CHHEE-eh) be.PRES.1PL
2.5a આ this મારું my ઘર house છે is
2.5b ā (AA) this.DEM māruṁ (MAA-roon) I.GEN.N ghar (GHUHR) house.N chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.6a તે she ગઈ last કાલે day-LOC બજારમાં in-market હતી was
2.6b te (TEH) she.3SG gaī (GUH-ee) last.F kāle (KAA-leh) day-LOC bajārmāṁ (buh-JAAR-maan) market-LOC hatī (HUH-tee) be.PST.F
2.7a બગીચામાં in-garden એક one સુંદર beautiful તળાવ pond છે is
2.7b bagīchāmāṁ (buh-GEE-chaa-maan) garden-LOC ek (EHK) one suṁdar (SUN-duhr) beautiful taḷāv (tuh-LAAV) pond.N chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.8a મારી my પાસે near એક one નાની small ગાડી car છે is
2.8b mārī (MAA-ree) I.GEN.F pāse (PAA-seh) near.LOC ek (EHK) one nānī (NAA-nee) small.F gāḍī (GAA-dee) car.F chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.9a તે he વેપારી merchant નથી is-not તે he ખેડૂત farmer છે is
2.9b te (TEH) he.3SG vepārī (veh-PAA-ree) merchant nathī (NUH-thee) NEG.be.PRES te (TEH) he.3SG kheḍūt (KHEH-doot) farmer chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.10a અમે we ગઈ last કાલે day-LOC ઘરમાં in-house નહોતા were-not અમે we બહાર outside હતા were
2.10b ame (UH-meh) we.1PL gaī (GUH-ee) last.F kāle (KAA-leh) day-LOC gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC nahotā (nuh-HOH-taa) NEG.be.PST.M.PL ame (UH-meh) we.1PL bahār (buh-HAAR) outside hatā (HUH-taa) be.PST.M.PL
2.11a જો if આવતી coming કાલે day-LOC વરસાદ rain હશે will-be તો then અમે we ઘરમાં in-house હોઈશું will-be
2.11b jo (JOH) if āvtī (AAV-tee) coming.F kāle (KAA-leh) day-LOC varsād (VUHR-saad) rain.M hashe (HUH-sheh) be.FUT.3 to (TOH) then ame (UH-meh) we.1PL gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC hoīshuṁ (HOH-ee-shoon) be.FUT.1PL
2.12a આ this શહેરમાં in-city ઘણી many જૂની old ઇમારતો buildings છે are
2.12b ā (AA) this.DEM shahermāṁ (SHEH-her-maan) city-LOC ghaṇī (GHUH-nee) many.F.PL jūnī (JOO-nee) old.F.PL imārato (i-MAA-ruh-toh) building.F.PL chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.13a જે which માણસ man કાલે yesterday અહીં here હતો was તે he આજે today ક્યાં where છે is
2.13b je (JEH) REL māṇas (MAA-nus) man.M kāle (KAA-leh) yesterday ahīṁ (uh-HEEN) here hato (HUH-toh) be.PST.M te (TEH) he.3SG āje (AA-jeh) today kyāṁ (KYAAN) where chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.14a ગયા last વર્ષે year-LOC અહીં here એક one નાનું small ગામ village હતું was હવે now અહીં here મોટું big શહેર city છે is
2.14b gayā (guh-YAA) last.M.OBL varshe (VUHR-sheh) year-LOC ahīṁ (uh-HEEN) here ek (EHK) one nānuṁ (NAA-noon) small.N gām (GAAM) village.N hatuṁ (HUH-toon) be.PST.N have (HUH-veh) now ahīṁ (uh-HEEN) here moṭuṁ (MOH-toon) big.N shaher (SHEH-her) city.N chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.15a તે he થાકેલો tired છે is કારણ reason કે that તે he આખો whole દિવસ day બહાર outside હતો was
2.15b te (TEH) he.3SG thākelo (THAA-keh-loh) tired.M chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3 kāraṇ (KAA-ruhn) reason.N ke (KEH) that te (TEH) he.3SG ākho (AA-khoh) whole.M divas (DI-vus) day.M bahār (buh-HAAR) outside hato (HUH-toh) be.PST.M
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2.1 હું ઘરમાં છું. (huṁ gharmāṁ chhuṁ.) "I am at home." 2.2 તું ક્યાં છે? (tuṁ kyāṁ chhe?) "Where are you?" 2.3 તમે કેમ છો? (tame kem chho?) "How are you?" 2.4 અમે બધા સાથે છીએ. (ame badhā sāthe chhīe.) "We are all together." 2.5 આ મારું ઘર છે. (ā māruṁ ghar chhe.) "This is my house." 2.6 તે ગઈ કાલે બજારમાં હતી. (te gaī kāle bajārmāṁ hatī.) "She was in the market yesterday." 2.7 બગીચામાં એક સુંદર તળાવ છે. (bagīchāmāṁ ek suṁdar taḷāv chhe.) "There is a beautiful pond in the garden." 2.8 મારી પાસે એક નાની ગાડી છે. (mārī pāse ek nānī gāḍī chhe.) "I have a small car." 2.9 તે વેપારી નથી, તે ખેડૂત છે. (te vepārī nathī, te kheḍūt chhe.) "He is not a merchant; he is a farmer." 2.10 અમે ગઈ કાલે ઘરમાં નહોતા, અમે બહાર હતા. (ame gaī kāle gharmāṁ nahotā, ame bahār hatā.) "We were not at home yesterday; we were outside." 2.11 જો આવતી કાલે વરસાદ હશે, તો અમે ઘરમાં હોઈશું. (jo āvtī kāle varsād hashe, to ame gharmāṁ hoīshuṁ.) "If it rains tomorrow, we will be at home." 2.12 આ શહેરમાં ઘણી જૂની ઇમારતો છે. (ā shahermāṁ ghaṇī jūnī imārato chhe.) "There are many old buildings in this city." 2.13 જે માણસ કાલે અહીં હતો, તે આજે ક્યાં છે? (je māṇas kāle ahīṁ hato, te āje kyāṁ chhe?) "Where is the man who was here yesterday?" 2.14 ગયા વર્ષે અહીં એક નાનું ગામ હતું, હવે અહીં મોટું શહેર છે. (gayā varshe ahīṁ ek nānuṁ gām hatuṁ, have ahīṁ moṭuṁ shaher chhe.) "Last year there was a small village here; now there is a big city here." 2.15 તે થાકેલો છે, કારણ કે તે આખો દિવસ બહાર હતો. (te thākelo chhe, kāraṇ ke te ākho divas bahār hato.) "He is tired, because he was outside all day."
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2.1 હું ઘરમાં છું. 2.2 તું ક્યાં છે? 2.3 તમે કેમ છો? 2.4 અમે બધા સાથે છીએ. 2.5 આ મારું ઘર છે. 2.6 તે ગઈ કાલે બજારમાં હતી. 2.7 બગીચામાં એક સુંદર તળાવ છે. 2.8 મારી પાસે એક નાની ગાડી છે. 2.9 તે વેપારી નથી, તે ખેડૂત છે. 2.10 અમે ગઈ કાલે ઘરમાં નહોતા, અમે બહાર હતા. 2.11 જો આવતી કાલે વરસાદ હશે, તો અમે ઘરમાં હોઈશું. 2.12 આ શહેરમાં ઘણી જૂની ઇમારતો છે. 2.13 જે માણસ કાલે અહીં હતો, તે આજે ક્યાં છે? 2.14 ગયા વર્ષે અહીં એક નાનું ગામ હતું, હવે અહીં મોટું શહેર છે. 2.15 તે થાકેલો છે, કારણ કે તે આખો દિવસ બહાર હતો.
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These are the grammar rules for expressing "be" in Gujarati.
One verb, three stems. The dictionary form is હોવું (hovuṁ), "to be". The present is built on છ-, the past on હત-, and the future on હ- or હો-. The present is the one that matters most, because it is also the helper of every other verb: પીએ છે (pīe chhe), "drinks", in Lesson 1, is the verb પીવું with છે after it.
The present. The verb agrees with the person and the number, and never with the gender: - હું છું (huṁ chhuṁ): I am (2.1) - તું છે (tuṁ chhe): you are, to a child or a close friend (2.2) - તે છે (te chhe): he, she, it is (2.9) - અમે છીએ (ame chhīe): we are (2.4) - તમે છો (tame chho): you are, polite or many (2.3) - તેઓ છે (teo chhe): they are
Where the subject is a noun, the verb is the form for "he, she, it" or "they", which is the same: ઘર છે (the house is), ઇમારતો છે (the buildings are, 2.12). The verb stands last in the clause, after the place and the predicate.
"We". Gujarati has two words. અમે (ame) means "we" without the person spoken to, and આપણે (āpṇe) means "we" with the listener included. In 2.4 અમે બધા સાથે છીએ the speaker is talking about a group the listener is not part of; for a group that includes the listener, આપણે બધા સાથે છીએ is said. Both take છીએ.
The past. The past agrees with the gender and the number of the subject, in every person: - masculine: હતો (hato) singular, હતા (hatā) plural - feminine: હતી (hatī) singular and plural - neuter: હતું (hatuṁ) singular, હતાં (hatāṁ) plural
Examples: તે હતી (she was, 2.6); તે હતો (he was, 2.13, 2.15); ગામ હતું (the village was, neuter, 2.14); અમે હતા (we were, 2.10). A woman who says "I was at home" says હું ઘરમાં હતી, and a man says હું ઘરમાં હતો.
The future. The future does not change for gender: - હું હોઈશ (huṁ hoīsh): I will be - તું હોઈશ (tuṁ hoīsh): you will be - તે હશે (te hashe): he, she, it will be (2.11) - અમે હોઈશું (ame hoīshuṁ): we will be (2.11) - તમે હશો (tame hasho): you will be - તેઓ હશે (teo hashe): they will be
The form હશે (hashe) has a second use. It also says "must be", a guess about the present: તે હવે ઘરમાં હશે (te have gharmāṁ hashe), "he must be at home by now".
The negative. In the present, નથી (nathī) is used for every person and every number: હું નથી, તમે નથી, તે નથી (2.9). In the past, ન (na) joins the past of "be" and the pair is written as one word, with the vowel changing: નહોતો (nahoto), નહોતી (nahotī), નહોતું (nahotuṁ), નહોતા (nahotā, 2.10). The negative of the future is a later lesson.
"There is": place first, verb last. There is no separate word for "there is". Gujarati names the place and then the thing, and ends on the verb: બગીચામાં તળાવ છે (2.7), આ શહેરમાં ઇમારતો છે (2.12). The same છે stands for "is" and "are": the singular તળાવ છે and the plural ઇમારતો છે differ only in the noun. The past works in the same way, with the gender: ગામ હતું (2.14).
"Have". Gujarati does not say "I have"; it says "near me is". The word પાસે (pāse), "near, with", follows the genitive of the owner, and the genitive takes the feminine ending -ી: મારી પાસે, તમારી પાસે, તેમની પાસે. It does not agree with the thing owned: મારી પાસે ગાડી છે (2.8), and also મારી પાસે ઘર છે, even though ઘર is neuter. For relatives, Gujarati commonly says મારે (māre): મારે એક ભાઈ છે (māre ek bhāī chhe), "I have a brother".
"Be" and "become". હોવું is "to be, to exist"; થવું (thavuṁ) is "to become, to happen". Use the second for a change: તે ખેડૂત થયો (te kheḍūt thayo), "he became a farmer". Compare તે ખેડૂત છે, "he is a farmer".
"Yesterday" and "tomorrow". કાલ (kāl) means both, and the sentence decides which. ગઈ કાલે (2.6, 2.10) is plainly yesterday, આવતી કાલે (2.11) is plainly tomorrow, and a bare કાલે with the past હતો (2.13) is yesterday.
Respect. For a person who is to be respected, the plural is used with the verb: મહેશભાઈ હતા (Maheshbhai was), not હતો. The present છે does not show the difference, because it is the same in the singular and the plural of the third person. See the narrative below.
હોય. The form હોય (hoy) is the third person of "be" used in an "if" clause and for what is generally so: જો મન હોય (jo man hoy), "if there is the will". It is the form of Section F, where the proverb needs no છે.
Common Mistakes: - Using one form for every person: હું છે, not હું છું; તમે છે, not તમે છો; અમે છે, not અમે છીએ - Forgetting the gender in the past: a woman is હતી, a man હતો, and a house હતું. The present has no such change - Using નથી for the past. હું ઘરમાં નથી is "I am not at home"; "I was not at home" is હું ઘરમાં નહોતો - Putting the verb early, as English does: "There is a pond in the garden" is બગીચામાં તળાવ છે, not છે તળાવ બગીચામાં - Looking for a verb "have": say મારી પાસે ગાડી છે, not હું ગાડી છું or મારી ગાડી પાસે છે - Using the singular past for a person to be respected: for an elder or a guest, say તે આવ્યા હતા, not તે આવ્યો હતો
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The commonest greeting in Gujarati is a form of this verb: કેમ છો? (kem chho?), literally "how are you?". It is heard in a Gujarati street, shop or home. The usual answer is મજામાં (majāmāṁ), "well, in good spirits", with the verb said or left out: હું મજામાં છું. Between friends, and to a child, the form is કેમ છે? (kem chhe?) with the tu form of the verb, and to an elder it is always કેમ છો?, with the polite form.
Very many Gujarati sentences end in a form of "be", so the verb is often the last thing a listener hears. In speech and writing, a speaker may drop the verb when the meaning is clear, as the proverb of Section F does, but the standard written language keeps it.
The distinction between અમે and આપણે is a real one for speakers. A host who says આપણે બધા સાથે છીએ ("we are all together", the listener included) makes the guest a member of the group; a speaker who says અમે બધા સાથે છીએ speaks about a group that stands apart from the listener. A learner who mixes the two will be understood, but the choice is worth making correctly from the start.
Respect shows again in the verb. A speaker who says તે આવ્યા હતા speaks of a person to be honoured, and a speaker who says તે આવ્યો હતો speaks of a boy or a close friend. The title -ભાઈ (-bhāī) and the plural verb go together: મહેશભાઈ હતા, as in the narrative below.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
"મન હોય તો માળવે જવાય" (Man hoy to māḷve javāy), a Gujarati proverb (kahevat), anonymous and traditional
The proverb:
મન હોય તો માળવે જવાય.
F-A: Interlinear
F.1a મન mind હોય be તો if માળવે to-Malwa જવાય can-go
F.1b man (MUHN) mind.N hoy (HOY) be.SUBJ.3SG to (TOH) if māḷve (MAAL-veh) Malwa-LOC javāy (juh-VAAY) go-IMPERS.POT
F-B: Original and Translation
મન હોય તો માળવે જવાય.
"If the mind is willing, one can go even to Malwa." (Translation: Latinum Institute.) The English proverb that matches it is "Where there is a will, there is a way."
F-C: Original
મન હોય તો માળવે જવાય.
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
The proverb is made of a conditional and its result, and the conditional is the verb of this lesson. હોય (hoy) is the third person singular of હોવું (hovuṁ) as it is used after તો, "if": "if there is a mind (to do it)". It is the form for a general or an imagined case, which is why a proverb, speaking of what is always so, uses it and not છે. The subject of the clause is મન (man), "mind, heart, will", a neuter noun; the sentence needs no other word, because Gujarati lets "mind" stand for "the will to do it".
The result clause has no subject at all. માળવે (māḷve) is Malwa with the ending -એ, "to Malwa". Malwa is a region of central India, far to the east of Gujarat and Saurashtra; the sources on the proverb say that the journey was long and hard, and that those who were determined made it. જવાય (javāy) is a form of જવું (javuṁ), "to go", with the ending -ાય, which makes the verb impersonal and potential: "it can be gone", that is, "one can go". The English "one can go" is the nearest translation, and it is also the nearest in grammar, because there is no "I" or "you" in the Gujarati.
The wording of the proverb agrees in the list of Gujarati proverbs under the letter મ on Gujarati Wikiquote and on the Garvo Gujarati site. The proverb has no recorded author, and is given here as anonymous and traditional.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
A short account told by a neighbour, which carries on from the dialogue in Lesson 1. Maheshbhai, who has come from Rajkot, has moved into the yellow house in the lane. Watch how the three stems of the verb appear in turn, in the present, the past and the future; how the past agrees with the gender of what it describes; and how the respectful plural is used of Maheshbhai.
2.16a જ્યારે when મહેશભાઈ Maheshbhai રાજકોટમાં in-Rajkot હતા was ત્યારે then તેમનું his ઘર house નાનું small હતું was
2.16b jyāre (JYAA-reh) when maheshbhāī (muh-HEHSH-bhaa-ee) Mahesh-BHAI rājkoṭmāṁ (RAAJ-koht-maan) Rajkot-LOC hatā (HUH-taa) be.PST.M.PL.HON tyāre (TYAA-reh) then temnuṁ (TEHM-noon) he.HON-GEN.N ghar (GHUHR) house.N nānuṁ (NAA-noon) small.N hatuṁ (HUH-toon) be.PST.N
2.17a હવે now તેઓ he અમારી our શેરીમાં in-lane છે is
2.17b have (HUH-veh) now teo (TEH-oh) he.HON amārī (uh-MAA-ree) we.GEN.F sherīmāṁ (SHEH-ree-maan) lane-LOC chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.18a તેમના his પીળા yellow ઘરમાં in-house ચાર four ઓરડા rooms છે are
2.18b temnā (TEHM-naa) he.HON-GEN.N.OBL pīḷā (PEE-laa) yellow.N.OBL gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC chār (CHAAR) four orḍā (OR-daa) room.M.PL chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.19a રસોડું kitchen ઘરની of-house પાછળ behind છે is
2.19b rasoḍuṁ (ruh-SOH-doon) kitchen.N gharnī (GHUHR-nee) house-GEN.F pāchhaḷ (PAA-chhuhl) behind chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.20a ત્યાં there એક one નાનું small આંગણું courtyard પણ also છે is
2.20b tyāṁ (TYAAN) there ek (EHK) one nānuṁ (NAA-noon) small.N āṁgaṇuṁ (AAN-guh-noon) courtyard.N paṇ (PUHN) also chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.21a પહેલાં before ત્યાં there એક one લીમડો neem-tree હતો was પણ but હવે now તે it નથી is-not
2.21b pahelāṁ (puh-HEH-laan) before tyāṁ (TYAAN) there ek (EHK) one līmḍo (LEEM-doh) neem-tree.M hato (HUH-toh) be.PST.M paṇ (PUHN) but have (HUH-veh) now te (TEH) it.3SG nathī (NUH-thee) NEG.be.PRES
2.22a મહેશભાઈ Maheshbhai કહે says છે is કે that લીમડો neem-tree ખૂબ very મોટો big હતો was
2.22b maheshbhāī (muh-HEHSH-bhaa-ee) Mahesh-BHAI kahe (KUH-heh) say-PRES.3 chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3 ke (KEH) that līmḍo (LEEM-doh) neem-tree.M khūb (KHOOB) very moṭo (MOH-toh) big.M hato (HUH-toh) be.PST.M
