General Hindi I: Grammar — Sandhi, Samas, Upsarg-Pratyay
The General Hindi paper of the BPSC Mains is a qualifying paper — you only need 30% — yet every year candidates stumble on it because they never revised basic grammar. This chapter gives you the four pillars that fetch the easiest marks: sandhi (joining of sounds), samas (compounds), upsarg-pratyay (prefixes and suffixes) and sentence correction. Learn through the examples — in grammar, the examples ARE the syllabus.
Sandhi — Joining of Sounds
Sandhi is the change that occurs when two sounds meet: विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय. Splitting the word back (विद्यालय → विद्या + आलय) is called संधि-विच्छेद — the exam's favourite question. Sandhi has three kinds: स्वर संधि (vowel + vowel), व्यंजन संधि (consonant involved), and विसर्ग संधि (visarga ः involved).
| Sub-type | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Dirgha (दीर्घ) | Same short/long vowel + same vowel → long vowel (अ/आ+अ/आ=आ; इ/ई+इ/ई=ई; उ/ऊ+उ/ऊ=ऊ) | विद्या+आलय=विद्यालय; हिम+आलय=हिमालय; कवि+इंद्र=कवींद्र; भानु+उदय=भानूदय; विद्या+अर्थी=विद्यार्थी |
| Guna (गुण) | अ/आ + इ/ई = ए; अ/आ + उ/ऊ = ओ; अ/आ + ऋ = अर् | देव+इंद्र=देवेंद्र; महा+ईश=महेश; सूर्य+उदय=सूर्योदय; महा+उत्सव=महोत्सव; राजा+ऋषि=राजर्षि |
| Vriddhi (वृद्धि) | अ/आ + ए/ऐ = ऐ; अ/आ + ओ/औ = औ | एक+एक=एकैक; सदा+एव=सदैव; मत+ऐक्य=मतैक्य; महा+औषध=महौषध; जल+ओघ=जलौघ |
| Yan (यण) | इ/ई → य्, उ/ऊ → व्, ऋ → र् before a different vowel | अति+अधिक=अत्यधिक; इति+आदि=इत्यादि; सु+आगत=स्वागत; अनु+अय=अन्वय; पितृ+आदेश=पित्रादेश |
| Ayadi (अयादि) | ए → अय्, ऐ → आय्, ओ → अव्, औ → आव् before a vowel | ने+अन=नयन; गै+अक=गायक; पो+अन=पवन; पौ+अक=पावक; नौ+इक=नाविक |
🧠 Guna vs Vriddhi in one glance
After अ/आ, if a simple vowel (इ, उ, ऋ) follows, it is guna (result: ए, ओ, अर्). If a compound vowel (ए, ऐ, ओ, औ) follows, it is vriddhi (result: ऐ, औ). One line: "सरल स्वर से गुण, संयुक्त स्वर से वृद्धि।" So देव+इंद्र (इ = simple) → गुण; सदा+एव (ए = compound) → वृद्धि.| Split (विच्छेद) | Word | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| जगत् + नाथ | जगन्नाथ | त् → न् before a nasal |
| सत् + जन | सज्जन | त् → ज् before ज |
| उत् + लास | उल्लास | त् → ल् before ल |
| दिक् + गज | दिग्गज | क् → ग् before a voiced sound |
| सम् + कल्प | संकल्प | म् → अनुस्वार (ं) |
| उत् + हार | उद्धार | त् + ह → द्ध |
| Split (विच्छेद) | Word | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| निः + चय | निश्चय | ः → श् before च/छ |
| दुः + कर्म | दुष्कर्म | ः → ष् before क/ख/प/फ (after इ/उ) |
| निः + फल | निष्फल | Same ष् rule |
| मनः + योग | मनोयोग | अ + ः → ओ before a voiced sound |
| मनः + रथ | मनोरथ | Same ओ rule |
| निः + आशा | निराशा | ः → र् before a vowel/voiced sound (after इ/उ) |
| नमः + ते | नमस्ते | ः → स् before त |
Samas — Compounds
Samas compresses two or more words into one: राजा का कुमार → राजकुमार. Expanding the compound back is समास-विग्रह. The exam asks: name the samas. The key is to ask — which part of the compound is dominant? First part, second part, both, or something outside the compound altogether.
- Avyayibhav (अव्ययीभाव) — first part dominant, an indeclinable; the whole acts as an adverb: यथाशक्ति (as per capacity), आजन्म (from birth), प्रतिदिन, यथासंभव, भरपेट.
- Tatpurush (तत्पुरुष) — second part dominant; a case-marker (का, को, से…) is lost: राजकुमार (राजा का कुमार), ग्रामगत (ग्राम को गया), हस्तलिखित (हाथ से लिखित), देशभक्ति (देश की भक्ति).
- Karmadharay (कर्मधारय) — adjective + noun or simile: नीलकमल (blue lotus), महात्मा (great soul), चंद्रमुख (moon-like face), महापुरुष.
- Dvigu (द्विगु) — first part is a numeral, denotes a collection: त्रिलोक (the three worlds), नवरात्र (nine nights), चौराहा (junction of four roads), सप्ताह (seven days).
- Dvandva (द्वंद्व) — both parts dominant, joined by an implied "and": माता-पिता, दिन-रात, सुख-दुख, भाई-बहन. Test: expand with और/या.
- Bahuvrihi (बहुव्रीहि) — neither part dominant; the compound points to a third entity: दशानन ("ten-faced" = Ravana), पीतांबर ("yellow-clad" = Vishnu), चक्रपाणि ("discus in hand" = Vishnu), लंबोदर ("long-bellied" = Ganesha).
| Compound | Expansion (विग्रह) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| यथाशक्ति | as per capacity | Avyayibhav |
| राजकुमार | son of the king | Tatpurush |
| नीलकमल | blue lotus | Karmadharay |
| त्रिलोक | collection of three worlds | Dvigu |
| माता-पिता | mother and father | Dvandva |
| दशानन | he whose faces are ten = Ravana | Bahuvrihi |
| आजन्म | from birth onwards | Avyayibhav |
| चक्रपाणि | he in whose hand is the discus = Vishnu | Bahuvrihi |
| नवरात्र | collection of nine nights | Dvigu |
| ग्रामगत | gone to the village | Tatpurush |
⚠️ Karmadharay or Bahuvrihi? Meaning decides
The same word can be BOTH, depending on the intended meaning. नीलकंठ = "a blue throat / a bird with blue throat" → karmadharay (नीला कंठ); but "he whose throat is blue", i.e. Shiva → bahuvrihi. Same with पीतांबर: "yellow cloth" (karmadharay) vs "Vishnu, the yellow-clad" (bahuvrihi). In the exam, read the sentence: if the compound names a third entity, mark bahuvrihi.ℹ️ Note
One-line summary of dominance: Avyayibhav → first part; Tatpurush, Karmadharay, Dvigu → second part; Dvandva → both; Bahuvrihi → an outside entity. Dvigu is really a numeral-first karmadharay, so check the numeral first.Upsarg & Pratyay — Prefixes & Suffixes
An upsarg (prefix) sits before a root and changes or intensifies its meaning: हार → प्रहार, आहार, विहार, उपहार — four different words from one root. A pratyay (suffix) comes after: लिख → लिखाई. Hindi draws prefixes from three streams — Sanskrit, native Hindi, and Urdu-Persian — and the exam loves asking which stream a word belongs to.
| Source | Prefix (meaning) | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Sanskrit | अ (negation); अनु (after/following); अधि (above/chief); उप (near/sub-) | अधर्म; अनुकरण, अनुगमन; अधिकार, अध्यक्ष; उपकार, उपमंत्री |
| Sanskrit | परि (around); प्र (forward/intense); वि (special/apart); सम् (well/together); निर्/निस् (without) | परिक्रमा, परिवार; प्रबल, प्रस्थान; विज्ञान, वियोग; संयोग, संस्कार; निर्धन, निश्चल |
| Hindi | अन (without); कु (bad); दु (bad/deficient); भर (full) | अनपढ़, अनजान; कुपुत्र, कुचाल; दुबला, दुकाल; भरपेट, भरपूर |
| Urdu-Persian | बे (without); ना (not); हम (co-/together); ख़ुश (good); बद (bad) | बेईमान, बेकार; नालायक, नासमझ; हमदर्द, हमसफ़र; ख़ुशबू, ख़ुशमिज़ाज; बदनाम, बदबू |
| Kind | Attached to | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Krit (कृत्) | A verb root (धातु) | लिख+आई=लिखाई; पढ़+आई=पढ़ाई; लिख+अक=लेखक; हो+नहार=होनहार; पढ़ने+वाला=पढ़नेवाला |
| Taddhit (तद्धित) | A noun, pronoun or adjective | मीठा+आस=मिठास; बूढ़ा+पा=बुढ़ापा; धन+वान=धनवान; बिहार+ई=बिहारी; लड़का+पन=लड़कपन |
🧠 Memory trick
Krit or Taddhit? Ask: "does the base word do something?" If the base is an action (लिख, पढ़, हो) → krit. If the base is a thing/quality (धन, बिहार, मीठा) → taddhit. लिखाई (from लिख, to write) is krit; मिठास (from मीठा, sweet) is taddhit.Gender, Number, Case — in Brief
Most sentence-correction errors in the exam come from three small things: wrong gender (लिंग), wrong number (वचन) and wrong case-marker (कारक चिह्न). You do not need the whole theory — just master the error-prone words below.
