The Option Mood

Also known as: present optative, vidhi ("injunction"), liṅ

Introduction

Now we will study the option mood. This term refers to verbs that let us state what we could do, should do, or would do. It is used to talk about situations that haven't occurred and things that might not exist.

Conjugation

Each group of endings will be compared with its counterpart in the ordinary past tense.

P Endings

The P endings are similar to the past endings, but they're not exactly the same. Take a look:

bhū (a+, P, option mood)
भू Singular Dual Plural
Third Person भवेत्
bhavet
भवेताम्
bhavetām
भवेयुः
bhaveyuḥ
Second Person भवेः
bhaveḥ
भवेतम्
bhavetam
भवेत
bhaveta
First Person भवेयम्
bhaveyam
भवेव
bhaveva
भवेम
bhavema

These endings differ from the past endings in only three ways.

Now for the complex verb classes. The strong stem is not used.

su (no, P, option mood)
सु Singular Dual Plural
Third Person सुनुयात्
sunuyāt
सुनुयाताम्
sunuyātām
सुनुयुः
sunuyuḥ
Second Person सुनुयाः
sunuyāḥ
सुनुयातम्
sunuyātam
सुनुयात
sunuyāta
First Person सुनुयाम्
sunuyām
सुनुयाव
sunuyāva
सुनुयाम
sunuyāma

These endings differ from the endings of the ordinary past tense in two ways.

A Endings

In the atmanepada version of the option mood, all verbs use the same endings. These endings are identical to the endings of the ordinary past tense, with some changes. Take a look:

labh (a+, A, option mood)
लभ् Singular Dual Plural
Third Person लभेत
labheta
लभेयाताम्
labheyātām
लभेरन्
labheran
Second Person लभेथाः
labhethāḥ
लभेयाथाम्
labheyāthām
लभेध्वम्
labhedhvam
First Person लभेय
labheya
लभेवहि
labhevahi
लभेमहि
labhemahi
su (no, A, option mood)
सु Singular Dual Plural
Third Person सुन्वीत
sunvīta
सुन्वीयाताम्
sunvīyātām
सुन्वीरन्
sunvīran
Second Person सुन्वीथाः
sunvīthāḥ
सुन्वीयाथाम्
sunvīyāthām
सुन्वीध्वम्
sunvīdhvam
First Person सुन्वीय
sunvīya
सुन्वीवहि
sunvīvahi
सुन्वीमहि
sunvīmahi

These endings differ from the past endings of the simple verb classes in three ways: