Lesson 19

The Second Person Pronoun ‘Tumha’

Welcome back to our exploration of Pali pronouns! In this lesson, we’ll dive into the forms and uses of the second-person pronoun — that is, how to say “you” in all the beautiful inflections of Pali.

Recap: What Are Pronouns Doing Here?

In Pali, pronouns like ahaṃ (I) and tvaṃ (you) change according to the case (nominative, accusative, genitive, etc.), just like in Latin or Sanskrit. Last time, we looked at ‘amha’, the first person. Now, let’s focus on ‘tumha’, the second person — singular you and plural you all.

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Personal Pronoun ‘Tumha’

CaseSingularPlural

Nominative (subject)tvaṃ, tuvaṃ tumhe, vo

Accusative (object)taṃ, tavaṃ, tuvaṃ, tvaṃ tumhaṃ, tumhe, tumhākaṃ, vo

Instrumental (by/with you)tayā, tvayā, tetumhehi, tumhebhi, vo

Dative (to/for you)tava, tuyhaṃ, tumhaṃ, tetumhaṃ, tumhe, tumhākaṃ, vo

Ablative (from you)tayā, tvayā, tvamhā tumhehi, tumhebhi, vo

Genitive (your)tava, tuyhaṃ, tumhaṃ, tetumhaṃ, tumhe, tumhākaṃ, vo

Locative (in/on/about you)tayi, tvayi tumhesu

Practice: Pronoun Substitution

Replace all the forms of ‘amha’ with forms of ‘tumha’ in the following examples:

Original Sentences:

1. Ahaṃ tvayā saddhiṃ nagaraṃ gamissāmi.

2. Mayaṃ āpaṇasmā tumhākaṃ bhaṇḍāni kiṇimha.

3. Mama ācariyo tvayi pasīdati.

4. Buddho mayhaṃ ca tuyhaṃ ca dhammaṃ desessati.

5. Tumhe amhehi mūlaṃ na labhissatha.

6. Mamaṃ mittā tumhākaṃ puttehi saddhiṃ sallapanti.

Homework:

👉 Translate each sentence into English. Here's one to get you started:

Ahaṃ tvayā saddhiṃ nagaraṃ gamissāmi.
I will go to the city together with you.

How would you translate the rest?

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