The Aorist or Past Tense (ajjatanī)

The Aorist or Past Tense (ajjatanī)

The Aorist is the most common form of Past Tense in the Tipiṭaka. It is formed directly on the root or on the base.

It can be formed on the root:

this occurs mostly with group 1 roots

√har 1 a (carry)

√har + i > hari (he carried)

√nand 1 a (be happy)

abhi + √nand + i > abhinandi (he was delighted)

Or it can be formed on the verbal base:

just like the present tense

√bhuj 2 ṃa (eat, enjoy) > bhuñja

bhuñja + i > bhuñji (he ate, enjoyed)

√mant 8 aya (counsel, invite) > mantaya

ā + mantaya + i > āmantayi (he addressed)

what would another form of this verb be?¹³

āmantesi

Sometimes the aorist takes an augment of “a”

√ṭhā 1 a (stand)

a + √ṭhā + si > aṭṭhāsi (he stood)

√dā 1 a (give)

a + √dā + si > adāsi (he gave)

1st conjugation group & others

Conjugation of -i aor

	singular	plural
3rd	paci apaci	he cooked	paciṃsu apaciṃsu pacuṃ apacuṃ	they cooked
2nd	paci apaci paco apaco	you cooked	pacittha apacittha	you all cooked
1st	paciṃ apaciṃ	I cooked	pacimhā apacimhā	we cooked

8th conjugation group

8th conjugation group and other bases ending in e, such as causative verbs, are conjugated with an inserted “s”

Conjugation of -esi aor

	singular	plural
3rd	desesi	he taught	desesuṃ	they taught
2nd	desesi	you taught	desittha	you all taught
1st	desesiṃ	I taught	desimha desimhā	we taught

similarly samacintesi, āmantesi, santappesi, samuttejesi etc.

Roots ending in vowels

Some roots ending in long vowels also have the “s” aorist ending. Note the plural endings.

Conjugation of -āsi aor

	singular	plural
3rd	aṭṭhāsi	he stood	aṭṭhaṃsu	they stood
2nd	aṭṭhāsi	you stood	aṭṭhattha	you all stood
1st	aṭṭhāsiṃ	I stood	aṭṭhamha aṭṭhamhā	we stood