# Marathi grammar

The grammar of the Marathi language shares similarities with other modern Indo-Aryan languages such as Odia, Gujarati or Punjabi. The first modern book exclusively about the grammar of Marathi was printed in 1805 by Willam Carey.
The principal word order in Marathi is SOV (subject–object–verb). Nouns inflect for gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular, plural), and case. Marathi preserves the neuter gender found in Sanskrit, a feature further distinguishing it from many Indo-Aryan languages. Typically, Marathi adjectives do not inflect unless they end in an आ (/aː/) vowel, in which case they inflect for gender and number. Marathi verbs inflect for tense (past, present, future). Verbs can agree with their subjects, yielding an active voice construction, or with their objects, yielding a passive voice construction. A third type of voice, not found in English for example, is produced when the verb agrees with neither subject nor object. Affixation is largely suffixal in the language and postpositions are attested. An unusual feature of Marathi, as compared to other Indo-European languages, is that it displays the inclusive and exclusive we feature, that is common to the Dravidian languages, Rajasthani, and Gujarati.
The contemporary grammatical rules described by Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad and endorsed by the Government of Maharashtra are supposed to take precedence in standard written Marathi. These rules are described in Marathi Grammar, written by M. R. Walimbe. The book is widely referred to students in schools and colleges.

## Sanskrit influence

Traditions of Marathi Linguistics and above mentioned rules give special status to ‘tatsama’ (तत्सम) words borrowed from the Sanskrit language. This special status expects the rules for ‘tatsama’ words be followed as of Sanskrit grammar.

## Parts of speech

Marathi words can be classified in any of the following parts of speech:
| English | Sanskrit |
| Noun | nāma (नाम) |
| Pronoun | sarvanāma (सर्वनाम) |
| Adjective | vishheshaṇa (विशेषण) |
| Verb | kriyāpada (क्रियापद) |
| Adverb | kriyāvishheshaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण) |
| Conjunction | ubhayanvayī avyaya (उभयान्वयी अव्यय) |
| Preposition | shabdayogī avyaya (शब्दयोगी अव्यय) |
| Interjection | kevalaprayogī avyaya (केवलप्रयोगी अव्यय) |

## Nominals

Nouns are primarily divided into three categories – proper nouns (विशेषनाम, visheshnāma), common nouns (सामान्यनाम, samānyanāma), and abstract nouns (भाववाचकनाम, bhāvvāchaknāma) – that are identical in definition to their counterparts in other languages (such as English), and are inflected for gender, number and case. They are also often categorized based on their ending vowel, which is especially useful in studying their inflection – those ending in the schwa (or inherent vowel) a (अ) are termed akārānt (अकारान्त), those ending in the vowel ā (आ) are termed ākārānt (आकारान्त), those ending in the vowel ī (ई) are termed īkārānt (ईकारान्त), and so on.

### Gender

There are three genders in Marathi: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Some other modern Indo-European languages have lost these genders, completely, as in English and Persian, or in part, with either neuter and common gender (merging masculine and feminine), as in some Northern Germanic languages, or feminine and masculine (absorbing neuter), as in almost all Romance languages.
While there exist no concrete rules for determining the gender of a given noun, certain observations do help speakers in that regard: masculine nouns can only be akārānt or ākārānt, while neuter nouns can only be akārānt, īkārānt, ukārānt (उकारान्त, ending in u), or ekārānt (एकारान्त, ending in e).
The grammatical gender of common nouns referring to animated objects corresponds to their natural sex – for example, mulagā (मुलगा, 'boy') is a masculine noun, whereas mulagī (मुलगी, 'girl') is a feminine one. Given the masculine forms of such nouns, the feminine noun can often be determined using a set of rules:
* Some ākārānta nouns have corresponding feminine forms as īkārānt with the same root – mulagā/mulagī (boy/girl), kutrā/kutrī (dog/bitch), ghoḍā/ghoḍī (horse/mare).
* Some akārānta nouns also have their corresponding feminine forms as īkārānt with the same root – hansa/hansī (male and female swans), vānar/vānrī (male and female monkeys).
* Some nouns use the suffix - iṇī (इणी) to form their feminine forms – vāgha/vāghīṇī (tiger/tigress), mālaka/mālakīṇī (male and female owners).
* Some nouns have their feminine forms made out of entirely different words – navrā/bāyko (husband/wife), bāp/āyī (father/mother), rājā/rāṇī (king/queen).
Similarly, for masculine ākārānt common nouns referring to inanimate objects, the 'diminutive' (लघुत्वदर्शक, laghutvadarshak) forms are feminine, and are īkārānt – danḍā/danḍī (big/small stick), loṭā/loṭī (big/small mug).

