The Passive or Reflexive is used when the effect or the consequence of
the action expressed by the verb accrues to no one else but to the agent.
64. There are two sets of inflections to form the verbs in either
Voice; one set is named Parassapada, and the other Attanopada.
It seems that the Parassapada set was formerly used only to form the
Active Verbs, and the other set to form the Passive ones. But now they
have lost their distinction, and are used to form the verbs in both
the Voices.*
First Conjugation
Present Tense
65. The inflections or the personal endings of the First Mode,
Vattamaanaa or Present Tense, are:
Parassapada Attanopada
Person Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
3rd ti nti te nte
2nd si tha se vhe
1st mi ma e mhe
Conjugation of the root paca (to cook) in Present Indicative.
Middle/Attanopada
Person Singular Plural
3rd pacate (he cooks) pacante (they cook)
2nd pacase pacavhe
1st pace pacaamhe
Passive Voice
Attanopada (endings)
Person Singular Plural
3rd paccate (it is cooked) paccante (they are cooked)
2nd paccase (thou art cooked) paccavhe (you are cooked)
1st pacce (I am cooked) paccaamhe (we are cooked)
Parassapada (endings)
Person Singular Plural
3rd paccati (it is cooked) paccanti
2nd paccasi paccatha
1st paccaami paccaama
The conjugational sign of this group, as shown before, is a.
The Passive base is formed by adding the suffix ya to the root.
Active: paca + a + ti = pacati
Passive: paca + ya + ti = pacyati = paccati
A. The last vowel of the root is dropped here, as it is the case with
most of the roots where the vowel is a later addition.
B. Y is assimilated to the last consonant of the root. Its
assimilation takes place in more than one way, which will be explained
later on.
The Imperative (Benedictive included)
66. Pa~ncamii, the Fourth Mode
The personal endings of this mode are:
Parassapada Attanopada
Person Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.
3rd tu ntu ta.m nta.m
2nd hi tha ssu vho
1st mi ma e aamase
Active Voice
Parassapada
Person Singular Plural
3rd gacchatu (let him go) gacchantu (let them go)
2nd gaccha, gacchaahi (go thou) gacchatha (go you)
1st gacchaami (let me go) gacchaama (let us go)
Gaccha is the base formed from the root gamu (to go). The second
personal ending hi is sometimes dropped.
Attanopada
Person Singular Plural
3rd gacchata.m (let him go) gacchanta.m
2nd gacchassu gacchavho
1st gacche gacchaamase
Parassapada
Person Singular Plural
3rd gaccheyya (he would go) gaccheyyu.m (they would go)
2nd gaccheyyaasi (thou wouldst go) gaccheyyaatha (you would go)
1st gaccheyyaami (I should go) gaccheyyaama (we should go)
* Note by Dr. O. H. de A. Wijesekera: In Vedic and Sanskrit the
Aatmanepada endings are used for both Middle (or Reflexive) and
Passive Voices. Pali Voices too are derived from these. So there
should be really three Voices, viz., Active, Middle and Passive. What
has happened in Pali (as in other Prakrits) is that the Middle as a
Voice (i.e., in its syntactical usage as such) has disappeared, though
its endings are found to a certain extent used just like other Active
endings.