Hindi Language: Grammar and Comprehension

Thirty marks on both papers, and the highest-yield thirty on either — because unlike the pedagogy sections nothing here is a matter of judgement. A sandhi either splits one way or it does not. Roughly two thirds of these questions come from a fixed and closed list: sandhi, samas, upsarg and pratyay, the parts of speech, tense, voice, muhavare and viram chinh. The remaining third is an unseen passage, where the marks are won by reading the question before the passage. This chapter takes the closed list first, with the rule and the exception together, because the exception is what the paper asks about.

Sandhi and Samas: The Two That Carry the Most Marks

Sandhi is the joining of two sounds where two words meet; samas is the joining of two words into one. That single distinction settles a whole family of questions, because a candidate who has not fixed it will read a samas question as a sandhi question and split at the wrong place. In sandhi the answer is always a pair of sounds — विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय — and in samas it is always a pair of words with a relation between them — राजा का पुत्र = राजपुत्र.

Sandhi: the five kinds, with a rule and an example each
KindRuleExample
दीर्घTwo similar vowels join into their long form.विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय
गुणअ/आ + इ/ई = ए · अ/आ + उ/ऊ = ओ · अ/आ + ऋ = अर्नर + इन्द्र = नरेन्द्र
वृद्धिअ/आ + ए/ऐ = ऐ · अ/आ + ओ/औ = औएक + एक = एकैक
यणइ/ई → य् · उ/ऊ → व् · ऋ → र् before a dissimilar vowel.अति + अधिक = अत्यधिक
अयादिए → अय् · ऐ → आय् · ओ → अव् · औ → आव्ने + अन = नयन
  • समास, six kinds. तत्पुरुष — the latter word dominates and a case-ending is hidden (राजपुत्र = राजा का पुत्र). कर्मधारय — the first word describes the second (नीलकमल = नीला कमल). द्विगु — the first word is a number (त्रिलोक). द्वंद्व — both are equal and "and" is hidden (माता-पिता). बहुव्रीहि — neither word dominates and a third thing is meant (दशानन = one who has ten faces, i.e. Ravana). अव्ययीभाव — the first word is an अव्यय and the whole becomes one (प्रतिदिन).
  • The कर्मधारय / बहुव्रीहि trap, asked almost every session. नीलकंठ as "a blue throat" is कर्मधारय; the same word meaning Shiva, one whose throat is blue, is बहुव्रीहि. The form is identical and the ANSWER DEPENDS ON THE MEANING GIVEN IN THE QUESTION. Read the gloss before choosing.
  • उपसर्ग comes before, प्रत्यय comes after. In अनुशासन, अनु is the उपसर्ग; in पढ़ाई, आई is the प्रत्यय. A question giving प्रति + दिन is asking about an उपसर्ग even though प्रतिदिन is also an अव्ययीभाव समास — both answers are right about different things, so read which is asked.

Parts of Speech, Tense and Voice

The eight शब्द-भेद are संज्ञा, सर्वनाम, विशेषण, क्रिया, क्रिया-विशेषण, संबंधबोधक, समुच्चयबोधक and विस्मयादिबोधक. The paper rarely asks for a definition; it underlines a word in a sentence and asks what it is, and the answer is decided by the work the word is doing in that sentence, not by the word itself. सुंदर is a विशेषण in सुंदर फूल and a संज्ञा in सुंदरता; अच्छा is a विशेषण in अच्छा लड़का and a क्रिया-विशेषण in वह अच्छा गाता है, because there it tells you how he sings.

🧠 How to tell a विशेषण from a क्रिया-विशेषण in one step
Ask what the word is describing. If it describes a संज्ञा or a सर्वनाम it is a विशेषण; if it describes a क्रिया, a विशेषण or another क्रिया-विशेषण it is a क्रिया-विशेषण. धीरे in धीरे चलो describes चलना, so it is a क्रिया-विशेषण. Nothing else needs to be remembered.
  • काल, three with three sub-kinds each. वर्तमान — सामान्य (वह पढ़ता है), अपूर्ण (वह पढ़ रहा है), संदिग्ध (वह पढ़ता होगा). भूत — सामान्य, आसन्न, पूर्ण, अपूर्ण, संदिग्ध, हेतुहेतुमद्. भविष्य — सामान्य, संभाव्य, हेतुहेतुमद्.
  • वाच्य, three. कर्तृवाच्य — the कर्ता is prominent (राम पत्र लिखता है). कर्मवाच्य — the कर्म is prominent and the कर्ता takes से/के द्वारा (राम से पत्र लिखा जाता है). भाववाच्य — neither is prominent, the verb is always intransitive and third-person singular (मुझसे चला नहीं जाता).
  • भाववाच्य is the one candidates miss, because it looks like कर्मवाच्य. The test is the verb: कर्मवाच्य needs a सकर्मक क्रिया and भाववाच्य an अकर्मक one. मुझसे उठा नहीं जाता has no कर्म at all, so it cannot be कर्मवाच्य.

Idioms, Punctuation and the Unseen Passage

A मुहावरा is a phrase whose meaning is not the sum of its words and which needs a sentence to sit in; a लोकोक्ति is a complete saying that stands alone. आँखों का तारा is a मुहावरा — you have to say whose. अब पछताए क्या होत जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत is a लोकोक्ति — it is already a sentence. Questions ask for the meaning, and the trap is always the literal reading: नाक कटना is to lose one's honour, not to injure a nose.

  • Ten idioms worth knowing cold, because they recur: आँखों का तारा (very dear), अंगारों पर लोटना (to be intensely restless), नाक कटना (to lose honour), टस से मस न होना (not to budge), आँख का अंधा नाम नयनसुख (a name at odds with the reality), घी के दिये जलाना (to celebrate), दाल में कुछ काला होना (something is suspect), हाथ को हाथ न सूझना (pitch darkness), लोहे के चने चबाना (to face something extremely hard), थाली का बैंगन (one with no fixed principles).
  • विराम चिह्न. पूर्ण विराम । · अल्प विराम , · अर्ध विराम ; · प्रश्नवाचक ? · विस्मयादिबोधक ! · योजक - · उद्धरण " " · कोष्ठक ( ) · निर्देशक —. Hindi ends a sentence with । and not with a full stop, and a question asking which chihn closes a Hindi sentence is asking exactly that.
🧠 The unseen passage, in the right order
Read the questions first, then the passage once. Four of the five will be answerable from a single located sentence, and the fifth is usually "the most suitable title" or "the central idea" — for which the answer is the idea the whole passage returns to, not the most striking sentence in it. Never bring in what you know from outside: the passage is the only evidence, and an option that is true in the world but absent from the passage is a distractor.

Key takeaways

  • Sandhi joins two sounds where words meet; samas joins two words into one. In sandhi the answer is a pair of sounds, in samas a pair of words with a relation between them.
  • कर्मधारय and बहुव्रीहि can share a form and differ in meaning — नीलकंठ is कर्मधारय for "a blue throat" and बहुव्रीहि for Shiva. The answer follows the meaning the question gives.
  • A part of speech is decided by the work a word does in its sentence, not by the word. कर्मवाच्य needs a transitive verb and भाववाच्य an intransitive one, which is how the two are told apart.
  • A मुहावरा needs a sentence to sit in; a लोकोक्ति is already one. In an unseen passage read the questions first, and treat the passage as the only evidence — an option true in the world but absent from the text is a distractor.

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.

  1. 'विद्यालय' is formed by which sandhi?

    1. गुण संधि
    2. दीर्घ संधि
    3. यण संधि
    4. वृद्धि संधि
    Show answer

    Answer: B — दीर्घ संधि

    विद्यालय splits as विद्या + आलय, so आ meets आ — two similar vowels joining into their long form, which is दीर्घ संधि. गुण संधि is the tempting alternative and it needs अ or आ to meet a DISSIMILAR vowel: नर + इन्द्र = नरेन्द्र. यण संधि turns इ, उ or ऋ into य्, व् or र् before a dissimilar vowel, as in अति + अधिक = अत्यधिक, and there is no such change here. वृद्धि संधि needs अ or आ to meet ए, ऐ, ओ or औ. The test in every one of these is to split the word first and then look at which two vowels actually met.

  2. In the sense of 'Shiva, one whose throat is blue', 'नीलकंठ' is which samas?

    1. कर्मधारय समास
    2. द्विगु समास
    3. बहुव्रीहि समास
    4. द्वंद्व समास
    Show answer

    Answer: C — बहुव्रीहि समास

    When neither word is the head and the compound names a THIRD thing not stated in either — here Shiva, who is neither "blue" nor "throat" — the samas is बहुव्रीहि. कर्मधारय is the trap and it is the same word in a different sense: read as "a blue throat", नीलकंठ has नीला describing कंठ and is कर्मधारय. The form is identical, so the meaning printed in the question is what decides, and this question prints the Shiva reading. द्विगु needs a number as the first word, as in त्रिलोक, and द्वंद्व needs both words to be equal with "and" hidden between them, as in माता-पिता.

  3. Identify the part of speech of the underlined word: 'वह धीरे चलता है।'

    1. विशेषण
    2. संज्ञा
    3. क्रिया-विशेषण
    4. संबंधबोधक
    Show answer

    Answer: C — क्रिया-विशेषण

    धीरे tells you HOW he walks, so it is describing the क्रिया चलना, and a word that describes a verb is a क्रिया-विशेषण. विशेषण is the option most often chosen, and the one-step test separates them: a विशेषण describes a संज्ञा or a सर्वनाम, so धीरे would have to be describing वह, which it is not. संज्ञा names a person, place or thing and धीरे names nothing. संबंधबोधक shows a relation between a noun and something else, like के ऊपर or के बाद, and there is no such relation here. The lesson generalises: the same word can be a विशेषण in one sentence and a क्रिया-विशेषण in another, so the work it does is what is being asked.