### Case

There are differences of opinion regarding grammatical cases in Marathi. According to one view, there are two cases: direct, which is unmarked (e.g. Ram 'Ram') and oblique, which is used before adpositions (e.g. ram-a-la 'to Ram', -a being the oblique case marker and -la the dative adposition) and postpositions (e.g. ram-a-pasun 'from Ram',-a being the oblique case marker and -pasun the postposition). The form of the oblique suffix depends on the gender and the final vowel of the word it is suffixed to.
According to this analysis, true postpositions (like -pasun 'from') have a wide range of meanings and can be separated form the noun by clitics like -cya (e.g. ram-a-cya-pasun). Adpositions (like -la), on the other hand, are only used to mark nominal arguments of the verb in terms of their theta roles and cannot be separated from the noun by clitics (*ram-a-cya-la is ungrammatical). Syntactically, the latter behave the same as case markers corresponding to the traditional grammar. In this view, the cases are: nominative (unmarked), accusative/dative (singular -la, plural -na), ergative, which is traditionally called 'instrumental' (sg. -ne, pl. -ni) and genitive/possessive (-tsa, -tse, -tʃa, -tʃi).
The class of true postpositions will then include -hatun 'through', -hu(n) 'from'/ablative, -t locative, -jagi 'in place of' and many more. The genitive markers inflect to agree with the governing noun.

#### Traditional grammar

In traditional analyses which follow the pattern of Sanskrit grammatical tradition, case suffixes are referred to as (vibhaktī pratyaya) विभक्ती प्रत्यय. There are eight such (vibhaktī) विभक्ती (विभक्ती) in Marathi. The form of the original word changes when such a suffix is to be attached to the word, and the new, modified root is referred to as saamaanya ruup of the original word. For example, the word (ghodā) घोडा (“horse”) gets transformed into (ghodyā-) घोड्या- when the suffix (-var) वर- (“on”) is attached to it to form (ghodyāvar) घोड्यावर (“on the horse”). The nominal suffixes are tabulated below.
| Sanskrit Ordinal Number | English Ordinal Number | Sanskrit Case Description | English Case Description | Singular Suffixes (एकवचन) | Plural Suffixes (अनेकवचन) | Notes |
| prathamā (प्रथमा) | First | kartā (कर्ता) | Nominative case | – | – | The nominative case uses the unmarked singular or plural form. The unmarked form may also mark certain direct objects. |
| dwitīyā (द्वितीया) | Second | karma (कर्म) | Accusative case | -lā (-ला), | Nnā(न्ना)- | -s and -te are not typically used. Direct objects may also be unmarked in some situations. |
| trutīyā (तृतीया) | Third | karaṇa (करण) | Instrumental case (and Ergative case) | -ṇī (-णी) | -ṇṇī (ण्णी) | -shī is not typically used as an instrumental, and never for the ergative case. |
| caturthī (चतुर्थी) | Fourth | sampradāna (संप्रदान) | Dative case | -lā (-ला), -s (-स), -te (-ते) | -nā (ना), -s (-स), -te (-ते), -lā (-ला) | -s and -te are not typically used. |
| pancamī (पञ्चमी) | Fifth | apādāna (अपादान) | Ablative case | -ūn (-ऊन), -hūn (हून) | -ūn (-ऊन), -hūn (हून) | -hūn is used when the noun ends in a vowel. |
| shhashhthī (षष्ठी) | Sixth | sambandh (संबंध) | Genitive case | -cā (-चा), -cī (-ची), -ce (-चे) | -ce (-चे), -cyā (-च्या), -cī (-ची) | The specific suffix used depends on the gender of the noun. |
| saptamī (सप्तमी) | Seventh | adhikaran (अधिकरण) | Locative case | -t (-त), -i (-इ), -ā (-आ) | -t (-त), -ī (-ई), -ā (-आ) | The specific suffix used depends on the morphology of the noun and the connotation desired. |
| | | sambhodan (संबोधन) | Vocative case | – | -no (-नो) | The vocative case cannot be used in the singular |
* 1 2 In the case of indefinite and inanimate direct objects, Marathi exhibits Differential object marking (see below) and uses the unmarked form rather than the form with the accusative ending. $^{:3}$ Despite being used for a direct object, such unmarked nouns are still considered to be प्रथमा/कर्ता in the traditional analysis and it common to still use the word "nominative" to refer to them.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Suffixes like -स and -त are pronounced -s and -t, due to the oblique form always ending in a non-schwa vowel, resulting in a mandatory schwa deletion
* 1 2 -s, while more prevalent in Old Marathi, is largely restricted to the formal written register, and typically used when talking about people.$^{:274}$
* 1 2 -te is obsolete in Modern Marathi but can be found in old poetry,$^{:274}$ and was the primary marker in Old Marathi$^{:5}$
* ↑ -ṣī is only used as an instrumental suffix in northeastern varieties of Marathi but is recognized as such by other speakers.$^{:274}$ Most speakers use this suffix as a variant of the adessive postposition पाशी pāṣi
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vowel suffixes like -i and -un attach the vowel directly to the ending consonant, and are applied to the unmarked (direct) singular form of the noun, as opposed to the oblique form. For example, सकाळ sakāḷ (morning) has a locative case of सकाळी sakāḷī, and घर ghar (house) has an ablative case of घरून gharūn
* ↑ The -ī suffix must be used for some feminine stems that end in a consonant (e.g. सकाळी sakāḷī), and may be used for some masculine and neuter stems that end in a consonant (e.g. हातात/हाती hātāt/hātī and घरात/घरी gharāt/gharī).$^{:274}$ When ambiguous, the -t suffix has a connotation of location inside a well-defined area in space or time, whereas -ī has a connotation of location "at" a less well defined space, time, or concept. As a rough analogy, the difference between gharāt and gharī, both locative cases of ghar (house), is similar to the difference between "in (a) house" and "at (a) home".$^{:335}$
Examples :
| English Case Description | Singular (एकवचन) | Case Ending Used | Plural (अनेकवचन) | Case Ending Used |
| Nominative case | – | – | विद्यार्थी अभ्यास करतात | – |
| Accusative case | घराला रंग दिला | -lā (-ला) | घरांना रंग दिला | -nā (ना) |
| Accusative case | त्याने संस्थेस देणगी दिली | -sa (-स) | त्यांनी संस्थेस देणगी दिली | -sa (-स) |
| Instrumental case | विद्यार्थी लेखणीने चित्र काढतो | -ne (ने) | विद्यार्थी लेखण्यांनी चित्र काढतात | -nī (नी) |
| Instrumental case | मुलगा दाराशी उभा होता | -shī (शी) | मुले दाराशी उभी होती | shī (शी) |
| Dative case | मी विद्यार्थ्याला ओळखतो | -lā (-ला) | मी विद्यार्थ्यांना ओळखतो | -nā (ना) |
| Dative case | मी मुलास ओळखतो | -sa (-स) | मी मुलांना ओळखतो | -nā (ना) |
| Ablative case | मुलगा घरून निघाला | -ūn (-ऊन) | मुले घरून निघाली | -ūn (-ऊन) |
| Ablative case | मुलगा गावाहून आला | -hūn (हून) | मुले गावाहून आली | -hūn (हून) |
| Genitive case | घराचा दरवाजा सुंदर आहे | -cā (-चा) | घरांचे दरवाजे सुंदर आहेत | -ce (-चे) |
| Genitive case | मुलांची तब्येत सुधारली आहे | -cī (-ची) | मुलांच्या तब्येती सुधारल्या आहेत | -cyā (-च्या) |
| Genitive case | मुलाचे प्रगती पत्रक मिळाले | -ce (-चे) | मुलांची प्रगती पत्रके मिळाली | -cī (-ची) |
| Locative case | मुलगा घरात होता | -ta (-त) | मुले घरात होती | -ta (-त) |
| Locative case | मुलगा घरी होता | -ī (-ई) | मुले घरी होती | -ī (-ई) |
| Locative case | गाय घरी परतली | -ī (-ई) | गायी घरा परतल्या | -ā (-आ) |
| Vocative case | – | – | मुलांनो शांत बसा | -no (-नो) |

##### Split Ergativity

Marathi is considered a split ergative language, i.e. it uses both nominative-accusative and ergative-absolutive alignment. In the latter type, the subject of a transitive verb takes the ergative marking (identical to that of the instrumental case) instead of having the same form as the subject of an intransitive verb. This change also results in the verb agreeing with the unmarked noun (usually the object) instead of its subject, as it would in nominative-accusative situations:
मुलगा
boy.MASC.SG
mulgā
पुरी
puri.FEM.SG
purī
खातो
eat-MASC.SG.PRS
khā-to
मुलगा पुरी खातो
boy.MASC.SG puri.FEM.SG eat-MASC.SG.PRS
mulgā purī khā-to
"The boy eats puri"
मुलाने
boy.MASC.SG-ERG
mulā-ne
पुरी
puri.FEM.SG
purī
खाल्ली
eat-FEM.SG.PST
khā-llī
मुलाने पुरी खाल्ली
boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.PST
mulā-ne purī khā-llī
"The boy ate puri"
Note that it is possible for the unmarked noun to be a direct object despite Marathi having an accusative case: Marathi exhibits Differential object marking for direct objects, and the accusative declension is used in the case of definite or animate objects. $^{:3}$
In case there is no unmarked noun, the verb shows neutral agreement:
मुलाने
boy.MASC.SG-ERG
mulā-ne
चमच्याने
spoon.MASC.SG-INST
camcyā-ne
खाल्ले
eat-NEUT.SG.PST
khā-lle
मुलाने चमच्याने खाल्ले
boy.MASC.SG-ERG spoon.MASC.SG-INST eat-NEUT.SG.PST
mulā-ne camcyā-ne khā-lle
"The boy ate with a spoon"
As in many Indo-Aryan languages, the ergative split in Marathi is primarily aspect-based, specifically triggered by the perfective for transitive verbs, as seen in the examples above. Furthermore, subjects of intransitive verbs in the obligative subjunctive mood are also marked as ergative, as are third-person subjects in the optative:$^{:44–51}$
मुलाने
boy.MASC.SG-ERG
mulā-ne
पुरी
puri.FEM.SG
purī
खाल्ली
eat-FEM.SG.PFV
khā-llī
पाहिजे
should.3SG
pāhije
मुलाने पुरी खाल्ली पाहिजे
boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.PFV should.3SG
mulā-ne purī khā-llī pāhije
"The boy must (is obliged to) eat puri"
मुलाने
boy.MASC.SG-ERG
mulā-ne
पुरी
puri.FEM.SG
purī
खावी
eat-FEM.SG.OPT
khā-vī
मुलाने पुरी खावी
boy.MASC.SG-ERG puri.FEM.SG eat-FEM.SG.OPT
mulā-ne purī khā-vī
"(I suggest that) The boy should eat puri"

