Prefixes are short, meaningful sounds that are added to the beginning of some word.

Here we give just a few prefixes.

Verb prefixes

The a prefix usually shows that something happened in the past.

• sarve bālāḥ khādanti ⟶ sarve bālā akhādan
  All the children eat. ⟶ All the children ate.

ā implies a sense of "toward":

• saṃjayo vṛkṣam gacchati
  Sanjaya goes to the tree.

• saṃjaya āgacchati
  Sanjaya is coming.