Bengali verbs: করি, করলে, করব
Present, past and future with zero jargon — one verb teaches you the pattern for nearly all of them.
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Bengali verbs are kinder than they look. Take করা (kora — to do): the root কর never changes, and small endings do all the work. Present tense: আমি করি (ami kori — I do), তুমি করো (tumi koro — you do), আপনি করেন (apni koren — you do, formal). Three endings, and the pattern repeats across almost every verb in the language.
The past adds one sound: ল. করলাম (korlam — I did), করলে (korle — you did), করলেন (korlen — you did, formal). The future adds ব: করব (korbo — I will do), করবে (korbe — you will), করবেন (korben — you will, formal). Present, past, future — three endings each, all built on the same root.
The verb to be splits in two, and this split is the most useful thing on this page. হই (hoi) is for identity: আমি ছাত্র (ami chhatro — I am a student). আছি (achhi) is for state and place: আমি ভালো আছি (I am fine), আমি বাড়িতে আছি (I am at home). Identity versus situation — feel that difference and half of Bengali sentences unlock.
Start with five verbs and refuse to add a sixth until these are automatic: করা (do), যাওয়া (go), আসা (come), খাওয়া (eat), দেওয়া (give). Everything you want to say in your first month is built from these five plus nouns. Fluency is not knowing many verbs; it is these five at speed.
Words and phrases for this topic
| English | Bengali | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| I do | আমি করি | ami kori |
| You do (informal) | তুমি করো | tumi koro |
| You do (formal) | আপনি করেন | apni koren |
| I did | আমি করলাম | ami korlam |
| I will do | আমি করব | ami korbo |
| I go | আমি যাই | ami jai |
| I am coming | আমি আসছি | ami ashchi |
| I eat | আমি খাই | ami khai |
| I am a student | আমি ছাত্র | ami chhatro |
| I am fine | আমি ভালো আছি | ami bhalo achhi |
Language, culture, and common traps
Practice: recall, then use
Use this quick recall drill for Bengali verbs. Hide the script and romanisation columns; say the Bengali form for each cue before revealing its row, then check spelling and sound. The phrase-table speaker buttons provide a model when a matching browser voice is available.
- I do
- I go
- I am fine
Context check. For Bengali verbs, “I am fine” belongs to a particular setting. A common mistake is to treat an English gloss as universal; read the language-specific note above and ask a fluent speaker when local usage differs.
Check your recall: answer key
- আমি করি ami kori — I do
- আমি যাই ami jai — I go
- আমি ভালো আছি ami bhalo achhi — I am fine
Questions learners ask
Both mean <i>am/is</i>, split by meaning: হই (hoi) for identity — আমি ছাত্র (I am a student) — and আছি (achhi) for state and place — আমি ভালো আছি (I am fine), আমি বাড়িতে আছি (I am at home). Mix them and you still get understood; split them and you sound right.
Endings, not separate words. আমি করি (I do), তুমি করো (you do), আপনি করেন (you do, formal). Learn the three endings for one verb and you can conjugate nearly every verb you meet.
Lengthen the past: করলাম (I did), করলে (you did), করলেন (you did, formal). One extra ল sound carries the whole past tense.