2.23a તેમની his પત્ની wife રસોડામાં in-kitchen છે is અને and બંને both દીકરીઓ daughters આંગણામાં in-courtyard છે are
2.23b temnī (TEHM-nee) he.HON-GEN.F patnī (PUHT-nee) wife.F rasoḍāmāṁ (ruh-SOH-daa-maan) kitchen-LOC chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3 ane (UH-neh) and baṁne (BUN-neh) both dīkarīo (DEE-kuh-ree-oh) daughter.F.PL āṁgaṇāmāṁ (AAN-guh-naa-maan) courtyard-LOC chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.24a સાંજે evening-LOC અમે we બધા all તેમના his ઘરમાં in-house હતા were
2.24b sāṁje (SAAN-jeh) evening-LOC ame (UH-meh) we.1PL badhā (BUH-dhaa) all.M.PL temnā (TEHM-naa) he.HON-GEN.N.OBL gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC hatā (HUH-taa) be.PST.M.PL
2.25a ઘર house જૂનું old હતું was પણ but ઓરડા rooms સ્વચ્છ clean અને and ઠંડા cool હતા were
2.25b ghar (GHUHR) house.N jūnuṁ (JOO-noon) old.N hatuṁ (HUH-toon) be.PST.N paṇ (PUHN) but orḍā (OR-daa) room.M.PL svachchh (SVUCHH) clean ane (UH-neh) and ṭhaṁḍā (THUN-daa) cool.M.PL hatā (HUH-taa) be.PST.M.PL
2.26a મહેશભાઈ Maheshbhai ખુશ happy હતા was કારણ reason કે that તેમની his પાસે near હવે now પોતાનું own ઘર house છે is
2.26b maheshbhāī (muh-HEHSH-bhaa-ee) Mahesh-BHAI khush (KHUSH) happy hatā (HUH-taa) be.PST.M.PL.HON kāraṇ (KAA-ruhn) reason.N ke (KEH) that temnī (TEHM-nee) he.HON-GEN.F pāse (PAA-seh) near.LOC have (HUH-veh) now potānuṁ (poh-TAA-noon) own.N ghar (GHUHR) house.N chhe (CHHEH) be.PRES.3
2.27a આવતા coming રવિવારે Sunday-LOC તેમના his ઘરમાં in-house એક one નાનો small કાર્યક્રમ function હશે will-be
2.27b āvtā (AAV-taa) coming.M.OBL ravivāre (RUH-vi-vaa-reh) Sunday-LOC temnā (TEHM-naa) he.HON-GEN.N.OBL gharmāṁ (GHUHR-maan) house-LOC ek (EHK) one nāno (NAA-noh) small.M kāryakram (KAAR-yuh-krum) function.M hashe (HUH-sheh) be.FUT.3
2.28a ત્યાં there બધા all પડોશીઓ neighbours હશે will-be અને and ચા tea પણ also હશે will-be
2.28b tyāṁ (TYAAN) there badhā (BUH-dhaa) all.M.PL paḍoshīo (puh-DOH-shee-oh) neighbour.M.PL hashe (HUH-sheh) be.FUT.3 ane (UH-neh) and chā (CHAA) tea.F paṇ (PUHN) also hashe (HUH-sheh) be.FUT.3
2.29a જો if તમે you ત્યાં there હશો will-be તો then અમને to-us આનંદ joy થશે will-become
2.29b jo (JOH) if tame (TUH-meh) you.2PL tyāṁ (TYAAN) there hasho (HUH-shoh) be.FUT.2PL to (TOH) then amne (UHM-neh) we.DAT ānaṁd (AA-nund) joy.M thashe (THUH-sheh) become.FUT.3
2.30a તો then ચાલો come-on આપણે we-all બધા all ત્યાં there હોઈએ let-us-be
2.30b to (TOH) then chālo (CHAA-loh) go-IMP.2PL āpṇe (AAP-neh) we.INCL badhā (BUH-dhaa) all.M.PL tyāṁ (TYAAN) there hoīe (HOH-ee-eh) be.SUBJ.1PL
