Knowing the basic grammar rules of any new language is just as important as learning greetings and everyday phrases because they help you speak clearly and fluently. The same applies to Gujarati, a beautiful Indo-Aryan language with a unique word order. Still, it’s quite simple. Once you understand word placement and a few key Gujarati grammar rules, you can quickly start forming complete, grammatically correct sentences.
With that in mind, let’s explore the five basic Gujarati grammar rules that can make or break your sentence. We’ll also look at some quick tips to help you master these rules in the simplest way possible.
Let’s begin!
5 Gujarati Grammar Rules You Must Know
Gujarati grammar is relatively easy to learn because it shares many similarities with Punjabi and Hindi. Some rules may still feel overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, here are the five most important Gujarati grammar rules to help you build a solid foundation as you start learning Gujarati!
Basic Gujarati Sentence Structure
Let’s begin by understanding the basic structure of a Gujarati sentence. Gujarati follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, which is a little different from English’s SVO sentence structure. Here’s an example:
I am driving a car – Hun gadi chalavi rahyo chhu (હું ગાડી ચલાવી રહ્યો છું)
In this sentence:
- I – hun (હું) is the subject
- Car – gadi (ગાડી) is the object
- Am driving – Chalavi rahyo chhu (ચલાવી રહ્યો છું) is the verb.
Look at the position of the subject and the verb here. This Gujarati sentence begins with the subject hun (હું) and ends with the verb Chalavi rahyo chhu (ચલાવી રહ્યો છું).
So, always place the verb at the end of the sentence.
Let’s practice making more sentences following the same SOV word order:
| English | Gujarati | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| She is opening the door | તે દરવાજો ખોલી રહી છે | Te darwajo kholi rahi chhe |
| He drinks tea | તે ચા પી રહ્યું છે | Te cha pee rahyo chhe |
| I am watching a movie | હું મૂવી જોઈ રહ્યો છું | Hun movie joi rahyo chhu |
Nouns In Gujarati
In Gujarati, nouns – sangya (સંજ્ઞા) are used to name people, places, or things. These are of two types: gendered and number-based. Let’s explore them one by one.
1. Gendered Nouns
Gendered nouns also fall into two categories: masculine and feminine nouns. Masculine Gujarati nouns mostly end in the ‘o’ or ‘a’ sound. Here’s an example:
- We say ‘son’ in Gujarati as putra (પુત્ર).
- And ‘boy’ as chhokro (છોકરો)
Whereas, feminine nouns end in ‘i’ or ‘a’ sound. For example:
- Daughter – putri (પુત્રી)
- Garden – bagichi (બગીચી)
- Woman – mahila (મહિલા)
However, it isn’t always the case. There are also exceptions, like the word dharm (ધર્મ), which means ‘religion’, is a masculine noun but ends in ‘m.’ Additionally, the gender-neutral nouns like ‘student’ – Vidhyarthi (વિદ્યાર્થી) or ‘friend’ – mitr (મિત્ર) don’t follow the ending rule and can be used for both male and female.
2. Singular And Plural Nouns
Gujarati nouns also change based on whether there’s one person/object or more than one. For example, in Gujarati, we say:
- ‘House’ as ghar (ઘર) and ‘Houses’ as gharo (ઘરો)
- ‘Girl’ as kunwari (કુંવારી) and ‘Girls’ as kunwariyo (કુંવારીઓ)
So, practice using Gujarati nouns accordingly for accuracy and clarity.
What Are Gujarati Pronouns?
The Gujarati term for pronouns is Sarvanam (સર્વનામ). And we all know that we replace nouns with pronouns to avoid repetition. Gujarati pronouns also work the same. For example:
Suppose you’ve already said ‘Ali is eating’ – Ali khai rahyo chhe (અલી ખાઈ રહ્યો છે), and now you want to say that ‘Ali will leave after it’ – Ali pachi jai jashe (અલી પછી જઈ જશે).
Instead of mentioning the name ‘Ali’ again, you can simply use the pronoun ‘he’ – te (તે), and say: he will leave after it – te pachi jai jashe (તે પછી જાય છે).
Let’s now combine the two sentences:
- Ali is eating. He will leave after it. – Ali khai rahyo chhe. Te pachi jashe (અલી ખાઈ રહ્યો છે. તે પછી જશે.
You see, even after substituting the noun ‘Ali’ with the pronoun ‘te’, the sentence’s meaning stayed intact. Below are some more Gujarati pronouns that you can easily use in your daily life:
| English | Gujarati | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I | હું | hun |
| You | તમે | tame |
| She | તેણી | teeņeī |
| We | અમે | ayme |
| They | તેઓ | teeo |
| Her | તેણીના | teeņeīnā |
| Their | તેમનું | teemnum |
Verbs In Gujarati
Now comes the verbs that Gujarati people call kriya (ક્રિયા). Verbs describe the action. And in Gujarati, we write verbs at the end of the sentence. The following are some of the most common Gujarati verbs that you might know already:
| English | Gujarati | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| eat | ખાવું | khavun |
| go | જવું | javu |
| speak | બોલવું | bolvu |
| write | લખવું | lakhvu |
| play | રમત કરવું | Ramat karvu |
Let’s make a few example sentences using the first two verbs to understand the accurate verb placement in the Gujarati grammar.
- She eats lunch at 1 PM – Te 1 vagye bopore khay chhe (તે 1 વાગ્યે બપોરે ખાવ છે)
- We are going home – Ame ghare jai rahya chhiye (અમે ઘરે જઇ રહ્યા છીએ)
Can you identify the verbs here? Yes, they are at the end of both sentences. In the first sentence, it’s khay chhe (ખાવ છે), which means ‘eats’, and in the second sentence, it’s rahya chhiye (રહ્યા છીએ), which means “are going”.
However, note that the auxiliary verbs in Gujarati change based on two factors:
- One is the subject. For instance, we say ‘I eat’ as hun khay chuu (હું ખાવ છું) and ‘he eats’ as te khay chhe (તે ખાવ છે).
- Another is the tense. For example, the present and the future form of the verb ‘to eat’ is khavun chhe (ખાવું છે) while the past form is Khadun hatu (ખાધું હતું).
So, practice using Gujarati grammar in your sentences by keeping all these points in mind.
Adverbs In Gujarati
In Gujarati, adverbs are called Kriya Visheshan (ક્રિયા વિશેષણ). They describe when and how an action happens. Or, in other words, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives and make your sentences more descriptive. For example:
Instead of just saying ‘I speak’ – Hun bolun chhu (હું બોલું છું), you can add more detail about the action and say ‘I speak slowly’ – Hun dheeme bolun chhu (હું ધીમે બોલું છું).
Here, dheeme (ધીમે) is an adverb, meaning ‘slowly’. It indicates that the action of ‘speaking’ is happening ‘slowly’. See, how just one word has added detail and clarity to the sentence? This is how adverbs work in Gujarati.
Let’s look at some more common Gujarati adverbs:
| English | Gujarati | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Quickly | ઝડપી | Zadpi |
| Often | અવારનવાર | Awaranwar |
| Immediately | તાત્કાળ | Tatkal |
| Suddenly | આચકથી | Aachakthi |
How To Say ‘Grammar’ In Gujarati?
The Gujarati word for ‘grammar’ is Vyākaraṇ (વ્યાકરણ). So, if you want to say ‘Gujarati grammar’ in Gujarati, you can simple say Gujarāti Vyākaraṇ ( ગુજરાતી વ્યાકરણ).
Other Essential Gujarati Words Related To Grammar
Here are some beginner-friendly Gujarati words that will help you master and talk about Gujarati grammar better:
| English | Gujarati | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Word | શબ્દ | Shabda |
| Sentence | વાક્ય | Vaakya |
| Subject | વિષય | Vishay |
| Object | કર્મ | Karm |
| Punctuation | વિરામ ચિહ્ન | Viraam Chihn |
Quick Tips To Easily Remember Gujarati Grammar Rules
Here are a few easy and practical tips that will help you master and retain all the Gujarati grammar rules longer:
- Start with practicing short, simple sentences to avoid confusion.
- The Gujarati language follows Subject-Object-Verb word order, so use the same sentence structure when practicing sentences.
- Focus on how gendered nouns work in Gujarati. For example, in Gujarati, we say ‘son’ as putra (પુત્ર) and ‘daughter’ as putri (પુત્રી).
- Remember, in Gujarati, we use the postposition ma (માં) to indicate location. It is used for both ‘in’ and ‘at’. For example, I am at home – Hun gharma chhu (હું ઘરમાં છું).
- The Gujarati sentences become negative by just adding the word nathi (નથી) or nahi (નहीं) before the verb. For instance, I do not eat this – Hum aa nathi khavun (હું આ નથી ખાવું).
- Make flashcards your best friend. Create separate stacks for nouns, pronouns, and verbs, and practice them daily to improve memory. For this, you can also use flashcard-based language apps like Ling for practicing new words or terminologies.
- Practice speaking Gujarati with your native friend or use Ling’s interactive dialog feature that communicates with you like a native speaker in real-time.
- Practice often, as consistency greatly helps in strengthening language skills.
Frequently Asked Questions Related To Gujarati Grammar
Why Do Gujarati Adverbs Sometimes Appear Before And Sometimes After the Verb?
In Gujarati, the flexible adverb placement is used to emphasize the action. For instance, we can say ‘he speaks slowly’ as te dhīme bole chhe (તે ધીમે બોલે છે) and also te bole chhe dhīme (તે બોલે છે ધીમે). Here, the former sentence follows the usual Gujarati sentence structure. Yet, the latter sentence focuses more on the action of ‘speaking slowly’.
What Are The Most Common Mistakes Learners Make When Learning Gujarati Grammar?
The most common mistakes that Gujarati learners make when learning grammar are confusing gender agreement, mispronouncing aspirated letters like ‘ખ, ઘ, છ’, and using prepositions instead of postpositions. However, you can easily improve these grammatical mistakes with constant practice.
Why Do Some Gujarati Words Change Spelling When Written Versus Spoken?
Most Gujarati words have different spoken and written forms. For example, in speech, we say ‘nothing’ as kaa-ee nahí, but in writing, it becomes more formal as kaa-ee-nathi. The meaning is almost the same; Gujaratis prefer using shorter forms in everyday speech rather than the formal written form.
Practice Gujarati Grammar Daily To Bring It To Your Fingertips
So, you see, Gujarati grammar isn’t that hard. With just a little extra focus and consistency, you can master all the rules in no time. Just remember that Gujarati follows the SOV word order, which is different from English’s SVO structure.
Moreover, Gujarati uses postpositions, has gendered nouns, and allows flexible placement of adverbs depending on what you want to emphasize. By keeping these points in mind and practicing daily, you’ll be able to start constructing Gujarati phrases and speaking the language in no time.
Learn Gujarati With Ling!
Now that you’ve mastered the basics of Gujarati grammar, it’s time to take your language skills further, and with Ling, it becomes easier and engaging. The app offers built-in native-speaker audio, speech recognition, and a dialogue feature to help you improve your speaking skills. Its bite-sized lessons, combined with interactive game-like exercises and flashcards, allow you to learn while having fun. Additionally, Ling uses spaced repetition to keep you engaged, and progress trackers help ensure you retain everything you learn.
All these features make Ling the best language app for learning new languages. Why not try it yourself? Download the Ling app now and start learning Gujarati right away!