  4. Which वाच्य is 'मुझसे अब चला नहीं जाता।' in?

    1. कर्तृवाच्य
    2. कर्मवाच्य
    3. भाववाच्य
    4. इनमें से दो एक साथ
    Show answer

    Answer: C — भाववाच्य

    चलना is an अकर्मक क्रिया — there is no कर्म in the sentence at all — and the कर्ता has become मुझसे, so neither the doer nor an object is prominent and only the भाव of the action remains. That is भाववाच्य, and the third-person singular verb confirms it. कर्मवाच्य is the near-miss and it is the one most often chosen because the sentence has the same से shape; the difference is that कर्मवाच्य requires a सकर्मक क्रिया and an object to be prominent, as in मुझसे पत्र लिखा गया. कर्तृवाच्य would need the कर्ता in the direct case, मैं चलता हूँ. And two वाच्य cannot hold at once, which is why that option can be discarded without any analysis.

  5. What does the idiom 'लोहे के चने चबाना' mean?

    1. To do something extremely difficult
    2. To eat very hard food
    3. To work in an iron factory
    4. To be very strong
    Show answer

    Answer: A — To do something extremely difficult

    The idiom means to take on a task so hard that it is like chewing gram made of iron — impossible to the point of pain. Its meaning is not the sum of its words, which is what makes it a मुहावरा rather than a plain phrase. The literal reading, eating very hard food, is the trap in every idiom question and it is always among the options for exactly that reason. Working in an iron factory turns the metaphor into an occupation, and being very strong takes the iron as a property of the person rather than of the task. In an idiom the words are a picture and the answer is what the picture stands for.

  6. In 'अत्यधिक', which upsarg and which sandhi are present?

    1. उपसर्ग अधि, यण संधि
    2. उपसर्ग अति, गुण संधि
    3. उपसर्ग अति, यण संधि
    4. उपसर्ग अत्, दीर्घ संधि
    Show answer

    Answer: C — उपसर्ग अति, यण संधि

    अत्यधिक splits as अति + अधिक. अति is the उपसर्ग, and इ meeting the dissimilar vowel अ becomes य्, which is यण संधि. The first option keeps the right sandhi and takes अधि as the prefix, which reverses the two words — अधि is a real उपसर्ग but it is not the one at the front here. The second keeps the right prefix and calls the change गुण, which would need अ or आ to meet इ and would give ए, not य्. And अत् is not an उपसर्ग at all; it is what is left after the sandhi has already been applied, which is the error of reading the joined form instead of splitting it.

  7. Which of these is a लोकोक्ति rather than a मुहावरा?

    1. आँखों का तारा
    2. नाक कटना
    3. अब पछताए क्या होत जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत
    4. दाल में कुछ काला होना
    Show answer

    Answer: C — अब पछताए क्या होत जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत

    A लोकोक्ति is a complete saying that stands on its own and carries a general truth, and "अब पछताए क्या होत जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत" is already a full sentence needing nothing added. The other three are मुहावरे: each is a phrase that has to be fitted into a sentence and inflected to do its work — you must say WHOSE आँखों का तारा, and नाक कटना needs a subject and a tense. That structural test is more reliable than length: some मुहावरे are long and some लोकोक्तियाँ short, but a मुहावरा can never be used without a sentence around it.

  8. Read the passage and answer the question that follows:

    भाषा केवल विचार प्रकट करने का साधन नहीं है। जिस भाषा में बच्चा सोचता है, उसी में वह अपने अनुभव को व्यवस्थित भी करता है। जब विद्यालय उसकी घरेलू बोली को अशुद्ध कहकर छोड़ देता है, तो वह केवल कुछ शब्द नहीं छीनता — वह उस औज़ार को छीन लेता है जिससे बच्चा अब तक सोचता आया है। मानक भाषा तक पहुँचने का मार्ग बोली से होकर जाता है, उसके विरुद्ध नहीं।

    What is the central idea of the passage?

    1. Standard Hindi should be taught before any dialect is allowed in class
    2. The home dialect is the tool a child thinks with, and the road to the standard language runs through it
    3. Language is only a means of expressing thought
    4. Schools should teach in the dialect and leave the standard language aside
    Show answer

    Answer: B — The home dialect is the tool a child thinks with, and the road to the standard language runs through it

    The passage returns twice to the same point: the dialect is not decoration but the instrument the child organises experience with, and the standard language is reached THROUGH it. That is the central idea, and the last sentence states it outright. The third option is the view the passage opens by rejecting — its first line says language is not ONLY a means of expressing thought — and it is the commonest wrong choice because the words are lifted straight from the text. The first option reverses the order the passage argues for. The fourth overshoots: the passage wants the dialect used as a road to the standard language, not the standard language abandoned. The discipline this question is teaching is that the answer must be what the passage says, not what a sentence in it resembles.