2.16 જ્યારે મહેશભાઈ રાજકોટમાં હતા, ત્યારે તેમનું ઘર નાનું હતું. (jyāre maheshbhāī rājkoṭmāṁ hatā, tyāre temnuṁ ghar nānuṁ hatuṁ.) "When Maheshbhai was in Rajkot, his house was small." 2.17 હવે તેઓ અમારી શેરીમાં છે. (have teo amārī sherīmāṁ chhe.) "Now he is in our lane." 2.18 તેમના પીળા ઘરમાં ચાર ઓરડા છે. (temnā pīḷā gharmāṁ chār orḍā chhe.) "In his yellow house there are four rooms." 2.19 રસોડું ઘરની પાછળ છે. (rasoḍuṁ gharnī pāchhaḷ chhe.) "The kitchen is behind the house." 2.20 ત્યાં એક નાનું આંગણું પણ છે. (tyāṁ ek nānuṁ āṁgaṇuṁ paṇ chhe.) "There is a small courtyard there, too." 2.21 પહેલાં ત્યાં એક લીમડો હતો, પણ હવે તે નથી. (pahelāṁ tyāṁ ek līmḍo hato, paṇ have te nathī.) "Before, there was a neem tree there, but now it is not there." 2.22 મહેશભાઈ કહે છે કે લીમડો ખૂબ મોટો હતો. (maheshbhāī kahe chhe ke līmḍo khūb moṭo hato.) "Maheshbhai says that the neem tree was very big." 2.23 તેમની પત્ની રસોડામાં છે અને બંને દીકરીઓ આંગણામાં છે. (temnī patnī rasoḍāmāṁ chhe ane baṁne dīkarīo āṁgaṇāmāṁ chhe.) "His wife is in the kitchen, and both daughters are in the courtyard." 2.24 સાંજે અમે બધા તેમના ઘરમાં હતા. (sāṁje ame badhā temnā gharmāṁ hatā.) "In the evening we were all in his house." 2.25 ઘર જૂનું હતું, પણ ઓરડા સ્વચ્છ અને ઠંડા હતા. (ghar jūnuṁ hatuṁ, paṇ orḍā svachchh ane ṭhaṁḍā hatā.) "The house was old, but the rooms were clean and cool." 2.26 મહેશભાઈ ખુશ હતા, કારણ કે તેમની પાસે હવે પોતાનું ઘર છે. (maheshbhāī khush hatā, kāraṇ ke temnī pāse have potānuṁ ghar chhe.) "Maheshbhai was happy, because he now has a house of his own." 2.27 આવતા રવિવારે તેમના ઘરમાં એક નાનો કાર્યક્રમ હશે. (āvtā ravivāre temnā gharmāṁ ek nāno kāryakram hashe.) "Next Sunday there will be a small function in his house." 2.28 ત્યાં બધા પડોશીઓ હશે અને ચા પણ હશે. (tyāṁ badhā paḍoshīo hashe ane chā paṇ hashe.) "All the neighbours will be there, and there will be tea as well." 2.29 જો તમે ત્યાં હશો, તો અમને આનંદ થશે. (jo tame tyāṁ hasho, to amne ānaṁd thashe.) "If you will be there, we shall be glad." 2.30 તો ચાલો, આપણે બધા ત્યાં હોઈએ. (to chālo, āpṇe badhā tyāṁ hoīe.) "Then come, let us all be there."
2.16 જ્યારે મહેશભાઈ રાજકોટમાં હતા, ત્યારે તેમનું ઘર નાનું હતું. 2.17 હવે તેઓ અમારી શેરીમાં છે. 2.18 તેમના પીળા ઘરમાં ચાર ઓરડા છે. 2.19 રસોડું ઘરની પાછળ છે. 2.20 ત્યાં એક નાનું આંગણું પણ છે. 2.21 પહેલાં ત્યાં એક લીમડો હતો, પણ હવે તે નથી. 2.22 મહેશભાઈ કહે છે કે લીમડો ખૂબ મોટો હતો. 2.23 તેમની પત્ની રસોડામાં છે અને બંને દીકરીઓ આંગણામાં છે. 2.24 સાંજે અમે બધા તેમના ઘરમાં હતા. 2.25 ઘર જૂનું હતું, પણ ઓરડા સ્વચ્છ અને ઠંડા હતા. 2.26 મહેશભાઈ ખુશ હતા, કારણ કે તેમની પાસે હવે પોતાનું ઘર છે. 2.27 આવતા રવિવારે તેમના ઘરમાં એક નાનો કાર્યક્રમ હશે. 2.28 ત્યાં બધા પડોશીઓ હશે અને ચા પણ હશે. 2.29 જો તમે ત્યાં હશો, તો અમને આનંદ થશે. 2.30 તો ચાલો, આપણે બધા ત્યાં હોઈએ.
