Karak (कारक) — The Eight Cases, Their Vibhakti Signs and the Question That Identifies Each

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.

1. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "राम **ने** पत्र लिखा।"

2. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "**पेड़ से** पत्ते गिरते हैं।"

3. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "मोहन **चाकू से** फल काटता है।"

4. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "माँ ने **बच्चे को** दूध दिया।"

5. Which vibhakti signs belong to Adhikaran karak?

6. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "यह **राम का** घर है।"

7. Identify the karak in the highlighted part: "**हे ईश्वर!** हमारी रक्षा करो।"

8. The particle 'ने' is used in Hindi only when the verb is: