Universal Shorts
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
Two Sounds Meet, and One of Them Changes
संधि is the sound change that happens when the last letter of one word meets the first letter of the next and the two fuse into a single word: विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय. Pulling the joined word back apart is संधि-विच्छेद, and that is what papers actually ask for.
The distinction that decides the most marks: संधि joins वर्ण (letters); समास joins शब्द (whole words). In sandhi the letters themselves change — देव + इन्द्र becomes देवेन्द्र, and a brand-new ए appears that was in neither word. In samas nothing changes: राजपुत्र is simply राजा and पुत्र set side by side.
There are exactly three families:
Name the family first. The rule follows almost automatically.
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
स्वर संधि, Part 1 — दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि
दीर्घ संधि — same vowel twice, so it just gets long.
अ/आ + अ/आ = आ · इ/ई + इ/ई = ई · उ/ऊ + उ/ऊ = ऊ
गुण संधि — अ or आ meets a different vowel and a new one appears.
अ/आ + इ/ई = ए · अ/आ + उ/ऊ = ओ · अ/आ + ऋ = अर्
वृद्धि संधि — अ or आ meets ए/ऐ or ओ/औ and the result grows.
अ/आ + ए/ऐ = ऐ · अ/आ + ओ/औ = औ
Read the three names in order — दीर्घ lengthens, गुण upgrades, वृद्धि enlarges. The names describe what happens.
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
स्वर संधि, Part 2 — यण् and अयादि, where marks are won
यण् संधि — इ, उ or ऋ meets an unlike vowel and turns into a half-consonant.
इ/ई + unlike vowel = य् · उ/ऊ + unlike vowel = व् · ऋ + unlike vowel = र्
The clue in the joined word is a half letter — that त्य in अत्यधिक, that स्वा in स्वागत. See a half consonant and यण् is your first guess.
अयादि संधि — ए, ऐ, ओ or औ meets any vowel and opens back out.
ए + अ = अय् · ऐ + अ = आय् · ओ + अ = अव् · औ + अ = आव्
The clue here is the opposite — a य or व appears in the middle of the joined word where the split had none.
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
व्यंजन संधि and विसर्ग संधि
व्यंजन संधि — a consonant meets a vowel or another consonant and softens, doubles or nasalises.
विसर्ग संधि — the visarga (ः) disappears and leaves ओ, र् or श् behind.
Pattern worth noticing: before a soft sound the visarga usually becomes ओ; before च/छ it becomes श्; before a vowel or र-family sound it becomes र्.
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I (Hindi language, qualifying): straight संधि-विच्छेद of a common word — महेश, सूर्योदय, निश्चय. The paper is qualifying at 30%, so these are marks you cannot afford to leave.
CTET Paper I and II, Hindi Language I / II: one or two questions per paper, usually asking you to name the type rather than split the word — "एकैक में कौन-सी संधि है?" Knowing the four names of स्वर संधि is enough.
SSC (including Junior Hindi Translator) and state-level papers: the reverse direction — you are given the split and asked for the joined word, which is harder because you must apply the rule forward.
The trap every one of them uses: mixing a समास into a list of संधि options, or the other way round. राजपुत्र, नीलकमल and चौराहा are समास, not संधि. If nothing about the sound changed when the words joined, it was never a sandhi.
Second favourite trap: offering two splits that both look right, where only one uses the correct vowel length — महा + ईश is right, महा + इश is not.
संधि — जोड़ पहचानने का 10-सेकंड तरीका
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Read the joined word before the options. A half letter in the middle points to यण्; a य or व that appeared from nowhere points to अयादि; an ए or ओ where the parts had इ or उ points to गुण.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: Check the मात्रा, not just the letters. महा + ईश and महा + इश look almost identical, and only the long ई gives महेश.
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
What an Alankar Is, and the One Test That Sorts Them
Alankar means ornament. Just as jewellery adorns a body, an alankar adorns language — by the sound of the words or by the meaning they carry. That split is the whole classification:
The synonym test, which decides almost every question: replace a key word with a synonym. If the charm collapses, the ornament was in the word — शब्दालंकार. If the charm survives, it was in the meaning — अर्थालंकार.
In "चारु चंद्र की चंचल किरणें", swap चंचल for चपल and the chain of "च" sounds breaks — so it is शब्दालंकार. In "चरण कमल बंदौं हरिराई", swap कमल for पंकज and the image of feet-as-lotus stays intact — so it is अर्थालंकार.
Hindi papers carry one or two alankar questions and they are always from the same short list.
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
शब्दालंकार — The Three That Matter
1. अनुप्रास (Anupras) — the same consonant returns again and again.
"चारु चंद्र की चंचल किरणें, खेल रही हैं जल-थल में" — "च" repeats. Nothing more is needed to name it.
2. यमक (Yamak) — the same word appears more than once, carrying a different meaning each time.
"कनक कनक ते सौ गुनी, मादकता अधिकाय" — the first कनक is धतूरा (thorn-apple), the second is सोना (gold). Same sound, twice, two meanings.
3. श्लेष (Shlesh) — the word appears only once, but yields two or more meanings at the same time.
"रहिमन पानी राखिये, बिन पानी सब सून" — पानी stands together for water, for lustre and for honour.
The line that decides between यमक and श्लेष: count the appearances. Repeated word → यमक. Single word carrying many meanings → श्लेष. Every paper that asks about one of them puts the other in the options, and this single count is the difference between the mark and the miss.
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
अर्थालंकार, Part 1 — उपमा, रूपक, उत्प्रेक्षा
These three are one family: all compare two things. Only the manner of comparison changes, and a single marker word tells you which is which.
उपमा (Upma) — open comparison. Four parts must be present:
"हरि पद कोमल कमल जैसे" — जैसे is present, so उपमा.
रूपक (Rupak) — the comparison becomes identity. No वाचक शब्द at all; the उपमान is laid directly upon the उपमेय.
"चरण कमल बंदौं हरिराई" — the feet are not like lotuses, they are lotuses.
उत्प्रेक्षा (Utpreksha) — imagined possibility. Marked by मानो, मनहुँ, जनु, ज्यों, इव.
"सोहत ओढ़े पीत पट, स्याम सलोने गात। मनहुँ नीलमनि सैल पर, आतप परयो प्रभात।" — मनहुँ makes it उत्प्रेक्षा.
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
अर्थालंकार, Part 2 — and the Decision Tree
अतिशयोक्ति (Atishayokti) — exaggeration pushed past the possible.
"हनूमान की पूँछ में लगन न पाई आग, लंका सिगरी जल गई, गए निसाचर भाग" — Lanka burns before the tail even catches fire. The event outruns its own cause.
मानवीकरण (Manvikaran) — nature is given human action or feeling.
"दिवसावसान का समय, मेघमय आसमान से उतर रही है संध्या सुंदरी" — evening walks down like a woman.
विरोधाभास (Virodhabhas) — a contradiction that is only apparent.
"या अनुरागी चित्त की, गति समुझै नहिं कोइ" — describing something as both burning and cooling.
The decision tree, in the order you should run it:
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi and Bihar STET ask you to name the alankar in a given couplet, usually from Tulsidas, Bihari or Rahim — the same handful of lines recur. CTET Language-I and Language-II Hindi ask the definition or the classroom-framed identification. SSC CGL and CHSL Hindi prefer the definitional form: which of these is a शब्दालंकार, how many parts does उपमा have.
The five traps, in the order papers use them:
अलंकार — शब्दालंकार, अर्थालंकार और वह परीक्षण जो दोनों को अलग कर देता है
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Scan the line for a marker word before you think about meaning at all. जैसा/सा/सम settles उपमा, मानो/मनहुँ settles उत्प्रेक्षा, and their absence in a comparison settles रूपक. Three of the seven answers are decided by eye, in under five seconds.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: For यमक versus श्लेष, count the appearances of the word before reading the meaning. Twice means यमक, once means श्लेष — this one habit protects the mark that this topic most often loses.
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
What a Karak Is, and Why Every Paper Asks It
कारक (karak) is the relationship a noun or pronoun holds with the verb of the sentence. Put plainly — every word in a sentence plays some role opposite the verb, and karak is the name of that role.
Hindi has eight karaks, and each carries its own markers, called विभक्ति (vibhakti) or परसर्ग (parsarg).
> राम ने मोहन को चाकू से फल काटकर दिया।
Here ने, को and से are the parsargs that tell you who is acting, for whom, and by what means.
Identifying a karak feels hard only when a student memorises the parsargs alone. One parsarg can produce two different karaks — that is the whole game. The real method is not to look at the marker but to put a question to the verb. The next four cards apply that method karak by karak.
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
The First Three — Karta, Karm and Karan
1. कर्ता कारक (Karta) — the one who performs the action. Sign ने, or no sign at all.
Ask the verb: "कौन?" (who?)
> राम ने पत्र लिखा। → Who wrote? राम ने. That is the karta.
Settle one rule here: ने attaches only to a transitive verb in the past tense. So "राम ने रोटी खाई" is correct, but "राम ने गया" is wrong — जाना is intransitive.
2. कर्म कारक (Karm) — the one the action falls upon. Sign को, or none.
Ask: "क्या?" (what?) or "किसको?" (whom?)
> माँ ने बच्चे को सुलाया। → Put to sleep whom? बच्चे को.
3. करण कारक (Karan) — the means by which the action happens. Signs से, के द्वारा.
Ask: "किससे?" (by what?) or "किसके द्वारा?"
> वह क़लम से लिखता है। → Writes with what? क़लम से.
This is where the trap warned about on card 1 begins — से is going to reappear under a different karak.
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
The Remaining Five — Sampradan to Sambodhan
4. संप्रदान कारक (Sampradan) — the one for whom, or to whom, something is given. Signs को, के लिए.
Ask: "किसके लिए?" (for whom?)
> गुरुजी को प्रणाम किया। भूखे के लिए भोजन लाओ।
5. अपादान कारक (Apadan) — separation, distance, fear or comparison. Sign से.
Ask: "किससे अलग?" (apart from what?)
> पेड़ से पत्ते गिरते हैं। बच्चा कुत्ते से डरता है।
6. संबंध कारक (Sambandh) — one word's relation to another. Signs का, के, की, रा, री, रे, ना, नी, ने.
Ask: "किसका?" (whose?)
> यह राम का घर है।
7. अधिकरण कारक (Adhikaran) — the base or place of the action. Signs में, पर.
Ask: "कहाँ?" (where?) or "किसमें?"
> पुस्तक मेज़ पर है। जल में मछली रहती है।
8. संबोधन कारक (Sambodhan) — used to call or address. Signs हे!, अरे!, ओ! with an exclamation mark.
> हे ईश्वर! रक्षा करो।
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
The Two Traps That Cost the Most Marks
Trap 1 — the double life of से. Both करण and अपादान use it.
One question splits them: is the noun the instrument, or is something separating from it?
> वह चाकू से फल काटता है। → the knife is the tool → करण
> पेड़ से पत्ता गिरा। → the leaf separates from the tree → अपादान
Hold it as: instrument = Karan, separation = Apadan.
Trap 2 — the double life of को. Both कर्म and संप्रदान use it.
> मैंने राम को देखा। → the seeing lands on Ram → कर्म
> मैंने राम को पुस्तक दी। → the book is given for Ram → संप्रदान
The test is simple: mentally replace को with के लिए. If the sentence still means something, it is संप्रदान; if it collapses, it is कर्म.
One more point papers raise as a discussion: some grammarians do not count संबंध and संबोधन as true karaks, since neither connects directly to the verb. In an exam, always answer eight.
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi prints a sentence and asks for the karak of the underlined portion. Its favourite trap is से — करण and अपादान are placed side by side in the options, and the answer turns entirely on whether the noun is an instrument or a source of separation.
CTET and state TET Hindi wrap the same item in a classroom: a teacher writes a sentence on the board and asks a pupil for the karak. The content is identical; only the framing moves.
SSC Hindi sections and Bihar state papers ask the vibhakti pairing directly — "which signs belong to अधिकरण कारक?" Swapping में / पर with का / के / की is the commonest wrong option printed here.
Bihar STET and UP TET test the rule governing ने. Remember it never appears with an intransitive verb, and never in the present tense.
Across all of them, the को questions cost the most marks, because candidates see the sign and write कर्म before reading the sentence.
कारक — आठ कारक, उनके विभक्ति चिह्न और पहचानने वाला प्रश्न
Points to Remember
• Karak = the relation of a noun or pronoun to the verb. Eight in all.
• कर्ता — ने — ask "कौन?" (who)
• कर्म — को — ask "क्या / किसको?" (what / whom)
• करण — से, के द्वारा — ask "किससे?" as instrument
• संप्रदान — को, के लिए — ask "किसके लिए?" (for whom)
• अपादान — से — ask "किससे अलग?" (apart from what)
• संबंध — का, के, की, रा, री, रे, ना, नी, ने — ask "किसका?" (whose)
• अधिकरण — में, पर — ask "कहाँ / किसमें?" (where)
• संबोधन — हे, अरे, ओ — calling or addressing
• ने only with a transitive verb in the past — "राम ने गया" is always wrong.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Do not read the parsarg, question the verb. से and को each produce two karaks, and both pairs are always printed together in the options.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: The moment you see को, re-read the sentence with "के लिए" in its place. If the meaning survives it is संप्रदान; if it collapses it is कर्म. That single test settles the most frequently asked question in the whole chapter.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
Free Marks — If You Stop Guessing
Every Hindi language paper carries two to four questions on muhavare and lokoktiyan. They need no reasoning, no formula and no calculation. They are pure recall, which makes them the cheapest marks on the paper — and yet candidates routinely drop them, for two avoidable reasons.
The first is that people try to guess a meaning from the words. Muhavare are figurative by definition: the literal reading is always wrong, and the paper always puts the literal reading among the options as bait.
The second is that people cannot tell a muhavara from a lokokti, so a question that simply asks which of these is a lokokti becomes a coin toss.
Both problems disappear with one structural test and a list you can read in ten minutes. This card set gives you the test first, then the list.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
The One Test That Separates Them
मुहावरा (muhavara) — an incomplete phrase (वाक्यांश). It has no independent meaning, cannot stand as a sentence, and usually ends in a verb in its dictionary form: होना, करना, लगना, जाना. You must fit it inside your own sentence, and it changes with tense, gender and number: नाक कटना → उसकी नाक कट गई, मेरी नाक कट जाएगी.
लोकोक्ति / कहावत (lokokti) — a complete sentence. It carries a whole thought drawn from folk experience, is quoted exactly as it is, and does not change form: नाच न जाने आँगन टेढ़ा. You do not conjugate it; you simply say it.
So the test is two questions, in this order:
Apply that before you even look at the meaning, and the "which of these is a kahavat" question stops being a guess.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
Twelve Muhavare That Keep Coming Back
Read the meaning column, not the words. लोहे के चने चबाना has nothing to do with gram or iron; थाली का बैंगन has nothing to do with vegetables. The literal picture is only a memory hook.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
Ten Lokoktiyan Worth Memorising
Notice that each of these is already a complete sentence. That is the whole difference — you can say जिसकी लाठी उसकी भैंस and stop; you cannot say नाक कटना and stop.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
What Exams Actually Ask
SSC CGL, CHSL and Selection Post (Hindi) ask the plainest form: give the muhavara, choose its meaning. The bait is always the literal reading — for आँखों में धूल झोंकना the options will include something about dust and eyes. If an option reads like a description of the picture rather than of human behaviour, it is the trap.
Railway NTPC and Group D (Hindi) prefer sentence-completion: a sentence with a blank, and four muhavare to fill it. Here the meaning alone is not enough — the muhavara must also fit the tense and the number of the sentence.
BPSC TRE-4 Part I (Hindi language) and CTET Paper I / II Hindi mix in the classification question — which of these is a lokokti — and occasionally ask you to identify the muhavara used in a short passage.
The rarest and highest-value variant, seen in state PSC papers, gives the meaning and asks for the muhavara. That one is only answerable if you learnt the list in both directions.
मुहावरे और लोकोक्तियाँ — अंतर, प्रयोग और बार-बार दोहराए जाने वाले
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: If an option restates the words of the muhavara in plainer language, it is the distractor by construction. The correct option almost always describes a human behaviour — deceiving, regretting, fleeing, boasting.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: For "which of these is a lokokti", read each option aloud and ask whether it ends as a finished statement. Options ending in होना, करना, लगना or जाना are muhavare, and can be struck out at once.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
Two to Five Marks, Every Single Paper
Every Hindi language section carries a block of "निम्नलिखित में से शुद्ध वाक्य कौन-सा है?" questions, and most candidates answer them by ear — whichever option sounds right. That is a coin toss, because the paper-setter builds the wrong options out of the very sentences people say every day.
The good news is that the setter is not inventing errors freely. Vakya shuddhi recycles six families: लिंग (gender), वचन (number), कारक/परसर्ग (case markers), क्रिया-अन्वय (verb agreement), पुनरुक्ति (redundancy) and वर्तनी/शब्द-प्रयोग (spelling and word choice).
So do not ask "does this sound correct?" Ask instead: what is the gender of the noun, what is its number, which परसर्ग belongs here, does the verb agree, is any word repeating an idea already present, and is every word spelt in its standard form. Six checks, and the option survives or it does not.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
Error 1 & 2 — लिंग and वचन
Hindi verbs and adjectives bend to the noun's gender and number, so one wrong ending kills the sentence.
लिंग. पुस्तक, मृत्यु, आत्मा, नदी, सभा, वस्तु, भाषा are स्त्रीलिंग; प्रेम, दही, जल, दुःख, विवाह are पुल्लिंग.
वचन. Plural nouns take plural verbs, and अनेक, सभी, कई force the plural.
One caution that catches people: the plural of an आकारांत feminine noun such as लता is लताएँ, while ईकारांत nouns such as नदी become नदियाँ. The exam prefers exactly these two patterns.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
Error 3 & 4 — परसर्ग and क्रिया-अन्वय
परसर्ग (case markers). को, से, में, पर, के लिए are not interchangeable, and the commonest fault is adding one where Hindi wants none.
क्रिया-अन्वय (agreement). Two singular subjects joined by और take a plural verb.
And in the past tense of a transitive verb, ने makes the verb agree with the object, not the subject:
That ने rule alone decides a large share of the wrong options printed in these questions.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
Error 5 & 6 — पुनरुक्ति and वर्तनी
पुनरुक्ति दोष (redundancy) is the type candidates almost never spot, because the sentence sounds polished. If a word repeats an idea already inside another word, it is an error.
वर्तनी (spelling). The standard forms are उज्ज्वल (not उज्जवल), अत्यधिक (not अत्याधिक), आशीर्वाद (not आर्शीवाद), कवयित्री (not कवियत्री), अनुगृहीत (not अनुग्रहित), महत्त्वपूर्ण, द्वंद्व, ज्येष्ठ.
And one word-choice classic: the standard form is उपर्युक्त, not उपरोक्त — even though उपरोक्त is printed everywhere.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 puts vakya shuddhi in the Part I language block for Hindi candidates, usually as "शुद्ध वाक्य छाँटिए" with three near-identical options differing only in the verb ending. The gender of पुस्तक, मृत्यु and आत्मा is the recurring hinge.
CTET frames it inside the Hindi language paper as a classroom-style sentence-correction item — a line of a student's writing to be repaired. Redundancy and परसर्ग dominate there.
SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS in Hindi medium ask both directions: pick the correct sentence, and pick the part of the sentence containing the error, with the four parts labelled क, ख, ग, घ. Their favourite planted error is the ने construction and वर्तनी pairs such as उज्ज्वल / उज्जवल.
Railway NTPC and Group D stay on single-word वर्तनी and the उपरोक्त / उपर्युक्त type of word-choice item, which is quick to set and quick to score.
हिंदी वाक्य शुद्धि — छह अशुद्धियाँ जो हर प्रश्नपत्र में रखी जाती हैं
Points to Remember
• Six error families: लिंग · वचन · परसर्ग · क्रिया-अन्वय · पुनरुक्ति · वर्तनी.
• स्त्रीलिंग to memorise: पुस्तक, मृत्यु, आत्मा, नदी, सभा, वस्तु, भाषा, आज्ञा. पुल्लिंग: प्रेम, दही, जल, दुःख, विवाह, समाचार.
• अनेक / सभी / कई ⇒ plural noun and plural verb.
• Motion towards a place takes no परसर्ग: विद्यालय जाता हूँ, not विद्यालय को जाता हूँ.
• With ने in the past tense, the verb agrees with the object: लड़के ने रोटी खाई.
• Redundancy traps: अपनी आत्मकथा · सिर्फ़ केवल · पीछे अनुसरण · मुख्य प्रधान · कृपया…कृपा करें.
• Standard spellings: उज्ज्वल · अत्यधिक · आशीर्वाद · कवयित्री · अनुगृहीत · महत्त्वपूर्ण · द्वंद्व.
• Standard word: उपर्युक्त, not उपरोक्त.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Do not choose by ear. Locate the noun first, fix its gender and number, then check whether the verb ending matches — that single habit converts most of these questions from guesswork into a rule.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: If an option feels unusually polite or unusually elegant — कृपया…कृपा करें, अपनी आत्मकथा स्वयं — suspect पुनरुक्ति. Courtesy stacked twice is the setter's most reliable disguise for an error.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
Hindi grammar hides a whole block of marks behind one idea — shabd rachna, word formation. A word is rarely alone. Take a root, put something in front of it and you get a new word; put something at the end and you get another one. The piece in front is an upsarg, a prefix. The piece at the end is a pratyay, a suffix. Between them they generate most of the vocabulary a paper can test, which is why every language paper reaches for them — BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi, the CTET Hindi language paper, the Hindi section of SSC.
The encouraging part is that this is a finite list, not an ocean. Sanskrit contributes twenty-two prefixes, Hindi about a dozen of its own, and Persian and Arabic another set that arrived through everyday speech. Learn the lists once and you stop guessing. The hard part is that papers never ask you to define a prefix. They hand you a whole word and ask you to split it, and the splitting is where the mark is won or lost.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
Upsarg literally means 'placed near'. It is a fragment that means nothing standing alone but changes the meaning of whatever word it joins. Take the root हार. Add प्र and you get प्रहार, a blow. Add आ and you get आहार, food. Add सम् and you get संहार, destruction. One root, three prefixes, three unrelated meanings — which is exactly why the paper likes it.
Sanskrit gives Hindi twenty-two upsarg: प्र, परा, अप, सम्, अनु, अव, निस्, निर्, दुस्, दुर्, वि, आ, नि, अधि, अपि, अति, सु, उत्, अभि, प्रति, परि, उप. Hindi's own prefixes are plainer and more everyday: अ, अन, कु, दु, भर, उन, बिन, अध, चौ, पच. Persian and Arabic contributed the ones you already speak without noticing: बे, बद, कम, ला, ग़ैर, ना, हर, हम, ख़ुश, सर, बा. English has entered too — सब-इंस्पेक्टर, वाइस-चांसलर, डिप्टी-कलेक्टर.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
A pratyay sits at the end of a word, and it belongs to exactly one of two families. That division is the whole question.
कृत् प्रत्यय attach to a धातु — a verb root — and the word they build is called a कृदंत. लिख + आवट gives लिखावट, handwriting. पढ़ + आई gives पढ़ाई, study. गा + अक gives गायक, a singer. चल + अन gives चलन, custom. Ask one thing: is the base an action? If yes, the suffix is krit.
तद्धित प्रत्यय attach instead to a noun, pronoun or adjective, and the word they build is a तद्धितांत. लोहा + आर gives लोहार, blacksmith. दूध + वाला gives दूधवाला. मानव + ता gives मानवता, humanity. बूढ़ा + पा gives बुढ़ापा, old age. The feminine suffixes belong here too — धोबी becomes धोबिन, देवर becomes देवरानी, नायक becomes नायिका.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
Three traps carry most of the marks in this chapter.
First, a word can hold a prefix and a suffix at the same time. अपमानित is अप + मान + इत — prefix, root, suffix. If the stem asks only for the prefix, do not stop at the first fragment you happen to recognise.
Second, a word can hold two prefixes. अनुपस्थित is अनु + उप + स्थित. निर्विवाद is निर् + वि + वाद. Papers set these deliberately, because most candidates find one and move on.
Third, and the most reused of all — प्रत्येक. The word looks as though something has been added at the end, and its very name sounds like प्रत्यय. It is प्रति + एक: a prefix, and no suffix at all. The same shape catches people in अत्यधिक, which is अति + अधिक joined by sandhi.
One clean test separates the whole family from संधि: sandhi merges two complete words, while upsarg and pratyay attach fragments that cannot stand alone.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
What exams actually ask
BPSC TRE-4 asks this in Part I Hindi and again in the concerned-subject paper for Hindi teachers. The commonest stem is the plainest one: a word is given and you must name its upsarg or its pratyay. निर्धन, अपमान, बेकार, बुढ़ापा, लिखावट — the same handful returns paper after paper.
The CTET Hindi language paper usually reverses the direction: four words are listed and you must pick the one built with a taddhit suffix, or the one that carries no prefix at all. Reversing the direction is the entire difficulty, because recognition is easier than elimination.
SSC CGL and CHSL, in the Hindi medium paper, prefer the source language — is बे in बेकार Persian or Sanskrit, is कु Hindi or Sanskrit. Railway NTPC and Group D keep to the simplest split. Across all of them the winning habit is identical: say the word slowly, strip the front, strip the back, and see which root is left standing.
उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय — शब्द रचना, प्रत्यय के दो भेद और 'प्रत्येक' वाला जाल
Points to Remember
• उपसर्ग goes in front, प्रत्यय goes at the end. Neither can stand alone as a word.