- दही is masculine: "दही जमा है" (not जमी है).
- आत्मा is feminine: "आत्मा अमर है" — say "मेरी आत्मा", not "मेरा आत्मा".
- हस्ताक्षर, दर्शन, प्राण are used only in the plural: "हस्ताक्षर किए", "आपके दर्शन हुए", "प्राण निकल गए".
- आँसू is masculine and usually plural: "आँसू बह निकले".
⚠️ Exam trap
Never write "आपका दर्शन हुआ" or "हस्ताक्षर किया" — दर्शन, हस्ताक्षर and प्राण take plural verbs even for one person or one signature. This exact error appears in sentence-correction questions again and again.| Case (कारक) | Marker (चिह्न) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Karta (agent) | ने | राम ने पत्र लिखा। |
| Karma (object) | को | माँ ने बच्चे को बुलाया। |
| Karan (instrument) | से / के द्वारा | वह कलम से लिखता है। |
| Sampradan (recipient) | के लिए, को | गुरु के लिए फल लाओ। |
| Apadan (separation) | से (अलग होना) | पेड़ से पत्ता गिरा। |
| Sambandh (relation) | का, के, की | यह राम का घर है। |
| Adhikaran (location) | में, पर | पुस्तक मेज़ पर है। |
| Sambodhan (address) | हे! अरे! | हे प्रभु! रक्षा करो। |
Spelling & Sentence Correction
This is the highest-scoring section of the paper — pure recognition. Read each pair below aloud once; your ear will start catching the wrong form on its own. In the exam, when two options look alike, trust the form you have read in books, not the one you hear in speech.
| Correct (शुद्ध) | Incorrect (अशुद्ध) | Correct (शुद्ध) | Incorrect (अशुद्ध) |
|---|---|---|---|
| अनुगृहीत | अनुग्रहीत | उज्ज्वल | उज्वल |
| श्रीमती | श्रीमति | पूजनीय | पूज्यनीय |
| अंतर्धान | अंतर्ध्यान | आशीर्वाद | आशिर्वाद |
| ज्योत्स्ना | ज्योत्सना | कवयित्री | कवियित्री |
| अनधिकार | अनाधिकार | उपर्युक्त | उपरोक्त |
| अंत्याक्षरी | अंताक्षरी | अधीन | आधीन |
| शुश्रूषा | सुश्रुषा | स्रोत | श्रोत |
| गृहिणी | गृहणी | संन्यासी | सन्यासी |
| पुरस्कार | पुरुस्कार | अत्यधिक | अत्याधिक |
| Incorrect (अशुद्ध) | Correct (शुद्ध) | Rule violated |
|---|---|---|
| मैंने करना है। | मुझे करना है। | Obligation takes को (मुझे), never ने. |
| एक फूलों की माला लाओ। | फूलों की एक माला लाओ। | The numeral qualifies माला, so it goes next to it. |
| उसने सप्रमाण सहित उत्तर दिया। | उसने सप्रमाण उत्तर दिया। | स- already means "with"; adding सहित is redundant. |
| वह लौट के आया। | वह लौट आया। | Redundancy — लौटना itself contains "coming back". |
| यह बेफ़ालतू काम है। | यह फ़ालतू काम है। | फ़ालतू already means useless; बे- makes it doubly negative. |
| मेरे को यह पुस्तक चाहिए। | मुझे यह पुस्तक चाहिए। | "मेरे को" is non-standard; the correct form is मुझे. |
| उसने अनेकों प्रश्न पूछे। | उसने अनेक प्रश्न पूछे। | अनेक is already plural; अनेकों is a double plural. |
| वह सारी रात भर जागता रहा। | वह रात भर जागता रहा। | सारी + भर together is redundant; use one. |
| मैं आपकी सौजन्यता का आभारी हूँ। | मैं आपके सौजन्य का आभारी हूँ। | सौजन्य is already an abstract noun; -ता is superfluous. |
| प्रत्येक छात्रों को पुस्तक दो। | प्रत्येक छात्र को पुस्तक दो। | प्रत्येक ("each") always takes the singular. |
⚠️ Exam trap
The pair उपर्युक्त / उपरोक्त is a certified exam trap. The grammatically correct form is उपर्युक्त (उपरि + उक्त, "said above"); उपरोक्त is so common in newspapers that it feels right — and that is exactly why examiners pick it.Unseen Passage — Method
The unseen passage (अपठित गद्यांश) tests comprehension, not knowledge. Every answer is inside the passage — your job is to find it and rewrite it briefly in your own words.