##### Differential object marking

Marathi, like many Indo-Aryan languages, exhibits differential object marking. Direct objects are marked according to definiteness, with unmarked objects representing indefinite nouns. As such, accusative case markings are not universally required.
मुलगा
boy
mulgā
दगड
rock
dagaḍ
फेकत आहे
throw.PRS.CONT
fekat āhe
मुलगा दगड {फेकत आहे}
boy rock throw.PRS.CONT
mulgā dagaḍ {fekat āhe}
"The boy is throwing (some) rocks"
मुलगा
boy
mulgā
दगडाला
rock.ACC
dagaḍālā
फेकत आहे
throw.PRS.CONT
fekat āhe
मुलगा दगडाला {फेकत आहे}
boy rock.ACC throw.PRS.CONT
mulgā dagaḍālā {fekat āhe}
"The boy is throwing (the) rock"
Sentences with both unmarked direct objects and unmarked subjects must follow the unmarked SOV word order. Since the nominative case is typically unmarked, the only time this does not occur is when the subject is a pronoun or in the ergative case, allowing for the usage of marked word orders for emphasis:
दगड
rock
dagaḍ
तो
he
to
फेकत आहे
throw.PRS.CONT
fekat āhe
दगड तो {फेकत आहे}
rock he throw.PRS.CONT
dagaḍ to {fekat āhe}
"He is throwing (some) rocks"
An alternate analysis of this situation is that Marathi does not mark the accusative case at all, rather the -ला marker is shared between the dative case and definite differential object marking.$^{:5,9–10}$

## Adjectives

Adjectives typically precede the noun (although in adjective phrases they can follow the noun) and are divided into declinable and indeclinable categories. Declinable adjectives end in the vowel -ā (आ) and must be declined for the gender, number and case of the nouns they qualify. Declining adjectives for case is easier compared to declining nouns, since a single ending applies to all cases; a complete table listing the different endings is given below, with the masculine nominative singular as the citation form.
| | | | Nominative | All else | Notes |
| Declinable | Masculine | Singular | -ā (आ) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Declinable | Masculine | Plural | -e (ए) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Declinable | Feminine | Singular | -ī (-ई) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Declinable | Feminine | Plural | -yā (या) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Declinable | Neuter | Singular | -e (ए) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Declinable | Neuter | Plural | -ī (-ई) | -yā (या) | The -yā (या) ending requires the removal of the schwa from the final consonant. In other words, the adjective is transformed to its saamaanya ruup. |
| Indeclinable | – | – | – | – | – |

