Language/Hindi/Grammar/Descriptive-Adjectives
As a Hindi language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I believe that adjectives are an important part of learning any language. In Hindi, adjectives are used to describe the characteristics of a noun, such as color, size, shape, and more. In this lesson, we will learn how to use descriptive adjectives in Hindi.
Introduction
Adjectives are words that modify or describe nouns by giving more information about their characteristics. In Hindi, adjectives are placed after the noun they describe. For example, if we want to describe a red apple in Hindi, we would say "लाल सेब" (lal seb), where "lal" is the adjective for red and "seb" is the noun for apple.
It is important to note that the gender and number of the noun play a significant role in the form of the adjective. In Hindi, nouns are either masculine or feminine, and can be singular or plural. Adjectives must agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe.
Let us now look at some common adjectives in Hindi to describe characteristics such as color, size, shape, and more.
Descriptive Adjectives
In Hindi, adjectives come after the noun they describe, and must agree in gender and number. Here are some examples:
| Hindi | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| लाल | lal | red |
| पीला | peela | yellow |
| हरा | hara | green |
| नीला | neela | blue |
| सफ़ेद | safed | white |
| काला | kala | black |
| छोटा | chhota | small |
| बड़ा | bada | big |
| गोल | gol | round |
| लंबा | lamba | long |
| चौड़ा | chhoda | wide |
Notice that these adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Let's take the adjective "छोटा" (chhota), which means small, as an example. If we want to describe a small house in Hindi, we would say "छोटा घर" (chhota ghar), where "chhota" is the adjective for small, and "ghar" is the noun for house. If we want to describe a small table in Hindi, we would say "छोटी मेज़" (chhoti mej), where "chhoti" is the feminine form of the adjective for small, and "mej" is the feminine noun for table.
Let us now look at some examples of descriptive adjectives in sentences:
- वह लाल घड़ी लेकर आया। (vah lal ghadi lekar aaya) - He brought a red watch.
- मैंने पपीते से पीला जूस बनाया। (maine papite se peela juice banaya) - I made yellow juice from papaya.
- सदाबहार पौधा हरा है। (sada-bahar paudha hara hai) - The evergreen plant is green.
- मोहन नीली शर्ट पहनता है। (mohan neeli shirt pahnta hai) - Mohan wears a blue shirt.
- उसने सफ़ेद सूट पहना था। (usne safed suit pehna tha) - He wore a white suit.
- यह काला कुत्ता बड़ा है। (yah kala kutta bada hai) - This black dog is big.
- सुशील का लम्बा बाल है। (sushil ka lamba baal hai) - Sushil has long hair.
- उसका चौड़ा चेहरा है। (uska chhoda chehra hai) - He has a wide face.
Notice how each adjective agrees with the noun it describes in gender and number. In the next section, we will learn about adverbs of manner in Hindi.
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs are words that describe how an action is performed. Adverbs of manner in Hindi are used to modify a verb in a sentence, and are usually placed after the verb. Here are some examples:
| Hindi | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| जल्दी | jaldi | quickly |
| धीरे | dheere | slowly |
| सावधानी | savdhani | carefully |
| खुशी | khushi | happily |
| दुखी | dukhi | sadly |
| गुस्से से | gusse se | angrily |
Let us see some examples of adverbs of manner in sentences:
- उसने बुक को जल्दी से पढ़ दिया। (usne book ko jaldi se padh diya) - He quickly read the book.
- मैंने चाय धीरे से पी ली। (maine chai dheere se pi li) - I drank tea slowly.
- वह सावधानी से गाड़ी चला रहा था। (vah savdhani se gaadi chala raha tha) - He was driving the car carefully.
- बच्चों ने खुशी से नाचा। (bachchon ne khushi se naacha) - The children danced happily.
- उसे दुखी होते हुए देखना सहन नहीं होता। (use dukhi hote hue dekhna sahan nahin hota) - It is unbearable to see him sad.
- वह गुस्से से बोल रहा था। (vah gusse se bol raha tha) - He was speaking angrily.
Adverbs of manner, like adjectives, can also change form according to the gender and number of the subject. For example, if we want to say "She dances happily" in Hindi, we would say "वह खुशी से नाचती है" (vah khushi se naachti hai), where "khushi se" is the adverb of manner for happily in feminine form, and "naachti" is the feminine form of the verb to dance.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we learned about adjectives and adverbs of manner in Hindi. Adjectives are used to describe the characteristics of a noun, and must agree in gender and number. Adverbs of manner are used to modify verbs in a sentence, and usually come after the verb. By learning how to use descriptive adjectives and adverbs of manner, you can add more detail to your Hindi sentences and make them more descriptive.
As always, practice makes perfect! Try using some of the adjectives and adverbs we learned today in your Hindi conversations, and see how much more descriptive and interesting your sentences become.
Videos
Describing words in Hindi....for kids - YouTube