Optative or Potential Verbs (sattamī)
Optative or Potential Verbs (sattamī)¶
These verbs express
- a wish (he wants to go)
- a probability (he might go, he could go, he would go)
- advice (he should go, he ought to go)
- capability (he can go)
The meaning should / could / may / might will be clear from the context.
How to form Optative or Potential verbs¶
root + conjugational sign > base
base + optative verbal ending > optative verb
√labh 1 a (get) > labha
labha + eyya > labheyya (he could get)
√bhuj 2 ṃa (eat) > bhuñja
bhuñja + eyyuṃ > bhuñjeyyuṃ (they might eat)
√nhā 3 ya (bathe) > nahāya
nahāya + eyyāsi > nahāyeyyāsi (you could bathe)
√kath 8 e (tell) > kathe
kathe + eyyātha > katheyyātha (you all might tell)
√har 1 a (carry) > hara
ā + hara + eyyāmi > āhareyyāmi (I could eat)
√su 4 ṇā (hear) > suṇā
suṇā + eyyāma > suṇeyyāma (we could hear)
Conjugation of -eyya opt
| 3rd | gaccheyya gacche |
gaccheyyuṃ |
| 2nd | gaccheyyāsi gacche |
gaccheyyātha |
| 1st | gaccheyyāmi gacche |
gaccheyyāma |
Optative of √as¶
It has two forms:
| 3rd | assa siyā |
he could be | assu siyaṃsu siyuṃ |
they could be |
| 2nd | assa siyā |
you could be | assatha - |
you could be |
| 1st | assaṃ siyaṃ |
I could be | assāma - |
we could be |
highly used!
Some examples:
te tāvataken’eva attamanā assu (DN10)
They could be pleased with just that much.
evaṃrūpo siyaṃ anāgatam’addhānaṃ (SN22.3)
I could be of such a form in the future.
aho vata mayaṃ na maraṇadhammā assāma (MN10.16)
Oh may we not be of a nature to die!