### Possessive

Possessive adjectives in Marathi are slight modifications to the personal pronouns, suffixed with the genitive/possessive case markers – चा/ची/चे (cā/cī/ce), for masculine, feminine and plural subjects respectively. However, in the first and second-person singular the case marking is different, as shown below. Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify; for plural nouns, the markers change from चा/ची/चे to चे/च्या/ची (ce/cyā/cī), with a similar transformation for the first and second-person singular adjectives.
| | | Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| | | Singular noun | Plural noun | Singular noun | Plural noun |
| 1st person | 1st person | माझाmājhā//माझीmājhī//माझेmājheमाझा / माझी / माझेmājhā / mājhī / mājhe | माझेmājhe//माझ्याmājhyā//माझीmājhīमाझे / माझ्या / माझीmājhe / mājhyā / mājhī | आमचाāmchā//आमचीāmchī//आमचेāmcheआमचा / आमची / आमचेāmchā / āmchī / āmche | आमचेāmche//आमच्याāmchyā//आमचीāmchīआमचे / आमच्या / आमचीāmche / āmchyā / āmchī |
| 2nd person | 2nd person | तुझाtujhā//तुझीtujhī//तुझेtujheतुझा / तुझी / तुझेtujhā / tujhī / tujhe | तुझेtujhe//तुझ्याtujhyā//तुझीtujhīतुझे / तुझ्या / तुझीtujhe / tujhyā / tujhī | तुमचाtumchā//तुमचीtumchī//तुमचेtumcheतुमचा / तुमची / तुमचेtumchā / tumchī / tumche | तुमचेtumche//तुमच्याtumchyā//तुमचीtumchīतुमचे / तुमच्या / तुमचीtumche / tumchyā / tumchī |
| 3rd person | M | त्याचाtyāchā//त्याचीtyāchī//त्याचेtyācheत्याचा / त्याची / त्याचेtyāchā / tyāchī / tyāche | त्याचेtyāche//त्याच्याtyāchyā//त्याचीtyāchīत्याचे / त्याच्या / त्याचीtyāche / tyāchyā / tyāchī | त्यांचाtyānchā//त्यांचीtyānchī//त्यांचेtyāncheत्यांचा / त्यांची / त्यांचेtyānchā / tyānchī / tyānche | त्यांचेtyānche//त्यांच्याtyānchyā//त्यांचीtyānchīत्यांचे / त्यांच्या / त्यांचीtyānche / tyānchyā / tyānchī |
| 3rd person | F | तिचाtichā//तिचीtichī//तिचेticheतिचा / तिची / तिचेtichā / tichī / tiche | तिचेtiche//तिच्याtichyā//तिचीtichīतिचे / तिच्या / तिचीtiche / tichyā / tichī | त्यांचाtyānchā//त्यांचीtyānchī//त्यांचेtyāncheत्यांचा / त्यांची / त्यांचेtyānchā / tyānchī / tyānche | त्यांचेtyānche//त्यांच्याtyānchyā//त्यांचीtyānchīत्यांचे / त्यांच्या / त्यांचीtyānche / tyānchyā / tyānchī |
| 3rd person | N | त्याचाtyāchā//त्याचीtyāchī//त्याचेtyācheत्याचा / त्याची / त्याचेtyāchā / tyāchī / tyāche | त्याचेtyāche//त्याच्याtyāchyā//त्याचीtyāchīत्याचे / त्याच्या / त्याचीtyāche / tyāchyā / tyāchī | त्यांचाtyānchā//त्यांचीtyānchī//त्यांचेtyāncheत्यांचा / त्यांची / त्यांचेtyānchā / tyānchī / tyānche | त्यांचेtyānche//त्यांच्याtyānchyā//त्यांचीtyānchīत्यांचे / त्यांच्या / त्यांचीtyānche / tyānchyā / tyānchī |

### Demonstrative

The adjectives हा (hā, this) and तो (to, that) serve as demonstrative adjectives and are always declined for the gender and number of the noun(s) that follows them.
| Adjective | Singular (M/F/N) | Plural (M/F/N) |
| this/these | हाhā//हीhī//हेheहा / ही / हेhā / hī / he | हेhe//ह्याhyā//हीhīहे / ह्या / हीhe / hyā / hī |
| that/those | तोto//तीtī//तेteतो / ती / तेto / tī / te | तेte//त्याtyā//तीtīते / त्या / तीte / tyā / tī |

## Pronouns

There are three grammatical persons (पुरुष purushh) in Marathi. There is gender distinction in the first- and second-persons when the pronouns act as agreement markers on verbs; as independent pronouns this distinction in lost.
| English | Sanskrit | Singular | Plural |
| First Person | प्रथम पुरुष | (myā) म्या “I” | (āmhī) आम्ही “we” (exclusive) (āpaṇ) आपण “we” (inclusive) |
| Second Person | द्वितीय पुरुष | (tū) तू “you” | (tumhī) तुम्ही “you” (formal) (āpaṇ) आपण “you” (extremely formal) |
| Third Person | तृतीय पुरुष | (to) तो “he” (tī) ती “she” (te) ते “it” | (te) ते “they” (masculine) or (“he”) हे (formal) (tyā) त्या “they” (feminine) (tī) ती “they” (neuter) |

## Verbs

Verb stems can end in a vowel (ākārānt, īkārānt, or ekārānt) or a consonant (akārānt) and are declined for person, gender and number. They are usually listed in dictionaries in their infinitive forms, which consist of the verb stem with the suffix – ṇe (णे); for example खाणे (khāṇē, to eat), बोलणे (bolaṇē, to speak), चालणे (cālaṇē, to walk). Verbs are fairly regular, although the copula and other auxiliaries are notable exceptions.
The verbal system, much like in other Indo-Aryan languages, revolves around a combination of aspect and tense – there are 3 main aspects (perfect, imperfect, and habitual) and 3 main tenses (present, past, and future). Tenses are marked using conjugations, while aspects are marked using suffixes and by adding conjugations of a copula/auxiliary verb.

### Copula

The verb असणे (asṇē, to be) is an irregular verb that acts as the copula / auxiliary for all tenses and for the perfect and imperfect aspects; its conjugations are shown below.
असणे (asṇē, to be) :
| | Present tense | Present tense | Past tense | Past tense | Future tense | Future tense |
| | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| 1st person | आहेāheआहेāhe | आहोतāhotआहोतāhot | होतोhoto//होतेhoteहोतो / होतेhoto / hote | होतोhotoहोतोhoto | असेनasenअसेनasen | असूasūअसूasū |
| 2nd person | आहेसāhesआहेसāhes | आहातāhātआहातāhāt | होतासhotās//होतीसhotīsहोतास / होतीसhotās / hotīs | होता(त)hotā(t)होता(त)hotā(t) | असशीलasshīlअसशीलasshīl | असालasālअसालasāl |
| 3rd person | आहेāheआहेāhe | आहेतāhetआहेतāhet | होताhotā//होतीhotī//होतेhoteहोता / होती / होतेhotā / hotī / hote | होतेhoteहोतेhote | असेलaselअसेलasel | असतीलastīlअसतीलastīl |
The habitual aspect uses a different set of conjugations of the same auxiliary verb (असणे); for present-tense and past-tense these conjugations are shown below. In future tense a different auxiliary verb, जाणे (jāṇē, to go), is typically used.
असणे (asṇē, to be, habitual aspect) :
| | Present tense | Present tense | Past tense | Past tense |
| | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
| 1st person | असतोasto//असतेasteअसतो / असतेasto / aste | असतोastoअसतोasto | असायचोasāyco//असायचेasāyceअसायचो / असायचेasāyco / asāyce | असायचोasāycoअसायचोasāyco |
| 2nd person | असतोसastos//असतेसastesअसतोस / असतेसastos / astes | असताastāअसताastā | असायचासasāycās//असायचीसasāycisअसायचास / असायचीसasāycās / asāycis | असायचातasāycā(t)असायचातasāycā(t) |
| 3rd person | असतोasto//असतेaste//असतंastaअसतो / असते / असतंasto / aste / asta | असतातastātअसतातastāt | असायचाasāycā//असायचीasāyci//असायचंasāycaअसायचा / असायची / असायचंasāycā / asāyci / asāyca | असायचेasāyce//असायच्याasāycyā//असायचीasāyciअसायचे / असायच्या / असायचीasāyce / asāycyā / asāyci |

### Causatives

Causatives are created from existing verb stems and typically follow the set of patterns listed below.
* Attaching 'व' (va) to the stem of the verb; in modern literature 'व' is often replaced by 'वि' (vi). So हसणे (hasaṇē, to laugh) → हसवणे/हसविणे (hasavṇē/hasviṇē, to cause to laugh); चालणे (cālaṇē, to walk) → चालवणे/चालविणे (cālavṇē/cālviṇē, to cause to walk).
** For verbs with stems that have single syllables (खा, घे, दे; khā, ghē, dē), attach 'ववि' (vavi) instead of 'व'. Thus, खाणे (khāṇē, to eat) → खावविणे (khāvaviṇē, to cause to eat); देणे (dēṇē, to give) → देवविणे (dēvaviṇē, to cause to give).
* Root vowel change: a → ā (अ → आ), u/ū → o (उ/ऊ → ओ), i/ī → e (इ/ई → ए); sometimes also accompanied by the root final consonant change 'ṭ' → 'ṛ' (ट → ड). So तुटणे (tuṭaṇē, to be broken) → तोडणे (toṛaṇē, to cause to broken/to break); गळणे (gaḷaṇē, to be buried) → गाळणे (gāḷaṇē, to cause to be buried/to bury).

### Imperatives

The imperative form of a verb (called आज्ञार्थ, ādñārtha) is formed by applying a simple set of rules to the stem of the verb, and has second-person singular (where there is a distinction between formal and informal) and second-person plural forms (which are the same as the second-person singular formal).
* For akārānt verbs, the informal imperative form is the verb stem itself. The formal imperative is formed by utilizing the transformation a → ā (अ → आ) to the stem vowel.
* For ākārānt verbs, the imperative form (formal and informal) is the verb stem itself.
* For īkārānt and ekārānt verbs, the informal imperative is the verb stem itself. The formal imperative is formed by transforming the final vowel to the semi-vowel या (yā).
* Negative imperative forms are constructed by adding the suffix -ऊ (ū) to the verb stem, and then by adding a separate negative particle नकोस/नको (nakosa/nako, for informal imperative) or नका (nakā, for formal imperative).
Imperative forms :
| Verb (infinitive) | | Second-person singular (informal) | Second-person singular (formal) / Second-person plural |
| बोलणेbolaṇēबोलणेbolaṇēto speak | – | तूtūबोलbolaतू बोलtū bola | तुम्हीtumhīबोलाbolāतुम्ही बोलाtumhī bolā |
| बोलणेbolaṇēबोलणेbolaṇēto speak | Negative | तूtuबोलूbolūनकोसnakosa//नकोnakoतू बोलू नकोस / नकोtu bolū nakosa / nako | तुम्हीtumhīबोलूbolūनकाnakāतुम्ही बोलू नकाtumhī bolū nakā |
| खाणेkhāṇēखाणेkhāṇēto eat | – | तूtūखाkhāतू खाtū khā | तुम्हीtumhīखाkhāतुम्ही खाtumhī khā |
| खाणेkhāṇēखाणेkhāṇēto eat | Negative | तूtūखाऊkhāūनकोसnakosa//नकोnakoतू खाऊ नकोस / नकोtū khāū nakosa / nako | तुम्हीtumhīखाऊkhaūनकाnakāतुम्ही खाऊ नकाtumhī khaū nakā |
| देणेdēṇēदेणेdēṇēto give | | तूtūदेdeतू देtū de | तुम्हीtumhīद्याdyāतुम्ही द्याtumhī dyā |
| देणेdēṇēदेणेdēṇēto give | Negative | तूtūदेऊdeūनकोसnakosa//नकोnakoतू देऊ नकोस / नकोtū deū nakosa / nako | तुम्हीtumhīदेऊdeūनकाnakāतुम्ही देऊ नकाtumhī deū nakā |

### Voice

Traditional grammar distinguishes three grammatical voices (प्रयोग, prayog) in Marathi.
* Active voice (कर्तरी प्रयोग kartarī prayog) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the subject
राम
Rāma
म्हणतोय
mhantoya
राम म्हणतोय
Rāma mhantoya
“Rām says”
राम
Rāma
आम्बा
āmbā
खातोय
khātoya
राम आम्बा खातोय
Rāma āmbā khātoya
“Rām eats a mango”
* Passive voice (कर्मणी प्रयोग karmanī prayog) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb changes according to the object
रामाणी
Rāmāṇī
आम्बा
āmbā
खाल्ला
khāllā
रामाणी आम्बा खाल्ला
Rāmāṇī āmbā khāllā
“The mango was eaten by Raam”
रामाणी
Rāmāṇī
साङ्गितले
sāngitale
रामाणी साङ्गितले
Rāmāṇī sāngitale
“It was told by Rām”
* Bhāve prayog (भावे प्रयोग) refers to a sentence construction in which the verb does not change according to either the subject or the object. This is used for imperatives.
माझा
Mājha
निरोप
nirop
त्याला
tyālā
जाऊन
jāūn
सांग
sāng
माझा निरोप त्याला जाऊन सांग
Mājha nirop tyālā jāūn sāng
“Go tell him my message”

## Sentence structure

A Marathi sentence generally has three parts: subject (कर्ता kartā), object (कर्म karma), and verb (क्रियापद kriyāpad). In a Marathi sentence, the subject comes first, then the object, and finally the verb. However, in some sentences there is no object.
See also:
* Marathi language