• Sanskrit upsarg = 22: प्र, परा, अप, सम्, अनु, अव, निस्, निर्, दुस्, दुर्, वि, आ, नि, अधि, अपि, अति, सु, उत्, अभि, प्रति, परि, उप.
• Hindi's own: अ, अन, कु, दु, भर, उन, बिन, अध, चौ, पच. Persian/Arabic: बे, बद, कम, ला, ग़ैर, ना, हर, हम, ख़ुश, सर, बा.
• Pratyay has two families — कृत् (added to a धातु, gives a कृदंत) and तद्धित (added to a संज्ञा/सर्वनाम/विशेषण, gives a तद्धितांत).
• कृत् examples: लिखावट, पढ़ाई, गायक, चलन, लेखक. तद्धित examples: लोहार, दूधवाला, मानवता, बुढ़ापा, धोबिन.
• Both together: अपमानित (अप + मान + इत), प्रशंसनीय, अनुशासित.
• Two prefixes: अनुपस्थित (अनु + उप), निर्विवाद (निर् + वि), असंभव (अ + सम्).
• प्रत्येक = प्रति + एक — a prefix only, never a suffix.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: To label a suffix कृत् or तद्धित, look at the base and not at the suffix. लिखावट and लोहार both end in a vowel-heavy fragment, but लिख is an action and लोहा is a thing — so one is कृत् and the other तद्धित. The base decides; the suffix only follows.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: The moment you see प्रत्येक, अत्यधिक, अनुपस्थित or अपमानित in an option list, slow down. Each one is planted for a different reason — no suffix, a sandhi in disguise, two prefixes, and both at once. They appear far more often than their share of the language deserves.
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
Hindi classifies every word twice, and papers ask about both classifications. The first asks where the word came from — Sanskrit unchanged, Sanskrit worn down, local soil, or a foreign language. The second asks how it is built — one indivisible lump, meaningful parts added up, or meaningful parts that have hardened into one fixed sense.
The first system gives तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज and विदेशज. The second gives रूढ़, यौगिक and योगरूढ़.
Why this earns marks cheaply: the answer is a category, not a fact you must have read somewhere. Once you can hear that आग is a worn-down form of अग्नि, you can classify a word you have never been taught. That is why every Hindi language paper opens with one or two of these — they test a skill, and a skill is portable.
Learn the sound changes, not the word list. The list is infinite; the changes are about a dozen.
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
By origin, four kinds.
तत्सम — literally 'same as that', Sanskrit words taken into Hindi unchanged: अग्नि, सूर्य, दुग्ध, हस्त, कर्ण, मस्तक, ग्राम, क्षेत्र, अश्रु, रात्रि, दंत, सर्प, मयूर, चंद्र, गृह, कार्य.
तद्भव — 'born from that', the same Sanskrit words after centuries of wear through Prakrit and Apabhramsha: आग, सूरज, दूध, हाथ, कान, माथा, गाँव, खेत, आँसू, रात, दाँत, साँप, मोर, चाँद, घर, काम. Every तद्भव has a तत्सम behind it, and the pair is what papers set.
देशज — words of local soil with no Sanskrit and no foreign parent: पेट, लोटा, खिड़की, थैला, चिड़िया, कटोरा, झाड़ू, टाँग, जूता, पगड़ी, गड़बड़, ठेठ.
विदेशज — borrowed from another language and now fully at home in Hindi: किताब, कागज़, दुकान, बाज़ार, स्कूल, कैंची, अलमारी.
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
The sound changes that turn a तत्सम into a तद्भव. Learn these and the word list stops mattering.
• क्ष becomes ख or छ — क्षेत्र → खेत, क्षीर → खीर, अक्षि → आँख, लक्ष → लाख.
• A conjunct with र् collapses and the vowel lengthens — कर्ण → कान, कर्म → काम, सर्प → साँप, वर्ष → बरस.
• श becomes स — शत → सौ, शाक → साग, दश → दस.
• व becomes ब — वट → बड़, वंश → बाँस, वधू → बहू.
• य becomes ज — यमुना → जमुना, यश → जस.
• A cluster simplifies and the vowel lengthens — हस्त → हाथ, सप्त → सात, अष्ट → आठ, दुग्ध → दूध, अग्नि → आग.
• A nasal consonant becomes a nasal mark — दंत → दाँत, चंद्र → चाँद, अश्रु → आँसू.
Where विदेशज words come from: Arabic (किताब, कानून, अमीर, तारीख़, वकील), Persian (चश्मा, दीवार, दरवाज़ा, नमक, बीमार), Turkish (कैंची, चाकू, तोप, बहादुर, बेगम), Portuguese (अलमारी, चाबी, बाल्टी, तौलिया, साबुन), English (स्टेशन, डॉक्टर, टिकट, स्कूल).
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
By structure, three kinds — and one extra category the papers slip in.
रूढ़ — a word that cannot be cut into meaningful pieces. Its meaning is pure convention: नाक, कान, घर, पुस्तक, आम, कल. Break नाक into ना and क and neither piece means anything.
यौगिक — built from meaningful pieces, and the whole means exactly what the pieces add up to: विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय, पाठ + शाला = पाठशाला, रसोई + घर = रसोईघर, घोड़ा + सवार = घुड़सवार, प्रधान + मंत्री = प्रधानमंत्री.
योगरूढ़ — built from meaningful pieces, but the whole has hardened into one fixed thing narrower than the sum. पंकज is पंक (mud) + ज (born), so it should mean anything born in mud — but it means only the lotus. Likewise दशानन (Ravana), नीलकंठ (Shiva), लंबोदर (Ganesh), पीतांबर (Krishna), जलज (lotus). Every योगरूढ़ word is a बहुव्रीहि समास.
संकर — a hybrid whose two halves come from different languages: रेलगाड़ी, जेबकतरा, सिनेमाघर, टिकटघर, लाठीचार्ज, जिलाधीश.
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
What exams actually ask. BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi is a thirty-mark language paper, and word classification is its most predictable item — usually a तत्सम-तद्भव pair, sometimes a देशज identification. It is qualifying at thirty per cent, so these are the cheapest marks on the paper.
SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS set the same thing in the Hindi medium option, and their favourite trap is a विदेशज word placed among Hindi-looking words: दुकान and कागज़ both look native and both are borrowed.
CTET and the state TETs frame it as a classroom item — a word from a lesson is quoted and its category asked. The classification tested is identical.
The second trap is the योगरूढ़ / यौगिक confusion. Both are made of meaningful parts, so candidates default to यौगिक. Railway and state papers use पंकज, दशानन and नीलकंठ for exactly this, because each one is a legitimate compound whose meaning has narrowed to one referent.
हिंदी शब्द-भेद — तत्सम, तद्भव, देशज, विदेशज तथा रूढ़, यौगिक, योगरूढ़
Points to Remember
• Two classifications: by origin (तत्सम · तद्भव · देशज · विदेशज) and by structure (रूढ़ · यौगिक · योगरूढ़), plus संकर for hybrids.
• तत्सम = Sanskrit unchanged. तद्भव = the same word worn down. Every तद्भव has a तत्सम parent; देशज has neither parent.
• Standard pairs: अग्नि–आग · दुग्ध–दूध · हस्त–हाथ · कर्ण–कान · क्षेत्र–खेत · मस्तक–माथा · अश्रु–आँसू · सर्प–साँप · मयूर–मोर · रात्रि–रात · गृह–घर.
• Sound rules: क्ष→ख/छ · श→स · व→ब · य→ज · र् conjunct drops with lengthening · cluster simplifies · nasal becomes अनुनासिक.
• Sources: Arabic किताब, कानून, तारीख़ · Persian चश्मा, दीवार, नमक · Turkish कैंची, चाकू, तोप, बेगम · Portuguese अलमारी, चाबी, बाल्टी, साबुन · English स्टेशन, टिकट.
• रूढ़ = no meaningful parts. यौगिक = parts add up. योगरूढ़ = parts add up but meaning has narrowed to one thing.
• योगरूढ़ examples: पंकज, जलज (lotus) · दशानन (Ravana) · नीलकंठ (Shiva) · लंबोदर (Ganesh) · पीतांबर (Krishna).
⚠ Exam Tip 1: To tell यौगिक from योगरूढ़, ask whether the parts still describe anything that fits. जलज literally fits every water-born thing, yet means only the lotus — that narrowing is the whole test. If the word still covers everything its parts allow, it is यौगिक.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: Do not judge origin by how ordinary a word feels. दुकान, कागज़, कैंची, अलमारी and बाल्टी are all everyday Hindi and all विदेशज, while अश्रु and मयूर feel bookish and are plain तत्सम. Familiarity is not ancestry.
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
Four vocabulary questions sit in every Hindi language paper, and all four are the same question in different clothes: do you know what this word means, precisely? पर्यायवाची asks for another word with the same meaning. विलोम asks for its opposite. अनेकार्थी asks how many meanings one word carries. श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक asks you to separate two words that sound almost identical and mean nothing alike.
Together they carry more marks than any single grammar rule, and unlike sandhi or samas there is no formula to derive the answer. This is recall — and recall only cooperates when you learn in sets. Nobody remembers three hundred loose synonyms. Everybody remembers the nine names of the sun the moment they notice that all nine are describing light. Learn the set, and the set does the remembering for you.
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
पर्यायवाची words are almost never exact twins. They are one thing named from different angles, and the angle is the memory hook.
• सूर्य — रवि, भानु, दिनकर, दिवाकर, प्रभाकर, आदित्य, मार्तंड, सविता, अंशुमाली. Every one of them says maker of day or giver of light.
• कमल — पंकज, जलज, नीरज, सरोज, अरविंद, अंबुज, राजीव, इंदीवर. Every one says born in mud or water.
• पृथ्वी — धरा, धरणी, वसुधा, वसुंधरा, अवनि, मही, भू, इला. Every one says the one that holds.
• जल — नीर, वारि, अंबु, सलिल, तोय, पय, जीवन.
• अग्नि — अनल, पावक, कृशानु, वह्नि, हुताशन.
• हाथी — गज, कुंजर, हस्ती, द्विप, मतंग, नाग.
• रात — रात्रि, निशा, यामिनी, रजनी, विभावरी, शर्वरी.
• पर्वत — गिरि, शैल, नग, अचल, भूधर, महीधर.
One set a day, said out loud with its hook, and the eight sets above cover most of what any paper asks.
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
About half of all विलोम answers are built by a prefix, and knowing which prefix flips which word turns recall into construction.
• अ / अन् — आस्था × अनास्था, आदि × अनादि, एक × अनेक.
• नि / निर् / निष् — सगुण × निर्गुण, साकार × निराकार, सक्रिय × निष्क्रिय.
• दुर् / दुस् — सुगम × दुर्गम, सुलभ × दुर्लभ, सुपाच्य × दुष्पाच्य.
• कु — सुपुत्र × कुपुत्र, सुपथ × कुपथ.
• प्रति / वि — अनुलोम × प्रतिलोम, संयोग × वियोग.
But the marks live in the pairs no prefix can produce. These must be learnt whole: उत्कर्ष × अपकर्ष · अनुराग × विराग · आविर्भाव × तिरोभाव · ज्वार × भाटा · सृष्टि × प्रलय · ऋजु × वक्र · कृतज्ञ × कृतघ्न · मूक × वाचाल · शुष्क × आर्द्र · स्थावर × जंगम · श्रव्य × दृश्य · गुरु × लघु.
Look closely at कृतज्ञ × कृतघ्न. The prefix stays; the second half changes. That is precisely the kind of pair a setter reaches for, because prefix-guessing cannot reach it.
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
अनेकार्थी — one word, several meanings. The paper hands you a sentence and asks which meaning is at work.
• अर्थ — धन, प्रयोजन, कारण, मतलब.
• कर — हाथ, किरण, टैक्स, हाथी की सूँड.
• हरि — विष्णु, इंद्र, सिंह, बंदर, सर्प, मेंढक.
• काल — समय, मृत्यु, यमराज, अकाल.
• पत्र — पत्ता, चिट्ठी, पंख.
• गुरु — शिक्षक, भारी, बड़ा, बृहस्पति.
• कनक — सोना, धतूरा, गेहूँ.
श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक — near-identical sound, unrelated meaning. One matra decides the mark.
अनल (आग) / अनिल (हवा) · अंस (कंधा) / अंश (हिस्सा) · कुल (वंश) / कूल (किनारा) · चिर (दीर्घकालिक) / चीर (वस्त्र) · दिन (दिवस) / दीन (ग़रीब) · नीर (जल) / नीड़ (घोंसला) · शुक्ल (श्वेत) / शुल्क (फ़ीस) · समान (बराबर) / सामान (वस्तुएँ) · ग्रह (आकाशीय पिंड) / गृह (घर) · अभिराम (सुंदर) / अविराम (लगातार).
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
What exams actually ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi keeps vocabulary among its most repeated items, and the setter's favourite device is the odd-one-out list: four words, three from one पर्यायवाची set and one smuggled in from another. रवि, भानु, दिनकर, कुंजर looks uniform until you notice कुंजर belongs to हाथी.
SSC CGL and CHSL ask विलोम and श्रुतिसम as single-word MCQs, and their standing trap is to offer a synonym where the antonym belongs, or a prefix form beside the real opposite — for कृतज्ञ they place अकृतज्ञ next to कृतघ्न and wait for you to take the one that merely looks negative.
CTET and UP TET Language papers frame the same items as classroom sentences, so the word arrives inside context and you choose the meaning that fits the sentence rather than the meaning you met first.
Railway NTPC and Group D general Hindi stay with straight recall, mostly पर्यायवाची of सूर्य, कमल, पृथ्वी, जल and अग्नि — which is why those five sets are the ones to learn first.
हिंदी शब्द भंडार — पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी और श्रुतिसम भिन्नार्थक शब्द
Points to Remember
• सूर्य — रवि, भानु, दिनकर, दिवाकर, प्रभाकर, आदित्य, मार्तंड, सविता, अंशुमाली.
• कमल — पंकज, जलज, नीरज, सरोज, अरविंद, अंबुज, राजीव, इंदीवर.
• पृथ्वी — धरा, वसुधा, वसुंधरा, अवनि, मही, धरणी, इला.
• Prefix antonyms come from अ/अन्, नि/निर्/निष्, दुर्/दुस्, कु, प्रति, वि.
• Learn-whole antonyms: उत्कर्ष–अपकर्ष, अनुराग–विराग, आविर्भाव–तिरोभाव, ज्वार–भाटा, सृष्टि–प्रलय, ऋजु–वक्र, कृतज्ञ–कृतघ्न, मूक–वाचाल, स्थावर–जंगम.
• अनेकार्थी to know cold: अर्थ, कर, हरि, काल, पत्र, गुरु, कनक.
• Matra pairs: अनल/अनिल, अंस/अंश, कुल/कूल, चिर/चीर, दिन/दीन, नीर/नीड़, शुक्ल/शुल्क, समान/सामान, ग्रह/गृह.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: In a पर्यायवाची odd-one-out, do not test each option against the given word. Name the set each option belongs to instead. Three will land in the same set and the fourth will announce itself — this is faster and it does not depend on being sure about the word you are least sure about.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: When an option is the given word with अ or अन् stuck on the front, treat it as the planted distractor. For कृतज्ञ the answer is कृतघ्न, not अकृतज्ञ; for अनुराग it is विराग. Prefixes do build many antonyms, but where a word owns an independent opposite, that independent word is what the paper wants.
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
Hindi classifies words four different ways, and papers ask all four. By origin: tatsam, tadbhav, deshaj, videshaj. By formation: rudh, yaugik, yogarudh. By meaning. And by प्रयोग — the job the word does in the sentence. This card set is the fourth one, and it is the classification that produces the most questions.
By प्रयोग there are eight categories in two families of four.
विकारी शब्द — संज्ञा, सर्वनाम, विशेषण, क्रिया. Their form changes with लिंग, वचन, कारक or काल. लड़का becomes लड़के and लड़कों; अच्छा becomes अच्छी and अच्छे; लिखना becomes लिखता, लिखी, लिखेंगे.
अविकारी शब्द, also called अव्यय — क्रियाविशेषण, संबंधबोधक, समुच्चयबोधक, विस्मयादिबोधक. Their form never changes in any condition. और stays और, धीरे stays धीरे, अरे stays अरे.
One test separates the families: put the word into feminine and then into plural. If it moves, it is विकारी. If it refuses, it is अव्यय.
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
संज्ञा. Three main types are counted in Hindi grammar — व्यक्तिवाचक, जातिवाचक, भाववाचक. Many books add समूहवाचक and द्रव्यवाचक as separate types; others keep them as sub-types of जातिवाचक. Papers use both counts, so know that the answer may be three or five depending on how the question is framed.
भाववाचक संज्ञा names a quality or state you cannot touch, and it is recognisable by its suffix: -ता (मित्रता), -पन (बचपन), -त्व (मनुष्यत्व), -आई (लड़ाई), -आवट (सजावट), -आपा (बुढ़ापा), -आस (मिठास). It can be built from all five other word classes, which is exactly why it is asked so often.
सर्वनाम has six types: पुरुषवाचक (मैं, तुम, वह), निजवाचक (आप, स्वयं, खुद), निश्चयवाचक (यह, वह), अनिश्चयवाचक (कोई, कुछ), संबंधवाचक (जो…सो), प्रश्नवाचक (कौन, क्या).
The fixed trap is आप. In 'आप कहाँ जा रहे हैं?' it is पुरुषवाचक — मध्यम पुरुष. In 'मैं यह काम आप ही कर लूँगा' it is निजवाचक. Same word, different type, decided only by the sentence.
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
विशेषण has four types. गुणवाचक names a quality — अच्छा, लाल, मीठा. संख्यावाचक counts — दो, कुछ लोग, सब, प्रत्येक. परिमाणवाचक measures — थोड़ा दूध, सब आटा, कुछ पानी. सार्वनामिक points — यह लड़का, वह घर.
The trap is that कुछ, सब and थोड़ा belong to two of these at once, and the noun decides which. 'कुछ लोग' is संख्यावाचक because people are counted; 'कुछ दूध' is परिमाणवाचक because milk is measured. Never answer from the word alone.
प्रविशेषण qualifies the विशेषण rather than the noun: in 'बहुत सुंदर चित्र', सुंदर describes चित्र and बहुत describes सुंदर.
क्रिया splits first into सकर्मक and अकर्मक. The test is one question: put क्या or किसको before the verb and see whether the sentence answers. 'राम ने पत्र लिखा' — क्या लिखा? पत्र. सकर्मक. 'राम सोया' — क्या सोया? No answer. अकर्मक.
Beyond that: प्रेरणार्थक in two steps (करना → कराना → करवाना), संयुक्त क्रिया (पढ़ लिया), and नामधातु built from a noun (हाथ → हथियाना).
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
The four अव्यय, and the one rule that decides between the first two.
क्रियाविशेषण modifies the verb and has four types: कालवाचक (आज, अभी, कल), स्थानवाचक (यहाँ, बाहर, आगे), रीतिवाचक (धीरे, अचानक, सहसा), परिमाणवाचक (बहुत, कम, थोड़ा).
संबंधबोधक links a noun or pronoun to something else: के पास, के ऊपर, के बिना, से पहले, तक.
समुच्चयबोधक joins: और, तथा, या, अथवा, किंतु, परंतु, क्योंकि, इसलिए.
विस्मयादिबोधक exclaims: अरे!, वाह!, हाय!, शाबाश!
Now the rule that carries the marks. The same word is क्रियाविशेषण when it stands with the verb alone, and संबंधबोधक when a noun or pronoun stands beside it.
'वह पहले आया' — पहले is क्रियाविशेषण. 'वह मुझसे पहले आया' — पहले is संबंधबोधक, because मुझसे is now attached to it.
'बाहर जाओ' — क्रियाविशेषण. 'घर के बाहर खड़ा है' — संबंधबोधक.
So do not ask what the word is. Ask what stands next to it.
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
What exams actually ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi and the Part III Hindi paper both ask this directly: name the शब्द भेद of an underlined word, or pick the अव्यय from four options. The favourite items are आप as निजवाचक and पहले as संबंधबोधक, because both look settled and are not.
SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS ask it inside their Hindi section as a one-line identification, and they lean on भाववाचक संज्ञा — form the abstract noun from मीठा, from बालक, from लड़ना. The suffix list answers all of them.
CTET, Bihar STET and UP TET place the same items in classroom sentences and prefer the क्रिया block: sort सकर्मक from अकर्मक, and identify प्रथम versus द्वितीय प्रेरणार्थक — बनाना against बनवाना.
Railway NTPC and Group D stay at list level: which of these four is an अव्यय, how many भेद does सर्वनाम have.
One habit covers all of them. Every hard question in this chapter is a word that belongs to two categories, and every such question is settled by the sentence rather than by the word.
विकारी और अविकारी शब्द — चार जो बदलते हैं, चार जो कभी नहीं, और वे शब्द जो पाला बदल लेते हैं
Points to Remember
• विकारी (4): संज्ञा, सर्वनाम, विशेषण, क्रिया — form changes with लिंग, वचन, कारक, काल.
• अविकारी / अव्यय (4): क्रियाविशेषण, संबंधबोधक, समुच्चयबोधक, विस्मयादिबोधक — form never changes.
• संज्ञा: तीन मुख्य भेद (व्यक्तिवाचक, जातिवाचक, भाववाचक); समूहवाचक and द्रव्यवाचक are counted separately in some books.
• भाववाचक suffixes: -ता, -पन, -त्व, -आई, -आवट, -आपा, -आस.
• सर्वनाम: छह भेद — पुरुषवाचक, निजवाचक, निश्चयवाचक, अनिश्चयवाचक, संबंधवाचक, प्रश्नवाचक.
• आप = पुरुषवाचक when it means 'you'; निजवाचक when it means 'oneself' (मैं आप ही कर लूँगा).
• विशेषण: गुणवाचक, संख्यावाचक, परिमाणवाचक, सार्वनामिक. कुछ/सब/थोड़ा switch between संख्यावाचक and परिमाणवाचक depending on whether the noun is counted or measured.
• प्रविशेषण qualifies a विशेषण, not a noun — बहुत सुंदर.
• सकर्मक vs अकर्मक: ask क्या or किसको before the verb; an answer means सकर्मक.
• प्रेरणार्थक: करना → कराना (प्रथम) → करवाना (द्वितीय).
• क्रियाविशेषण alone with the verb; संबंधबोधक when a noun or pronoun is attached — पहले vs मुझसे पहले.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: To sort विकारी from अविकारी in two seconds, mentally make the word feminine and then plural. लड़का gives लड़की and लड़के, so it is विकारी. परंतु gives nothing at all, so it is अव्यय. You do not need to remember which of the eight categories the word belongs to in order to answer 'which of these is an अव्यय' — the movement test alone decides it.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: When a word could be two things, look at the word immediately before it, not at the word itself. A संज्ञा or सर्वनाम sitting before पहले, बाहर, ऊपर or पास makes it संबंधबोधक; nothing sitting there leaves it क्रियाविशेषण. The same neighbour test settles कुछ लोग against कुछ दूध, and बहुत पानी against बहुत सुंदर.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
Three separate topics live inside the Hindi sentence, and papers move between them without warning: वाच्य, or voice; वाक्य के भेद, the classification of sentences; and विराम चिह्न, the punctuation marks.
They look unrelated and they are usually taught apart, but each one is settled by a single question, and knowing which question to ask is most of the work.
For वाच्य the question is: whose form is the verb following — the doer, the object, or neither?
For वाक्य के भेद the question is: how many clauses are there, and how are they joined?
For विराम चिह्न the question is simply: what does this mark do to the reading?
That is the whole architecture. Everything else in this card set is the detail hanging off those three questions, together with the traps that examiners have built around each one — and in every case the trap works by making a sentence look like something it is not.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
वाच्य has three types, and all three are identified from the क्रिया, never from the कर्ता.
In कर्तृवाच्य the verb agrees with the gender and number of the कर्ता, and the doer is what the sentence is about — 'राम पत्र लिखता है।' Here लिखता follows राम.
In कर्मवाच्य the verb agrees with the कर्म instead, the doer takes से or के द्वारा, and a form of जाना attaches to the main verb — 'राम से पत्र लिखा जाता है।' Here लिखा जाता follows पत्र.
In भाववाच्य neither the doer nor the object is central; only the भाव, the action itself, is. Two marks identify it without fail: it is built only from अकर्मक verbs, and the verb freezes in the अन्य पुरुष, एकवचन, पुल्लिंग form — 'मुझसे अब चला नहीं जाता।'
भाववाच्य usually expresses inability or refusal, and that sense is the quickest way to tell it apart from कर्मवाच्य, since both use से and both end in a form of जाना.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
वाच्य परिवर्तन is a straight mark on the paper, because its steps never change.
Turning कर्तृवाच्य into कर्मवाच्य takes three moves. First, attach से or के द्वारा to the कर्ता. Second, promote the कर्म to the subject position. Third, put the main verb into its past participle form and add the appropriate form of जाना — and make that form agree with the gender and number of the कर्म.
'बच्चों ने खेल खेला' becomes 'बच्चों के द्वारा खेल खेला गया।' 'सीता ने कहानी सुनाई' becomes 'सीता के द्वारा कहानी सुनाई गई' — गई appears because कहानी is स्त्रीलिंग, and that agreement is the whole test.
When forming भाववाच्य there is no कर्म at all, so the verb settles into its अन्य पुरुष, एकवचन, पुल्लिंग form and stays there. 'वह सोता है' becomes 'उससे सोया नहीं जाता।'
The commonest error is making the verb agree with the कर्ता. In कर्मवाच्य the verb listens to the कर्म and to nothing else.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
वाक्य के भेद are drawn on two different criteria, and the question often does not say which one it means.
रचना के आधार पर there are three. A सरल वाक्य has one उद्देश्य and one विधेय — 'राम पढ़ता है।' A संयुक्त वाक्य joins two or more independent clauses with a समुच्चयबोधक such as और, तथा, परंतु, किंतु or या — 'वह आया और चला गया।' A मिश्र वाक्य has one प्रधान उपवाक्य with one or more dependent clauses attached by कि, जो, जब, यदि or क्योंकि — 'यदि तुम पढ़ोगे तो सफल होगे।'
अर्थ के आधार पर there are eight: विधानवाचक, निषेधवाचक, प्रश्नवाचक, आज्ञावाचक, इच्छावाचक, संदेहवाचक, संकेतवाचक and विस्मयादिबोधक.
Among विराम चिह्न, पूर्ण विराम (।) closes a sentence, अल्प विराम (,) marks a short pause, अर्ध विराम (;) a longer one, प्रश्नवाचक चिह्न (?) follows a question, विस्मयादिबोधक चिह्न (!) marks joy, grief or surprise, and उद्धरण चिह्न (" ") enclose words quoted exactly as spoken.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
What exams actually ask
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi asks वाच्य identification and वाच्य परिवर्तन directly, and expects the correct gender and number in the converted verb. Its standard trap is a converted sentence in which everything is right except that the verb agrees with the कर्ता rather than the कर्म.
SSC CGL and CHSL, in their Hindi papers, prefer वाक्य के भेद — naming a sentence as सरल, संयुक्त or मिश्र. The trap is a sentence joined by 'और' but with one clause unable to stand alone, so it looks संयुक्त and is actually मिश्र.
CTET Hindi language papers keep to recognition from a short example, most often विराम चिह्न and the meaning-based sentence types.
Railway and state-level Hindi sections ask भाववाच्य specifically, because it is the one type most candidates never learn properly.
The error that costs most marks across all of them is deciding वाच्य by looking at the कर्ता. A sentence can keep its कर्ता visible and still be कर्मवाच्य, because voice is decided by which word the verb agrees with, never by which word appears first.
हिंदी वाच्य, वाक्य के भेद और विराम चिह्न — कर्तृ, कर्म, भाव तथा वाक्य की पहचान
Points to Remember
• Three वाच्य: कर्तृवाच्य, कर्मवाच्य, भाववाच्य. Identify from the क्रिया, never from the कर्ता.
• The verb agrees with the कर्ता in कर्तृवाच्य, with the कर्म in कर्मवाच्य, and with nothing in भाववाच्य, where it stays अन्य पुरुष, एकवचन, पुल्लिंग.
• भाववाच्य is built only from अकर्मक verbs and usually expresses inability or refusal.
• Three steps to कर्मवाच्य: से or के द्वारा on the कर्ता, कर्म promoted to subject, a form of जाना added to the verb.
• 'सीता के द्वारा कहानी सुनाई गई' takes गई because कहानी is स्त्रीलिंग — this agreement is what the paper is really testing.
• रचना के आधार पर: सरल, संयुक्त, मिश्र.
• Both clauses of a संयुक्त वाक्य can stand alone; the dependent clause of a मिश्र वाक्य cannot.
• Joining words — संयुक्त: और, तथा, परंतु, किंतु, या. मिश्र: कि, जो, जब, यदि, क्योंकि.
• अर्थ के आधार पर, eight types: विधानवाचक, निषेधवाचक, प्रश्नवाचक, आज्ञावाचक, इच्छावाचक, संदेहवाचक, संकेतवाचक, विस्मयादिबोधक.
• विराम चिह्न: पूर्ण विराम (।), अल्प विराम (,), अर्ध विराम (;), प्रश्नवाचक (?), विस्मयादिबोधक (!), उद्धरण चिह्न (" ").
⚠ Exam Tip 1: When वाच्य is asked, put your finger on the क्रिया first and see which word its gender and number match. Matching the कर्ता means कर्तृवाच्य, matching the कर्म means कर्मवाच्य, and matching nothing while sitting in अन्य पुरुष एकवचन पुल्लिंग means भाववाच्य. Do not answer from seeing से or के द्वारा, because those appear in भाववाच्य too.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: To name a sentence by रचना, ignore the joining word and test whether the second clause can stand alone. If both halves carry complete meaning by themselves it is संयुक्त; if the second half is left incomplete it is मिश्र. Not every sentence joined by और is संयुक्त, and the paper builds its trap on exactly that assumption.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
वर्ण विचार is the first chapter of Hindi grammar and the one students skip fastest, because it looks like something settled in class 2. Then संधि, वर्तनी and उच्चारण questions all turn out to stand on it, and the marks go.
A वर्ण is the smallest unit of a language — one sound that cannot be broken any further. Do not confuse it with अक्षर, which is a syllable, or with मात्रा, which is only the written mark a vowel takes.
Hindi is written in the देवनागरी लिपि, left to right, and unlike English it is very nearly phonetic: one symbol, one sound, which is why Hindi spelling questions are about grammar rather than about memory.
Two counts are both correct, and the wording of the question decides which one it wants. By sound, Hindi has 11 स्वर and 33 व्यंजन — 44 वर्ण. By the traditional वर्णमाला, counting अं and अः, ड़ and ढ़, and the four संयुक्त व्यंजन, the total is 52.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
स्वर are the sounds pronounced without leaning on any other sound. Standard Hindi has eleven: अ आ इ ई उ ऊ ऋ ए ऐ ओ औ.
Sort them by length. ह्रस्व or लघु स्वर take one unit of time — अ, इ, उ, ऋ, four of them. दीर्घ स्वर take two — आ, ई, ऊ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ, seven of them. A प्लुत स्वर is a drawn-out call, longer than दीर्घ, marked with the figure 3 as in ओ३म्.
Four of the दीर्घ are also संयुक्त स्वर, each made by joining two sounds: अ + इ = ए, अ + ए = ऐ, अ + उ = ओ, अ + ओ = औ. This derivation is worth keeping, because it answers उच्चारण स्थान questions later without any extra learning.
मात्रा is not a vowel. It is the mark a vowel takes when it rides on a consonant — ि ी ु ू े ै ो ौ. अ has no मात्रा at all, which is exactly why क already reads as 'ka'.
अनुस्वार ( ं ) and विसर्ग ( ः ) are called अयोगवाह: neither स्वर nor व्यंजन, and always written after a vowel.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
व्यंजन cannot be pronounced without a vowel behind them: क is really क् + अ.
Standard Hindi has 33, in three families. स्पर्श व्यंजन number 25 — the five वर्ग from क to म, five letters each: क वर्ग, च वर्ग, ट वर्ग, त वर्ग, प वर्ग. अंतःस्थ व्यंजन are य, र, ल, व — four. ऊष्म or संघर्षी व्यंजन are श, ष, स, ह — four again. 25 + 4 + 4 = 33.
Outside the 33 sit the four संयुक्त व्यंजन, each a joined pair: क्ष = क् + ष, त्र = त् + र, ज्ञ = ज् + ञ, श्र = श् + र. ड़ and ढ़ are उत्क्षिप्त or द्विगुण, developed later out of ड and ढ.
Two sorting rules earn marks on their own. In every वर्ग the 1st, 3rd and 5th letters are अल्पप्राण and the 2nd and 4th are महाप्राण, because the 2nd and 4th are the aspirated ones. And the 1st and 2nd are अघोष while the 3rd, 4th and 5th are घोष — every स्वर is घोष as well.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
उच्चारण स्थान is the place in the mouth where a sound is made, and it is the single most asked part of this chapter.
· कंठ्य — throat: अ, आ, क वर्ग, ह, विसर्ग
· तालव्य — hard palate: इ, ई, च वर्ग, य, श
· मूर्धन्य — the ridge above: ऋ, ट वर्ग, र, ष
· दंत्य — teeth: त वर्ग, ल, स
· ओष्ठ्य — lips: उ, ऊ, प वर्ग
· नासिक्य — nose: ङ, ञ, ण, न, म and अनुस्वार
· दंतोष्ठ्य — teeth with the lower lip: व alone
· कंठतालव्य — throat plus palate: ए, ऐ
· कंठोष्ठ्य — throat plus lips: ओ, औ
Read the two-part names literally and they stop needing memorisation. ए is अ (कंठ्य) plus इ (तालव्य), so it is कंठतालव्य. ओ is अ plus उ (ओष्ठ्य), so it is कंठोष्ठ्य. The derivation on the previous card and the place-name here are the same fact stated twice.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
What exams actually ask.
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi asks counts and classification — how many स्वर, how many ऊष्म व्यंजन, which letters are अंतःस्थ. Before answering a count, check whether the stem said उच्चारण के आधार पर or वर्णमाला के अनुसार, because 44 and 52 are both printed as correct in respectable books and the paper is testing which frame you noticed.
CTET language papers and Bihar STET prefer उच्चारण स्थान. 'ष का उच्चारण स्थान' is close to a fixed item, and the answer is मूर्धन्य, not दंत्य.
The Hindi section of SSC leans on अल्पप्राण–महाप्राण and घोष–अघोष, usually phrased as 'which of these is महाप्राण'.
Railway exams keep it to the simplest form: the number of स्वर, or which letter is a संयुक्त व्यंजन.
The three traps that cost most marks: treating क्ष as a मूल व्यंजन when it is संयुक्त; calling र दंत्य when it is मूर्धन्य; and counting अं and अः among the स्वर in a question that asked about sounds, where they are अयोगवाह.
वर्ण विचार — स्वर, व्यंजन, उच्चारण स्थान और वह गिनती जिस पर पुस्तकें बँटी हैं
Points to Remember
· वर्ण is the smallest sound unit; अक्षर is a syllable; मात्रा is only a vowel's written mark.
· By sound: 11 स्वर + 33 व्यंजन = 44. By वर्णमाला: 52, counting अं, अः, ड़, ढ़ and the four संयुक्त व्यंजन.
· ह्रस्व स्वर — अ, इ, उ, ऋ (four). दीर्घ स्वर — आ, ई, ऊ, ए, ऐ, ओ, औ (seven).
· संयुक्त स्वर — ए, ऐ, ओ, औ. अ takes no मात्रा.
· स्पर्श 25 (क to म), अंतःस्थ 4 (य, र, ल, व), ऊष्म 4 (श, ष, स, ह).
· संयुक्त व्यंजन — क्ष, त्र, ज्ञ, श्र. ड़ and ढ़ are उत्क्षिप्त.
· In each वर्ग: 1st, 3rd, 5th अल्पप्राण; 2nd, 4th महाप्राण. 1st, 2nd अघोष; 3rd, 4th, 5th घोष.
· र is मूर्धन्य, व is दंतोष्ठ्य, श is तालव्य, ष is मूर्धन्य, स is दंत्य.
· अं and अः are अयोगवाह — neither vowel nor consonant.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Draw the five वर्ग as a 5×5 grid on your rough sheet before you start the section. Every अल्पप्राण–महाप्राण, घोष–अघोष and नासिक्य question is then answered by column position instead of memory.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: If a counting question offers both 44 and 52, re-read the stem for the words उच्चारण or ध्वनि. Their presence means 44; वर्णमाला named without them means 52.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
Hindi did not appear ready-made. It arrived at the end of a long chain of languages, and this chapter is that chain plus the family of dialects that grew out of its last link.
First, the distinction papers open with. A भाषा is a developed language with a standard grammar, a script and a body of literature, used over a wide area and in administration. A बोली is a regional speech form used over a smaller area, usually without a standardised grammar of its own. The boundary is not permanent — a बोली can become a भाषा, which is exactly what happened to खड़ी बोली, and what happened to मैथिली when it entered the Eighth Schedule as a language in its own right.
Second, Hindi's place in the world's languages. It belongs to the भारोपीय or Indo-European family, in its Indo-Aryan branch, which makes it a distant relative of Persian, Greek, Latin and English, and NOT related to Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam, which are द्रविड़ languages.
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi, CTET language papers, Bihar STET and the Hindi sections of SSC and the railway exams all ask from this chapter.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
The chain of descent, which is asked in order more often than anything else here.
वैदिक संस्कृत, roughly 1500 to 1000 BCE, is the language of the Vedas. लौकिक संस्कृत, roughly 1000 to 500 BCE, is the classical Sanskrit of literature and grammar, the language Panini described.
पालि, roughly 500 BCE to the beginning of the common era, is the language of the early Buddhist texts. प्राकृत, roughly the first to the fifth century CE, is the group of spoken forms that grew out of it — Jain texts and the dialogue of Sanskrit drama are in Prakrit.
अपभ्रंश, roughly the fifth to the tenth century CE, is the last stage before the modern languages, and it is from Apabhramsha that the modern Indo-Aryan languages separate out.
आधुनिक हिंदी begins from about the tenth or eleventh century CE.
So the sequence to hold is: संस्कृत, पालि, प्राकृत, अपभ्रंश, हिंदी. Five stages, in that order.
The word Hindi itself comes through Persian हिंद, which goes back to the Sanskrit सिंधु, the river — the name of a river became the name of a land and then of its language.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
देवनागरी, the script.
It descends from the ब्राह्मी लिपि, the ancestor of most Indian scripts, through an intermediate stage usually called नागरी. Brahmi is the script of the Ashokan inscriptions, and its decipherment in the nineteenth century is what opened ancient Indian history to reading at all.
Devanagari is written from left to right, unlike the Perso-Arabic scripts, and it carries the horizontal line, the शिरोरेखा, along the top of the letters.
Its great strength, and the reason Hindi spelling questions are grammar questions rather than memory questions, is that it is almost perfectly phonetic: one symbol stands for one sound, and a word is written as it is spoken. English, by contrast, spells the same sound several ways and the same spelling several sounds.
Devanagari is not used for Hindi alone. Sanskrit, Marathi, Nepali, Konkani, Bodo, Maithili and Dogri are also written in it, which is a common one-line question — the script and the language are two different things, and one script can serve many languages just as one language can be written in more than one script.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
The dialects. Hindi is usually divided into five उपभाषा groups holding eighteen बोलियाँ in all, and the grouping is asked directly.
पश्चिमी हिंदी — खड़ी बोली (also called कौरवी), ब्रजभाषा, हरियाणवी or बाँगरू, बुंदेली and कन्नौजी. Five.
पूर्वी हिंदी — अवधी, बघेली and छत्तीसगढ़ी. Three.
राजस्थानी — मारवाड़ी, जयपुरी or ढूँढाड़ी, मेवाती and मालवी. Four.
पहाड़ी — गढ़वाली, कुमाऊँनी and मंडियाली. Three.
बिहारी — भोजपुरी, मगही and मैथिली. Three.
Five plus three plus four plus three plus three is eighteen.
Three of these carry most of Hindi's older literature and are asked by their poets. ब्रजभाषा is the language of सूरदास and of Krishna poetry. अवधी is the language of तुलसीदास's रामचरितमानस and of जायसी's पद्मावत. मैथिली is the language of विद्यापति.
खड़ी बोली, spoken around Delhi and Meerut, carried little early literature but became the basis of standard modern Hindi — and, in another register and script, of Urdu.
हिंदी दिवस is 14 September, marking the Constituent Assembly's adoption of Hindi as the official language in 1949. विश्व हिंदी दिवस is 10 January.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
What exams actually ask.
BPSC TRE-4 Part I Hindi asks the descent chain in order and the dialect grouping, and because it is a Bihar examination it asks the बिहारी group — भोजपुरी, मगही, मैथिली — more closely than the rest.
CTET language papers and Bihar STET prefer the भाषा-and-बोली distinction and the mother-tongue angle, since both connect directly to how a classroom works.
The Hindi sections of SSC and the railway exams keep to single facts: which dialect standard Hindi rests on, which script Devanagari came from, which poet wrote in which dialect.
All of them ask हिंदी दिवस, and the date is worth knowing exactly.
Three traps worth naming. ब्रजभाषा and अवधी swapped between सूरदास and तुलसीदास — Surdas is Braj, Tulsidas is Awadhi. The chain reordered so that पालि comes after प्राकृत, when Pali is the older of the two. And मैथिली counted only as a Hindi dialect, when it is also listed in the Eighth Schedule as a language in its own right; both statements are true at once, and the question decides which one it wants by how it is worded.
हिंदी भाषा का विकास — संस्कृत से खड़ी बोली तक, पाँच उपभाषाएँ और अठारह बोलियाँ
याद रखने योग्य बातें
· भाषा has a standard grammar, script and literature; बोली is a regional speech form. A बोली can become a भाषा.
· Hindi belongs to the भारोपीय (Indo-European) family, Indo-Aryan branch. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are द्रविड़.
· Chain of descent: संस्कृत → पालि → प्राकृत → अपभ्रंश → हिंदी.
· वैदिक संस्कृत about 1500-1000 BCE; अपभ्रंश about the fifth to tenth century CE; आधुनिक हिंदी from about the tenth-eleventh century.
· देवनागरी descends from ब्राह्मी through नागरी; written left to right; nearly perfectly phonetic; carries the शिरोरेखा.
· Devanagari also writes Sanskrit, Marathi, Nepali, Konkani, Bodo, Maithili and Dogri.
· Five उपभाषा groups, eighteen बोलियाँ: पश्चिमी हिंदी (5), पूर्वी हिंदी (3), राजस्थानी (4), पहाड़ी (3), बिहारी (3).
· ब्रजभाषा — सूरदास. अवधी — तुलसीदास, जायसी. मैथिली — विद्यापति.
· खड़ी बोली is the basis of standard modern Hindi.
· हिंदी दिवस 14 September (Constituent Assembly, 1949); विश्व हिंदी दिवस 10 January.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Learn the five groups by their counts — 5, 3, 4, 3, 3 — and check that they add to eighteen before you answer any grouping question. If your recall of a group gives the wrong count, you have moved a dialect into the wrong family, and the total catches it immediately.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: Attach each literary dialect to one work, not to a poet alone. अवधी to रामचरितमानस, ब्रजभाषा to सूरसागर, मैथिली to विद्यापति's पदावली. A work is harder to misfile than a name, because the poet and the dialect can be swapped but the text cannot.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
Two Genders, Two Numbers — and the Exceptions That Carry the Marks
Sanskrit has three genders and three numbers. Hindi kept only two of each — पुल्लिंग / स्त्रीलिंग, and एकवचन / बहुवचन. There is no नपुंसकलिंग and no द्विवचन in Hindi. That single sentence answers a question in its own right, and papers do ask it.
But the marks are not in the rules. They are in the words that refuse to obey them:
> दही ends in ई yet is पुल्लिंग. पानी is पुल्लिंग. आग, दाल and मृत्यु are all स्त्रीलिंग.
The examiner's whole method is to print a rule-following word in three options and one rule-breaking word in the fourth. So this topic is learnt in two layers — first the ending-based rule, then the short list of words that defy it. Skip the second layer and the rule alone will get you the wrong answer with complete confidence.
पुरुष (person) sits alongside, because verb agreement depends on it, and आप breaks that rule too.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
लिंग — The Ending Tells You, Until It Doesn't
पुल्लिंग signals. Words built with the suffixes -पन, -पा, -आव, -त्व, -आर are masculine: बचपन, बुढ़ापा, बहाव, ममत्व, व्यवहार. So are the names of मास (महीने), पर्वत, समुद्र, देश, ग्रह, पेड़, धातु and most अनाज — गेहूँ, चावल, बाजरा.
स्त्रीलिंग signals. The suffixes -ई, -इया, -आई, -आवट, -आहट, -ता, -नी, -इन, -आनी, -इका make feminine words: लड़की, चिड़िया, पढ़ाई, सजावट, घबराहट, सुंदरता, मोरनी, धोबिन, सेठानी, लेखिका. So are नदियाँ, भाषाएँ, बोलियाँ and तिथियाँ.
The exceptions that decide the question:
| Looks feminine, is पुल्लिंग | Looks masculine, is स्त्रीलिंग |
|---|---|
| दही, पानी, घी, मोती, जी, हाथी, पक्षी, मैदा | आग, दाल, रोटी*, सेना, आत्मा, प्रजा |
| तेल, दूध, चमड़ा | वस्तु, ऋतु, धातु, वायु, मृत्यु, ओस |
\*रोटी genuinely follows the -ई rule; it is listed because students over-correct and turn it masculine.
Note the last row: Sanskrit tatsam words ending in -उ / -ऊ are usually स्त्रीलिंग despite having no feminine marker at all. Among planets only पृथ्वी is feminine; among metals only चाँदी.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
वचन — Six Patterns and One Word Class That Never Changes
| Word type | एकवचन → बहुवचन | Example |
|---|---|---|
| आकारांत पुल्लिंग | आ → ए | लड़का → लड़के, कमरा → कमरे |
| Other पुल्लिंग | no change | घर → घर, फल → फल |
| आकारांत स्त्रीलिंग | + एँ | कविता → कविताएँ, माता → माताएँ |
| ईकारांत स्त्रीलिंग | ई → इयाँ | नदी → नदियाँ, लड़की → लड़कियाँ |
| इया-ending स्त्रीलिंग | या → याँ | चिड़िया → चिड़ियाँ, डिबिया → डिबियाँ |
| Consonant-ending स्त्रीलिंग | + एँ | पुस्तक → पुस्तकें, बहन → बहनें |
Two traps sit inside this table.
First, आकारांत masculine words that are तत्सम or relationship words do not change: पिता → पिता, चाचा → चाचा, राजा → राजा, देवता → देवता. The आ → ए rule looks universal and is not.
Second, चिड़िया → चिड़ियाँ, never चिड़ियायें or चिड़िइयाँ. The या simply nasalises to याँ.
नित्य बहुवचन — words used only in the plural: प्राण, दर्शन, आँसू, अक्षत, होश, हस्ताक्षर, समाचार, दाम, लोग. Ask for the singular of प्राण and there isn't one.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
पुरुष — Three Persons, and Why आप Takes a Plural Verb
| पुरुष | Pronouns | English |
|---|---|---|
| उत्तम पुरुष | मैं, हम | First person — the speaker |
| मध्यम पुरुष | तू, तुम, आप | Second person — the listener |
| अन्य पुरुष | वह, वे, यह, ये | Third person — the one spoken about |
The examinable part is not the list but the verb agreement, which changes for all three forms of the second person:
> तू आता है · तुम आते हो · आप आते हैं
आप always takes the plural verb, even when you are addressing one person. "आप आता है" is wrong; "आप आते हैं" is right. The same respect-plural works for nouns — पिताजी आए हैं, not पिताजी आया है.
Note the double life of आप: in आप कहाँ जा रहे हैं? it is मध्यम पुरुष (you), but in वह आप ही चला गया it means "himself" and is निजवाचक सर्वनाम. A question that quotes a full sentence is usually testing exactly that difference, so read which person आप is pointing at before answering.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE and Bihar STET Hindi papers ask लिंग identification directly — "निम्नलिखित में से कौन-सा शब्द स्त्रीलिंग है?" — with three rule-following words and one exception. They also ask the बहुवचन of an इया-ending word, where चिड़ियायें is planted beside the correct चिड़ियाँ.
CTET and state TET Hindi sections wrap the same grammar in a classroom sentence and ask which form is शुद्ध. The most repeated item is verb agreement with आप — आप कल आया था versus आप कल आए थे.
SSC CGL / CHSL Hindi prefer नित्य बहुवचन: "प्राण का एकवचन क्या है?" The intended answer is that it has none, and the trap option invents प्राणा.
RRB NTPC keeps it to one-word लिंग and वचन conversions of very common nouns.
The single most reused question across all of these is दही. It ends in ई, every rule says feminine, and it is पुल्लिंग. Whenever an option list mixes दही, पानी and घी with genuinely feminine words, that is the question being asked.
लिंग, वचन और पुरुष — हिंदी के दो लिंग, दो वचन, और वे शब्द जो हर नियम तोड़ते हैं
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: दही is the single most-repeated लिंग question in Hindi papers. Every ending-rule says feminine, and the word is पुल्लिंग. Store दही, पानी and घी together as one three-word exception and you will never lose that mark.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: Before applying आ → ए, ask whether the word is a relationship or तत्सम word. पिता, चाचा, राजा and देवता stay exactly as they are in the plural — the option that "converts" them to पिते or राजे is the planted wrong answer.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
Three Meanings Live Inside Every Word
Hindi grammar recognises that a single word rarely means only one thing — and shabd shakti (शब्द शक्ति) is the power by which a word delivers each of its three possible meanings. Every question in this chapter is really just asking: which of the three is doing the work in this sentence?
Only one of these three is at work in any given line, and the exam wants you to name it.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
Abhidha — The Meaning That Needs No Effort
अभिधा is the primary, agreed-upon meaning every speaker of the language accepts without a second thought — grammar books call this the मुख्यार्थ (principal meaning) or वाच्यार्थ. It is the meaning a dictionary prints first.
A sentence is working in अभिधा the moment the literal words already make complete sense on their own — no bridge, no context, no tone needed. "राम ने फल खाया" (Ram ate a fruit) is pure अभिधा: it says exactly what it means.
The test is simple: can the sentence stand alone, with the plainest reading, and already be true and sensible? If yes, stop there — it is अभिधा, and looking for a hidden meaning is what costs the mark, not what earns it. The other two powers exist only because अभिधा sometimes fails to make sense on its own — they are the backup plans, not the default.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
Lakshana — When the Literal Meaning Has to Step Aside
लक्षणा activates only when अभिधा breaks down — when the literal words, read plainly, would be false, absurd or incomplete — and the mind automatically jumps to a nearby, logically connected meaning instead. The classic textbook example: "गंगा में मकान बना है" (a house is built on the Ganga). No house floats on water, so the mind shifts to the related, sensible meaning — a house built on the bank of the Ganga.
लक्षणा splits into two: रूढ़ा लक्षणा, where the shifted meaning has become so common through use that it needs no special context to understand (calling a coward "मुर्गा" — a chicken), and प्रयोजनवती लक्षणा, where the shift serves a specific purpose in that sentence and needs the surrounding context to land ("लाल टोपी आ गई" — red cap has arrived — pointing at a specific person by what they're wearing, not the cap itself).
The giveaway in an exam sentence: the literal words are technically impossible, but a small logical leap makes them true.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
Vyanjana — The Meaning That Lives in Tone, Not Words
व्यंजना is the subtlest of the three: neither the direct meaning nor a logical extension of it explains the sentence — only the speaker's tone, the situation and shared context reveal what is actually meant. This suggested meaning is called व्यंग्यार्थ.
Say "कैसी सुंदर सुबह है!" while standing in pouring rain and cancelled plans — the literal words praise the morning, but the intended meaning is the exact opposite: sarcasm about a ruined day. Neither अभिधा (the morning genuinely being called beautiful) nor a logical लक्षणा-style shift explains this — only tone does.
व्यंजना is also what carries poetry's deeper suggestion, irony, sarcasm, and idiom-like phrases whose real sense cannot be reached by dictionary meaning or logical substitution at all. If a question's sentence needs you to feel the situation to get the answer, and no amount of logical bridging from the literal words gets you there, it is व्यंजना.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 and Bihar STET Hindi papers give a short sentence and ask the candidate to name the शब्द शक्ति at work, exactly like the alankar-identification format. CTET Hindi (both papers) tests the same skill inside pedagogy-neutral grammar sections — this is pure grammar, not classroom method, so it is fair game at every level.
The most repeated trap: examiners write a sentence where the literal meaning is merely unusual, not impossible, and expect candidates to correctly call it अभिधा rather than jumping to लक्षणा out of habit — लक्षणा requires the literal reading to actually fail, not just sound old-fashioned or formal.
A second trap swaps लक्षणा and व्यंजना: if a logical, context-free substitution explains the sentence (village ← flowing-toward), it is लक्षणा; if only tone, sarcasm or emotional context explains it, it is व्यंजना. Papers often give a सरल sentence that looks like it needs 'feeling' but actually resolves with plain logic — and that one is लक्षणा in disguise.
शब्द शक्ति — अभिधा, लक्षणा और व्यंजना, और वह कसौटी जो तीनों को अलग करती है
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: An 'unusual but not impossible' sentence is a trap for अभिधा, not लक्षणा — don't jump to लक्षणा just because a sentence sounds poetic or old-fashioned.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: If a context-free logical substitution solves the sentence, it's लक्षणा; if only emotional tone solves it, it's व्यंजना — never choose व्यंजना when a purely logical answer is available.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
काल — When an Action Happens
काल (kaal) tells us when an action takes place, and Hindi grammar splits it into exactly three main types: भूतकाल (past), वर्तमानकाल (present) and भविष्यत्काल (future). Each of these further splits into four sub-types — so technically there are twelve kaal forms, echoing the same twelve-tense system tested in English grammar, but built through the verb's own suffix rather than helping verbs like "has/have/will".
Exams rarely ask "what is kaal" in isolation. They give a sentence and ask which kaal-bhed it belongs to, or ask you to convert one kaal into another — वह गया (सामान्य भूतकाल) into वह जा रहा था (अपूर्ण भूतकाल), for instance. The skill tested is recognising the verb-ending pattern instantly, the same way English tests recognise "has been doing" as present perfect continuous.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
भूतकाल — Four Shades of 'Happened'
Hindi's past tense has four sub-types, each with its own verb ending. सामान्य भूतकाल (simple past) states a plain completed action: 'वह गया' (he went). अपूर्ण भूतकाल (imperfect past) describes an ongoing past action, formed with 'रहा था/रही थी/रहे थे': 'वह जा रहा था' (he was going). पूर्ण भूतकाल (perfect past) marks a fully completed action, often using 'चुका था': 'वह जा चुका था' (he had gone). संदिग्ध भूतकाल (presumptive/doubtful past) expresses uncertainty about a past action, using 'होगा/होगी': 'वह गया होगा' (he must have gone).
The exam trap: सामान्य भूतकाल and पूर्ण भूतकाल are often confused because both describe finished actions — the giveaway is 'चुका/चुकी/चुके', which only पूर्ण भूतकाल carries.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
वर्तमानकाल — Four Shades of 'Happening'
सामान्य वर्तमान (simple present) states a habitual or general fact: 'वह जाता है' (he goes). अपूर्ण वर्तमान (present continuous) shows an action happening right now, using 'रहा है/रही है/रहे हैं': 'वह जा रहा है' (he is going). पूर्ण वर्तमान (present perfect) shows a recently completed action whose effect continues, using 'है/चुका है': 'वह जा चुका है' / 'उसने खाना खाया है' (he has gone / he has eaten). संदिग्ध वर्तमान (presumptive present) expresses a guess about the present, using 'होगा/होगी': 'वह घर पर होगा' (he must be at home).
The trap here: सामान्य वर्तमान can also express a near-future planned action in casual speech ('मैं कल आता हूं' — I'm coming tomorrow), which trips up students who think present tense always means 'right now'.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
भविष्यत्काल — Four Shades of 'Will Happen'
सामान्य भविष्यत् (simple future) states a plain future action, formed with 'एगा/एगी/एंगे': 'वह जाएगा' (he will go). संभाव्य भविष्यत् (possible/subjunctive future) expresses possibility or a supposition, often 'शायद' + the simple future form or a subjunctive verb form: 'वह शायद जाए' (he may go). अपूर्ण भविष्यत् (future continuous) shows an ongoing action in the future, using 'रहा होगा/रही होगी': 'वह जा रहा होगा' (he will be going). पूर्ण भविष्यत् (future perfect) shows an action that will be completed by a future point, using 'चुका होगा': 'वह जा चुका होगा' (he will have gone).
Exam favourite: distinguishing संभाव्य भविष्यत् (a subjunctive mood, no fixed suffix, often just the root + ए/एँ) from सामान्य भविष्यत् (a clear 'एगा/एगी/एंगे' suffix) — the presence or absence of the definite future suffix is the entire test.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4's Hindi Part I paper and CTET's Hindi language section both ask 'रेखांकित क्रिया का काल पहचानिए' (identify the kaal of the underlined verb) and 'काल परिवर्तन करें' (convert the kaal) — e.g., 'वह पढ़ता है' को भविष्यत्काल में बदलिए → 'वह पढ़ेगा।' SSC's Hindi paper (for posts that carry a Hindi-medium option) and Bihar's own recruitment Hindi papers test the same via a sentence with four kaal-name options.
The universal trap across all of these: students identify भूत/वर्तमान/भविष्य correctly but miss the उपभेद (sub-type) — marking 'वह जा रहा था' as simply भूतकाल when the paper wants the more specific अपूर्ण भूतकाल. Always name both the main kaal and its bhed; a half-answer is marked wrong.
हिंदी काल — भूत, वर्तमान, भविष्य और उनके भेद
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Spot the auxiliary first — रहा/रही/रहे → अपूर्ण; चुका/चुकी/चुके → पूर्ण; होगा/होगी alone → संदिग्ध. The main verb ending (था/है/एगा) then tells you भूत/वर्तमान/भविष्य.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: When asked to convert kaal, change only the verb ending, never the rest of the sentence — a common wrong-answer trap is options that also alter the subject or object.
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
One Word for Many: The Cheapest Marks in Hindi Vocabulary
'अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द' (one word for a phrase) appears in almost every Hindi paper — TRE-4 language section, SSC, railway and CTET Hindi. The question gives a long phrase such as 'जो ईश्वर में विश्वास करता हो' and asks for the single word, आस्तिक. There is no grammar rule to apply and nothing to derive, so students treat it as pure memory. That is a mistake.
Almost every such word is built from a prefix or root you already know: अ- and अन- (not), दुर्/दुस् (hard), सर्व- (all), कृत- (done), पर- (other). If you read the phrase for its key idea — a negation, a difficulty, a totality, a gratitude — the prefix points to the answer before you look at the options.
The next cards group the high-frequency words by that logic, so you learn a pattern of five or six prefixes instead of sixty unrelated words.
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
Group A: Belief, Knowledge and Gratitude
Words that describe a person's attitude or knowledge:
Notice that सर्वज्ञ, सर्वव्यापी and सर्वभक्षी share the prefix सर्व-; only the second half changes the meaning. Likewise कृतज्ञ and कृतघ्न differ only in the last syllable. Examiners exploit exactly this: the options are built from the same prefix, so you must decode the ending — ज्ञ for knowing, व्यापी for spreading, भक्षी for eating, घ्न for destroying.
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
Group B: The Negation Prefixes and the Difficulty Prefix
अ- / अन- means 'not' or 'without':
दुर्- / दुस्- means 'difficult':
The second half of each दुर् word tells you the difficulty: लभ = obtain, जेय = conquerable, तर = crossable, बोध = understanding. Match the verb in the phrase — 'पाना', 'जीतना', 'पार करना', 'समझना' — with that second half and the answer is fixed. Never choose by the general feeling of 'hard'.
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
Group C: Look-Alike Pairs and Habitat Words
Examiners like pairs where one option is the opposite of the answer.
Habitat and diet words follow a fixed pattern:
Remember that चर means 'one who moves or lives' and आहारी means 'one who eats', so the first half names the place or the food.
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
What Exams Actually Ask
BPSC TRE-4 puts this inside the Part I Hindi language paper as a direct one-mark question: a phrase is given and four words follow. Expect two or three such questions among the vocabulary items.
SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS set one to two 'one word substitution' questions in the Hindi-medium and Hindi-language papers, often mixing common and rare words in the options.
Railway (RRB NTPC, Group D) uses it in the general Hindi items, favouring everyday words like अनाथ, दुर्लभ and सर्वज्ञ.
CTET Hindi frames it as a classroom vocabulary task: a teacher explains a compound word to pupils by breaking it into prefix and root.
The recurring traps:
अनेक शब्दों के लिए एक शब्द: उपसर्ग के तर्क से वाक्यांश का शब्द पहचानिए
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: Underline the one keyword in the phrase (नहीं, कठिन, सब, पाना, जीतना) and match it to the prefix or the second half of the word before reading the options.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: If two options are opposites, the answer is almost always one of the two — decide which by checking the negation word in the phrase.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
Ling and Vachan: Small Topic, Guaranteed Marks
Hindi nouns have two genders, पुल्लिंग (masculine) and स्त्रीलिंग (feminine), and two numbers, एकवचन (singular) and बहुवचन (plural). Hindi has no neuter gender, so even a lifeless thing must be one or the other: 'मेज़' is feminine, 'पुस्तक' is feminine, but 'पुस्तकालय' is masculine.
Gender matters beyond the noun. The verb and the adjective change to match it: 'लड़का जाता है' but 'लड़की जाती है'; 'अच्छा बालक' but 'अच्छी बालिका'. That is why a wrong gender spoils the whole sentence, and why exams test it directly.
This short covers how to decide gender, the most tested exceptions, and how plurals are formed, so you can answer without guessing. Word lists must be learnt, but the patterns cut the list to a quarter.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
Deciding Gender: Endings and Meaning
Living beings follow natural gender: 'पिता–माता', 'शेर–शेरनी', 'घोड़ा–घोड़ी'. For non-living nouns the ending is the best guide.
Mostly masculine: nouns ending in आ (कपड़ा, पहिया), nouns ending in a consonant (पर्वत, सागर, ग्रंथ), and action nouns ending in ना (जाना). Words made with त्व, पन or आव are masculine: 'महत्व', 'बचपन', 'बहाव'.
Mostly feminine: nouns ending in ई (रोटी, नदी, घड़ी), in ि (रीति, जाति), in ता (सुंदरता, महानता), in आवट or आहट (थकावट, घबराहट), in आई (लड़ाई, पढ़ाई) and in इमा (महिमा). Rivers are mostly feminine too: गंगा, यमुना, कावेरी; but सिंधु, सोन and ब्रह्मपुत्र are masculine.
Rule of thumb: abstract nouns built with ता, इमा, आई and आवट are feminine; those built with त्व, पन and आव are masculine.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
The Famous Exceptions
Exams love words that break the ending rule.
Masculine although they end in ई or ि: पानी, घी, दही, मोती, हाथी, आदमी, कवि, पति, रवि. Masculine although they end in ता or आ: पिता, नेता, देवता, राजा.
Feminine although they end in आ: माता, दया, विद्या, कृपा, सभा, कला, भाषा, आत्मा, माया. Feminine words ending in उ or ऊ: बालू, ऋतु, वस्तु, आयु.
Some animals have a fixed gender whatever the sex: कोयल, मक्खी, चील, छिपकली are always feminine; तोता, मच्छर, उल्लू, भेड़िया are always masculine. Even 'नर कोयल' (a male cuckoo) keeps the feminine gender.
The exam question is usually 'which of these is feminine?' with one exception hidden among the options. Learn the exceptions as small families, not as separate words.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
Vachan: Forming the Plural
The Hindi plural depends on gender and ending, and it changes again when a postposition (ने, को, से, में) follows.
Masculine nouns ending in आ change आ to ए: 'लड़का → लड़के', 'कपड़ा → कपड़े'. Other masculine nouns stay unchanged: 'घर → घर', 'पर्वत → पर्वत'.
Feminine nouns ending in आ add एँ: 'माता → माताएँ', 'लता → लताएँ'. Ending in ई, the ई becomes इयाँ: 'लड़की → लड़कियाँ', 'नदी → नदियाँ'. Ending in a consonant, add एँ: 'किताब → किताबें', 'बात → बातें'. Ending in उ or ऊ, add एँ: 'वस्तु → वस्तुएँ', 'बहू → बहुएँ'.
Before a postposition the plural takes ओं for both genders: 'लड़कों को', 'लड़कियों को', 'किताबों में'. Some nouns are used only in the plural: प्राण, आँसू, दर्शन, होश, केश. Substances such as सोना, चाँदी, दूध and घी are used only in the singular.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
What Exams Actually Ask
SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS Hindi sections ask 'choose the feminine (or masculine) word from the options' and 'choose the correct plural', usually with one exception planted among the options. CTET Hindi (Language I and II) frames the same idea in a classroom setting: a teacher writes sentences on the board and asks which word has the wrong gender or number.
BPSC TRE-4 Hindi language questions test the correct plural, the correct gender of a noun and sentence correction involving gender agreement ('सीता गया' should be 'सीता गई'). Railway Group D papers ask the same in simpler form.
Traps: (1) पानी, दही, हाथी, मोती look feminine but are masculine; (2) माता, दया, विद्या, भाषा look masculine but are feminine; (3) the plural 'लड़कियाँ' versus the wrong 'लड़कीएँ'; (4) forgetting that before a postposition the plural is -ओं, not -ए.
हिंदी लिंग और वचन: अंत के नियम, अपवाद और बहुवचन बनाने के नियम
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: In 'which is feminine?' questions read all four options before choosing; a regular-looking answer often sits beside a planted exception.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: To correct a sentence, find the subject's gender first and then change the verb and adjective to match it; never alter the subject.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
Why the Verb Is the Heart of Hindi Grammar
In a Hindi sentence the verb (क्रिया) carries the tense, gender, number and person, so a wrong verb form breaks the whole sentence. That is why exams ask about it from many angles: does the verb need an object, was the action done by the subject or by someone else, is the verb made of two parts, or was it built from a noun?
Hindi grammar sorts verbs on two bases. On the basis of the object they are सकर्मक, अकर्मक and द्विकर्मक. On the basis of how they are built they are संयुक्त (compound), प्रेरणार्थक (causative), नामधातु (noun-derived) and पूर्वकालिक (the 'having done' form).
This short gives you one quick test for each type and the exact examples that TRE-4, CTET, SSC and Railway papers keep repeating.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
Sakarmak, Akarmak and Dwikarmak: The Question Test
Ask 'क्या?' or 'किसे?' after the verb. If a sensible answer exists, the verb is सकर्मक: the result of the action falls on an object. If no answer exists, it is अकर्मक: the result stays with the subject.
• सकर्मक: 'मोहन आम खाता है' (क्या खाता है? आम).
• अकर्मक: 'बच्चा सोता है' (क्या सोता है? no answer).
• द्विकर्मक: a verb with two objects, one for a person and one for a thing: 'पिता ने पुत्र को घड़ी दी' (किसे? पुत्र को; क्या? घड़ी).
Dwikarmak is a kind of sakarmak, so a द्विकर्मक verb is also सकर्मक. Typical अकर्मक verbs are हँसना, रोना, सोना, जागना, बैठना, उठना, जीना; typical सकर्मक verbs are लिखना, पढ़ना, खाना, देखना, खरीदना.
Beware a noun that looks like an object but is only a place or time, such as 'रात भर' or 'घर में': it does not make the verb सकर्मक.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
Prerna and Namdhatu: Built From Another Word
A प्रेरणार्थक क्रिया shows that the subject does not act himself but makes someone else act. Hindi builds it with two suffixes in a ladder:
• मूल: पढ़ना → प्रथम प्रेरणार्थक (-आ): पढ़ाना → द्वितीय प्रेरणार्थक (-वा): पढ़वाना.
• लिखना → लिखाना → लिखवाना. करना → कराना → करवाना.
• An अकर्मक verb becomes सकर्मक this way: गिरना → गिराना → गिरवाना; जलना → जलाना → जलवाना.
A नामधातु is a verb made from a noun, pronoun or adjective by adding ना or आना: हाथ → हथियाना, बात → बतियाना, लात → लतियाना, अपना → अपनाना, गरम → गरमाना, शर्म → शर्माना. Notice that the vowel of the root often changes: हाथ becomes हथ, बात becomes बत.
Exams test the ladder directly: 'द्वितीय प्रेरणार्थक रूप क्या है?' The answer always carries -वा, never just -आ.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
Sanyukt Kriya and Purvakalik Kriya
A संयुक्त क्रिया joins a main verb with a second verb that adds a shade of meaning: the main verb carries the meaning, the helper carries the colour. The common types:
• आरंभबोधक (start): 'वह बरसने लगा' (-लगना).
• समाप्तिबोधक (finish): 'वह पढ़ चुका है' (-चुकना).
• अवधारणबोधक (certainty or completion): 'उसने खा लिया', 'उसने दे दिया' (-लेना, -देना).
• शक्तिबोधक (ability): 'वह कर सकता है' (-सकना, -पाना).
A पूर्वकालिक क्रिया is the 'having done' form made with कर or करके: 'वह खाकर सो गया'. It shows one action finished before another begins; its root verb never changes for gender or number.
Traps: उठ बैठा is संयुक्त (two verbs in one action), but 'उठकर बैठा' is पूर्वकालिक plus a verb, because of कर. Sakarmak and akarmak status is judged on the main verb, not the helper.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
What Exams Actually Ask About the Verb
TRE-4 Hindi-language papers and CTET Hindi (language I) ask four recurring items: identify the verb in a sentence as सकर्मक or अकर्मक, give the प्रथम or द्वितीय प्रेरणार्थक form of a verb, name the type of a संयुक्त क्रिया, and spot a नामधातु among four verbs. SSC CGL, CHSL and Railway Group D keep the sentence-based सकर्मक/अकर्मक question and the 'पूर्वकालिक' recognition question.
Trap patterns:
• A द्विकर्मक sentence offered with 'सकर्मक' as one option: the narrower and more exact choice (द्विकर्मक) is the one the key wants if both are present, so read all four options.
• Mixing the two prerna levels: गिराना is प्रथम, गिरवाना is द्वितीय.
• Calling a causative like सुलाना a नामधातु: it is a प्रेरणार्थक verb from सोना, not from a noun.
• Treating 'रात भर' as an object: it is a time phrase.
हिंदी क्रिया के भेद: सकर्मक, अकर्मक, प्रेरणार्थक, संयुक्त और नामधातु
Points to Remember
⚠ Exam Tip 1: If the question quotes a full sentence, ask क्या/किसे after the verb before looking at the options; do this even when the answer feels obvious.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: For 'द्वितीय प्रेरणार्थक', pick the option with -वा; for 'प्रथम', the one with -आ; never pick the option that merely keeps the root.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
Why One Letter Costs a Mark
Vartani means the standard spelling of a word, and Hindi exams test it with the cruelest kind of question: four options that look almost identical, with exactly one letter wrong in three of them or in one of them. You cannot reason your way out by meaning; you must have seen the correct shape of the word. The good news is that nearly all errors come from a small set of causes: confusing श्र with शृ, writing रि for ऋ, mixing the long and short vowels इ and ई, wrong joining of conjuncts such as ज्व and त्य, and forgetting what sandhi does to a word. Learn those causes, memorise a short list of high-frequency words, and the section becomes the quickest scorer in the paper. These cards give the rules, the word list and a derivation test that works even for words you have never seen.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
श्र versus शृ: The Most Repeated Trap
श्र is श् joined to र, as in श्रम, श्रमिक, श्रवण, श्रद्धा, श्रेष्ठ, श्रीमती and श्रेय. The sound is 'shr', and the र sits as a slanting stroke under the श. शृ is श with the vowel sign of ऋ, and it appears in only a few words: शृंखला (chain), शृंगार (adornment) and शृगाल (jackal). The sound is 'shri' as in 'shrill', not 'shr'. The spelling श्रृ is never correct, so श्रृंखला and श्रृंगार are always wrong. Worked example: 'a chain of events' is शृंखला, not श्रृंखला and not श्रंखला. A quick rule: if the word means chain, adornment or jackal, it is शृ; if it means labour, hearing, devotion or best, it is श्र. Likewise remember ष in विषय, भाषा, वर्षा, शेष and दोष; and स in सूक्ष्म and लक्ष्मी.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
The Sandhi Test: Break the Word to Find the Spelling
Many spellings follow directly from how the word was built. आशीर्वाद comes from आशीः + वाद, so the long ई and the र् before व are both present; आर्शीवाद is wrong. प्रतीक्षा comes from प्रति + ईक्षा, and i + ī joins into long ई, so प्रतिक्षा is wrong. उज्ज्वल comes from उत् + ज्वल, where त् becomes ज्, so उज्जवल loses the conjunct ज्व and is wrong. अत्यधिक comes from अति + अधिक, where इ becomes य, so अत्याधिक has an extra long ा and is wrong. अतिशयोक्ति comes from अतिशय + उक्ति, so अतिश्योक्ति is wrong. Worked example: ask 'what two words made this?' and rebuild the junction. For feminine forms, remember कवि becomes कवयित्री, not कवियत्री, and the same logic gives श्रीमती, not श्रीमति.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
ऋ versus रि, and the Short High-Frequency List
The vowel ऋ is not the same as रि. Write ऋतु (season), ऋषि (sage), ऋण (debt) and ऋचा (hymn verse); रितु, रिषि and रिण are wrong. The matra form ृ appears in कृपा, गृह, दृष्टि, सृष्टि, पृथ्वी and मृत्यु, never as रि or री. Next, watch the vowels: स्वास्थ्य has a long ा after स्व and ends in थ्य, because it is built from स्वस्थ; स्वास्थ and स्वस्थ्य are wrong. Also fix these shapes: परीक्षा with long ई, सूक्ष्म with long ू, वरिष्ठ with short इ and ष्ठ, श्मशान with श्म, and ज्योत्स्ना with त्स्न. Worked example: in the options वरीष्ठ, वरिष्ठ, वरिश्ठ, बरिष्ठ only वरिष्ठ is correct. Read each option slowly twice, once for the vowels and once for the conjuncts.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
What Exams Actually Ask
SSC CGL and CHSL ask 'choose the correctly spelt word' or 'choose the incorrectly spelt word' almost every year, BPSC TRE-4 sets the same in the Hindi language section, and Railway NTPC and Group D use it in their language paper. CTET Hindi items are usually classroom-framed: a teacher notices a child write श्रृंगार on the board and must choose the right correction. The traps are consistent. First, the question direction: students hunt for the right word when the question asks for the wrong one. Second, options that differ in only one matra, so a quick read sees all four as the same. Third, a tempting wrong form that is common in newspapers or on signboards, such as उज्जवल, अत्याधिक or श्रृंगार. Fourth, mixing up the pair श्र and शृ. Fifth, ending a word in the wrong conjunct, as in स्वास्थ्य. Read the direction twice, then test every option.
हिंदी वर्तनी: अशुद्धियाँ, श्र और शृ, रि और ऋ तथा संधि की कसौटी
Points to Remember
श्र = श् + र (श्रम, श्रवण, श्रेष्ठ, श्रीमती). शृ = श + ऋ matra, found only in शृंखला, शृंगार and शृगाल; श्रृ is never correct. ऋ is written ऋतु, ऋषि, ऋण; never रितु or रिषि. Sandhi spellings: आशीर्वाद (आशीः + वाद), प्रतीक्षा (प्रति + ईक्षा), उज्ज्वल (उत् + ज्वल), अत्यधिक (अति + अधिक), अतिशयोक्ति (अतिशय + उक्ति). Feminine of कवि is कवयित्री. Keep these fixed shapes: स्वास्थ्य, परीक्षा, सूक्ष्म, वरिष्ठ, श्मशान, ज्योत्स्ना. Always check whether the question asks for the correct or the incorrect word.
⚠ Exam Tip 1: If an option contains श्रृ, cross it out at once as wrong; and if the question asks for the wrong word, it is probably the answer.
⚠ Exam Tip 2: Break each unfamiliar word into its two parts, rebuild the sandhi, and compare the result with each option letter by letter.