Gujarati Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Gujarati grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Gujarati and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Gujarati and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Gujarati.

Prepositions - Gujarati - Pronunciation
and અને [ane]
above ઉપર [uper]
under હેઠળ [heeṭheḷ]
before પહેલાં [peheeleām]
after પછી [pechheī]
in front of સામે [seāme]
behind પાછળ [peāchheḷ]
far from દૂર [deūr]
near નજીક [nejeīk]
in માં [meām]
inside અંદરની બાજુ [amedereneī beājeu]
outside બહાર [beheār]
with સાથે [seāthe]
without વગર [veguer]
about લગભગ [leguebhegu]
between વચ્ચે [veche'che]
but પરંતુ [peremeteu]
for માટે [meāṭe]
from માંથી [meāmetheī]
to માટે [meāṭe]

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Gujarati + Pronunciation
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] હું છરી વગર ખાય શકું છું [heum chhereī veguer kheāy śhekeum chheum]
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] તેણી ચર્ચની નજીક રહે છે [teeṇeī chere'cheneī nejeīk rehe chhe]
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] તેઓ તેણી કરતાં ઊંચા છે [teeo teeṇeī kereteām ūmecheā chhe]
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] તેઓ તેમના નાના કૂતરા સાથે આવ્યાં [teeo teemeneā neāneā keūtereā seāthe āve'yeām]
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] તમે મારી સાથે આવી શકો છો? [teme meāreī seāthe āveī śhekeo chheo?]

Negation in Gujarati

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Gujarati + Pronunciation
I understand you [affirmative form] હું તમને સમજી શકું છું [heum temene semejeī śhekeum chheum]
I don't understand you [negation + verb] હું તમને સમજી નથી શકતો [heum temene semejeī netheī śheketeo]
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] આ સાચો શબ્દ નથી [ā seācheo śhebe'd netheī]
don't leave me [imperative negation] મને છોડી ન દો [mene chheoḍeī n deo]
no problem [negation + noun] કોઈ સમસ્યા નથી [keoī semese'yeā netheī]

Negative Sentences - Gujarati + Pronunciation
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] હું ફ્રેન્ચ બોલતો નથી [heum phe'reene'ch beoleteo netheī]
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] તેણી જર્મનીની મુલાકાતે નથી ગયા [teeṇeī jere'meneīneī meuleākeāte netheī gueyeā]
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] તેઓ અમને જોઈ નથી શકતાં [teeo amene jeoī netheī śheketeām ]
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] તેણી ચેસ રમી નથી શકતા? [teeṇeī chees remeī netheī śheketeā?]
we will not come late [negation + future tense] અમે મોડા નહિ આવીએ [ame meoḍeā nehei āveī]

Questions in Gujarati

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Gujarati - Pronunciation
how? કેવી રીતે? [keeveī reītee?]
what? શું? [śheum?]
who? કોણ? [keoṇe?]
why? શા માટે? [śheā meāṭee?]
where? ક્યાં? [ke'yeām?]

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Gujarati + Pronunciation
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] તમે ક્યાં રહો છો? [teme ke'yeām reheo chheo?]
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] તેણી ચિની બોલી શકે છે? [teeṇeī cheineī beoleī śheke chhee?]
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] આ કેટલાનું છે? [ā keeṭeleāneum chhee?]
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] હું તમને કંઈ મદદ કરી શકું? [heum temene kemī meded kereī śhekeum?]
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] તમારું નામ શું છે? [temeāreum neām śheum chhee?]

Adverbs in Gujarati

It's time to learn the adverbs in Gujarati. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Gujarati - Pronunciation
now હમણાં [hemeṇeām]
yesterday ગઈ કાલે [gueī keāle]
today આજે [āje]
tonight આજે રાત્રે કે સાંજે [āje reāte're ke seāmeje]
tomorrow આવતી કાલે [āveteī keāle]
soon ટૂંક સમયમાં [ṭeūmek semeyemeām]
quickly ઝડપથી [jheḍepetheī]
slowly ધીમે ધીમે [dheīme dheīme]
together એક સાથે [ek seāthe]
very અતિશય [ateiśhey]
almost લગભગ [leguebhegu]
always હંમેશાં [hememeeśheām]
usually સામાન્ય રીતે [seāmeāne'y reīte]
sometimes ક્યારેક [ke'yeāreek]
rarely ભાગ્યે જ [bheāgue'ye j]
never ક્યારેય નહિં [ke'yeāreey neheim]

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Gujarati + Pronunciation
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] તમે મને હવે સમજી શકો છો? [teme mene heve semejeī śhekeo chheo?]
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] મને તાત્કાલિક મદદની જરૂર છે [mene teāte'keāleik mededeneī jereūr chhe]
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] તેણી ખૂબ હોશિયાર છે [teeṇeī kheūb heośheiyeār chhe]
I will always love you [verb + adverb] હું હંમેશા તમને પ્રેમ કરીશ [heum hememeeśheā temene pe'reem kereīśh]
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] આપણે સાથે મળીને જર્મન શીખી શકીએ? [āpeṇe seāthe meḷeīne jere'men śheīkheī śhekeīe?]

Pronouns in Gujarati

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Gujarati. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Gujarati - Pronunciation
I હું [heum]
you તમે [teme]
he તે [te]
she તેણી [teeṇeī]
we અમે [ame]
they તેઓ [teeo]

Object Pronouns - Gujarati - Pronunciation
me હું [heum]
you તમે [teme]
him તેમને [teemene]
her તેણીના [teeṇeīneā]
us અમને [amene]
them તેમના [teemeneā]

Possessive Pronouns - Gujarati - Pronunciation
my મારું [meāreum]
your તમારું [temeāreum]
his તેમની [teemeneī]
her તેણીના [teeṇeīneā]
our અમારું [ameāreum]
their તેમનું [teemeneum]

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Gujarati + Pronunciation
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] હું તમારો મિત્ર છું [heum temeāreo meite'r chheum]
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] તમે ખૂબ ઝડપથી બોલો છો [teme kheūb jheḍepetheī beoleo chheo]
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] તેમની પાસે ત્રણ કૂતરાં છે [teemeneī peāse te'reṇ keūtereām chhe]
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] તેણી જર્મન બોલી શકે છે [teeṇeī jere'men beoleī śheke chhe]
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] અમે મોડા નહિ આવીએ [ame meoḍeā nehei āveī]
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] તેઓએ દૂધ અને બ્રેડ ખરીદી લીધા છે [teeo deūdh ane be'reeḍ khereīdeī leīdheā chhe ]

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Gujarati + Pronunciation
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] તમે મને તમારું નામ કહેશો? [teme mene temeāreum neām keheeśheo?]
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] હું તમને પૈસા આપીશ [heum temene peaiseā āpeīśh]
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] તેણીએ તેને પત્ર લખ્યો [teeṇeī teene pete'r lekhe'yeo]
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] તેઓએ ગઇકાલે તેણીની મુલાકાત લીધી [teeo gueikeāle teeṇeīneī meuleākeāt leīdheī]
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] તેણી અમને મદદ કરી શકે? [teeṇeī amene meded kereī śhekee?]
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] તેણે તેમને ખોરાક આપ્યો [teeṇe teemene kheoreāk āpe'yeo]

Possessive Pronouns - Gujarati + Pronunciation
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] મારું નામ માયા છે [meāreum neām meāyeā chhe]
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] તમારા ભાઇ અહીં રહે છે [temeāreā bheāi aheīm rehe chhe]
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] તેણીના માતા અમારા માટે રસોઈ કરે છે [teeṇeīneā meāteā ameāreā meāṭe reseoī kere chhe]
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] તેમની હોબી પુસ્તકો વાંચવાની છે [teemeneī heobeī peuse'tekeo veāmecheveāneī chhe]
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] અમારું સ્વપ્ન પોરિસ ની મુલાકાત લેવાનું છે [ameāreum se'vepe'n peoreis neī meuleākeāt leeveāneum chhe]
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] તેમનું ઘર દૂર નથી [teemeneum gher deūr netheī]

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Gujarati - Pronunciation
this is my house આ મારું ઘર છે [ā meāreum gher chhe]
that restaurant is far તે રેસ્ટોરાં દૂર છે [te reese'ṭeoreām deūr chhe]
these apples are delicious આ સફરજન સ્વાદિષ્ટ છે [ā sepherejen se'veādeiṣe'ṭ chhe]
those stars are shiny પેલા તારાઓ ચળકતા છે [peeleā teāreāo cheḷeketeā chhe ]

I hope you learned a lot about the Gujarati grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!