- Read the questions first, then the passage — you will know what to hunt for.
- Underline keywords while reading; answers cluster around them.
- Answer in your own words, within the word limit — do not copy whole sentences.
- For the title, pick the central idea, not a detail: short, noun-based titles score best.
- Give no personal opinion unless the question explicitly asks for it.
ℹ️ Note
Time budget: for a typical passage, 4–5 minutes of reading and about 2 minutes per answer is enough. Leftover time is better spent re-checking spellings in your answers — examiners deduct for वर्तनी errors even here.Key takeaways
- General Hindi in BPSC Mains: 100 marks, qualifying at 30%, not counted in merit — but failing it kills the attempt.
- Sandhi = 3 kinds: vowel (दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि, यण, अयादि), consonant (जगन्नाथ, सज्जन, उल्लास) and visarga (निश्चय, दुष्कर्म, मनोयोग).
- Guna vs Vriddhi: after अ/आ, a simple vowel (इ/उ/ऋ) → guna (ए/ओ/अर्); a compound vowel (ए/ऐ/ओ/औ) → vriddhi (ऐ/औ).
- Samas dominance: Avyayibhav → first; Tatpurush/Karmadharay/Dvigu → second; Dvandva → both; Bahuvrihi → a third entity (दशानन = Ravana).
- Prefixes come from Sanskrit (प्र, वि, सम्, निर्…), Hindi (अन, कु, भर) and Urdu-Persian (बे, ना, हम, ख़ुश, बद); krit suffixes join verb roots, taddhit join nouns/adjectives.
- दही is masculine, आत्मा feminine; दर्शन, हस्ताक्षर, प्राण always take plural verbs.
- Spelling anchors: अनुगृहीत, उज्ज्वल, श्रीमती, आशीर्वाद, ज्योत्स्ना, कवयित्री, उपर्युक्त (not उपरोक्त), संन्यासी.
Practice questions (8)
Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.
Identify the correct sandhi-vichchhed (split) of "विद्यालय":
Show answer
Answer: D — विद्या + आलय
विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय: आ + आ merge into a single long आ — an example of dirgha (long-vowel) sandhi.Which sandhi is present in "अत्यधिक"?
Show answer
Answer: C — Yan (यण)
अति + अधिक = अत्यधिक. The इ of अति changes to य् before the different vowel अ — the defining mark of yan sandhi.Which samas is present in "दशानन"?
Show answer
Answer: B — Bahuvrihi (बहुव्रीहि)
दशानन = "he whose faces are ten", i.e. Ravana — the compound points to a third entity, so it is bahuvrihi. Do not be fooled by the numeral दश into marking dvigu: dvigu would mean a mere "collection of ten faces".Consider the following statements:
1. In a bahuvrihi compound, an entity outside the compound is dominant.
2. In a dvigu compound, the first member is a numeral.
Which is/are correct?Show answer
Answer: C — Both 1 and 2
Both are correct: bahuvrihi points to a third entity (दशानन = Ravana), and dvigu always begins with a numeral denoting a collection (त्रिलोक, नवरात्र, चौराहा).Choose the correct spelling:
Show answer
Answer: A — कवयित्री
The correct form is कवयित्री (a woman poet). The common error कवियित्री inserts an extra इ after व — read it as कवि + यित्री and you will misspell it; the base is कवयितृ.Choose the correct sentence:
Show answer
Answer: D — मुझे यह काम करना है।
In the sense of obligation ("have to do"), the subject takes को — hence मुझे. "मैंने करना है" and "मेरे को" are non-standard regional usages.The prefix in "ख़ुशबू" comes from which language stream?
Show answer
Answer: B — Urdu-Persian
ख़ुश (meaning "good/pleasant") is an Urdu-Persian prefix: ख़ुशबू, ख़ुशमिज़ाज, ख़ुशहाल. Other prefixes of this stream: बे, ना, हम, बद.Consider the following statements:
1. "मनोयोग" is an example of visarga sandhi (मनः + योग).
2. "दही" is a feminine noun in Hindi.
Which is/are correct?Show answer
Answer: A — Only 1
Statement 1 is correct: मनः + योग = मनोयोग, where the visarga after अ becomes ओ before a voiced sound. Statement 2 is wrong: दही is masculine — "दही जमा है", not "दही जमी है".