Sanskrit/Basic grammar

Nouns Introduction 'Basic' grammar in Sanskrit may be an oxymoron, but here are some fundamentals. Sanskrit is an inflected language, meaning that the nouns are declined and the verbs are conjugated. The Sanskrit language tends toward the subject-object-verb word ordering, but does allow for multiple type of sentence formulations particularly in the sutra form. There are three principal numbers used in the inflection of the Sanskrit language. These are singular (1 thing), dual (2 things), and plural (many things). In declining Sanskrit nouns, there are eight cases used. These are nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, and vocative. Nouns are declined according to their endings, with the exception of pronouns which have specific declensions. The short a masculine declension: deva-, god Singular Dual Plural Nominative devas / devaḥ devau devās / devāḥ Accusative (Erg./Abs.) devam devau devān Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») devena devābhyām devais / devaiḥ Dative (Obl. + Un) devāya devābhyām devebhyas / devebhyaḥ Ablative (Obl) devāt devābhyām devebhyas / devebhyaḥ Genitive (Obl. + akh) devasya devayos / devayoḥ devānām Locative deve devayos / devayoḥ deveṣu Vocative deva devau devās / devāḥ The short a neuter declension: phala-, fruit Singular Dual Plural Nominative phalam phale phalāni Accusative (Erg./Abs.) phalam phale phalāni Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») phalena phalābhyām phalais / phalaiḥ Dative (Obl. + Un) phalāya phalābhyām phalebhyas / phalebhyaḥ Ablative (Obl) phalāt phalābhyām phalebhyas / phalebhyaḥ Genitive (Obl. + akh) phalasya phalayos / phalayoḥ phalānām Locative phale phalayos / phalayoḥ phaleṣu Vocative phala phale phalāni The long ā feminine declension: mālā-, garland Singular Dual Plural Nominative mālā māle mālās / mālāḥ Accusative (Erg./Abs.) mālām māle mālās / mālāḥ Instrumental (Obl.+u9aI») mālayā mālābhyām mālābhis / mālābhiḥ Dative (Obl. + Un) mālāyai mālābhyām mālābhyas / mālābhyaḥ Ablative (Obl) mālāyāḥ mālābhyām mālābhyas / mālābhyaḥ Genitive (Obl. + akh) mālāyāḥ mālayos / mālayoḥ mālānām Locative mālāyām mālayos / mālayoḥ mālāsu Vocative māle māle mālās / mālāḥ