The three tenses in one story. The narrative begins in the past (2.16), moves to the present for what is now so (2.17 to 2.23), goes back to the past for the evening of the visit (2.24 to 2.26), and ends in the future for the invitation (2.27 to 2.30). The verb changes its stem each time: હતા and હતું, then છે, then હશે, હશો and હોઈએ.
The past agrees with what it describes. In 2.16, ઘર નાનું હતું takes the neuter, and in 2.21 લીમડો હતો takes the masculine. In 2.25 the house is neuter, so હતું, and the rooms are masculine plural, so હતા. In 2.24 the "we" is mixed or masculine, so હતા.
Respect for Maheshbhai. The verb about him in the past is the plural હતા, not હતો (2.16, 2.26). In the present the form is the same, છે, and the respect is shown by the pronoun તેઓ (2.17) and by the genitive તેમનું, તેમના, તેમની (2.16, 2.18, 2.23, 2.26, 2.27). The word તેઓ here stands for one person, as in Lesson 1.
Place, then verb. 2.18, 2.19, 2.20 and 2.23 are all of the form "place, thing, છે". The genitive agrees with the thing owned, not the owner: તેમનું ઘર (neuter), તેમની પત્ની (feminine), તેમની પાસે (feminine, because of પાસે; 2.26).
The negative. In 2.21, હવે તે નથી is "now it is not (there)". The pronoun is તે and the verb is નથી; Section D gave the rule that નથી does not change.
The future. હશે is "he, she, it will be", and also "they will be": a function (2.27), neighbours and tea (2.28). હશો (2.29) is for "you", the polite plural, and હોઈએ (2.30) is the first person plural of the subjunctive, "let us be", the same form as કહીએ in Lesson 1.
થવું. In 2.29, આનંદ થશે is "joy will happen", so "we shall be glad". The dative અમને is "to us". Gujarati speaks of a feeling as something that "happens to" the person.
Clauses with કે. In 2.22 and 2.26, કે (ke) means "that" and opens the second clause. The clause that follows it keeps its own tense: મહેશભાઈ કહે છે (present) કે લીમડો મોટો હતો (past).
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
The romanisation follows the sound of the word, as in Lesson 1: ā is the long a of "father", e and o are pure vowels, ṁ marks a nasal sound, ṭ, ṭh, ḍ, ṇ and ḷ are retroflex, and chh is ch with a puff of air. In the respellings, uh is the vowel of "about", aa is "father", ee is "see", eh is a pure e as in French "thé", and oh is a pure o as in French "beau". The capital letters mark the syllable an English ear will hear as the strongest.
છે (chhe) — IPA: /tʃʰe/ — chh is the sound of "ch" in "church" with a strong puff of air. છું (chhuṁ) — IPA: /tʃʰũ/ — The same consonant, and a nasalised u. છીએ (chhīe) — IPA: /tʃʰie/ — Two vowels: a long ī and a short e, said in one beat. છો (chho) — IPA: /tʃʰo/ — A pure o, with no glide at the end. હતો (hato) — IPA: /ɦəto/ — The h is breathy, and the first vowel is the short vowel of "about". નથી (nathī) — IPA: /nət̪ʰi/ — th is a dental t with a puff of air, not the English "th". નહોતા (nahotā) — IPA: /nəɦot̪a/ — The h is spoken between the vowels. હશે (hashe) — IPA: /ɦəʃe/ — sh as in English "shoe". હોઈશ (hoīsh) — IPA: /ɦoiʃ/ — A long o and a short i, then sh. જવાય (javāy) — IPA: /dʒəʋaːj/ — The last sound is a y. માળવે (māḷve) — IPA: /maːɭʋe/ — ળ is a retroflex l, with the tongue curled back. ક્યાં (kyāṁ) — IPA: /kjã/ — A y-glide after k, and a nasalised a.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
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