Upsarg aur Pratyay Notes & Questions | Class 7 Hindi | Drishti OS

What you'll learn

The three tenses in Hindi and how to form them
Types of Hindi sentences and their structure
Samas (compound word formation) and its six types
Punctuation marks used in Hindi writing

Key concepts

1. काल — Kaal (Tenses)

Kaal refers to the time at which an action takes place. Hindi has three main tenses, each with sub-types.

Tense	Hindi Name	Time Reference	Signal words
Past	भूतकाल (Bhootkaal)	Action already completed	था, थी, थे, चुका, चुकी
Present	वर्तमान काल (Vartaman Kaal)	Action happening now	है, हैं, हूँ, रहा है
Future	भविष्य काल (Bhavishy Kaal)	Action yet to happen	गा, गी, गे, होगा

Bhootkaal — Past Tense (3 key sub-types):

Sub-type	Example	Translation
Samanay Bhoot (Simple Past)	राम आया।	Ram came.
Aasann Bhoot (Recent Past)	राम अभी आया है।	Ram has just come.
Poornn Bhoot (Perfect Past)	राम आ चुका था।	Ram had already come.

Vartaman Kaal — Present Tense (3 key sub-types):

Sub-type	Example	Translation
Samanay Vartaman (Simple Present)	राम जाता है।	Ram goes.
Tatkalik Vartaman (Continuous Present)	राम जा रहा है।	Ram is going.
Poornn Vartaman (Perfect Present)	राम जा चुका है।	Ram has gone.

Bhavishy Kaal — Future Tense:

राम कल जाएगा। — Ram will go tomorrow.
वे खेलेंगे। — They will play.
मैं पढूँगा। — I will study.

Key pattern: Future tense verb endings: -गा (masculine singular), -गी (feminine singular), -गे (plural).

2. वाक्य — Vaakya (Sentences)

A Vaakya is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. Every Hindi sentence has two parts: Uddeshy (Subject) and Vidhey (Predicate).

Types of sentences by meaning:

Type	Hindi Name	Definition	Example
Statement	विधानवाचक (Vidhanvaachak)	Expresses a fact	राम स्कूल जाता है।
Negative	निषेधवाचक (Nishedhvaachak)	Denies something	राम स्कूल नहीं जाता।
Question	प्रश्नवाचक (Prashnvaachak)	Asks a question	क्या राम स्कूल जाता है?
Command	आज्ञावाचक (Aagyavaachak)	Gives an order	स्कूल जाओ।
Exclamatory	विस्मयवाचक (Vismayvaachak)	Expresses strong emotion	अरे! कितना सुंदर फूल है!
Wish	इच्छावाचक (Ichchhavaachak)	Expresses a wish/prayer	भगवान तुम्हें सुखी रखे।

Sentence structure — Subject + Object + Verb (SOV):

Hindi follows SOV order, unlike English (SVO).

English (SVO)	Hindi (SOV)
Ram (S) eats (V) food (O).	राम (S) खाना (O) खाता है (V).
Sita (S) reads (V) a book (O).	सीता (S) किताब (O) पढ़ती है (V).

3. समास — Samas (Compound Words)

Samas is the process of joining two or more words to form a single compound word. The original words are called Samaspad and the combined word is Samastad.

Hindi has 6 types of Samas:

#	Type	Hindi Name	Key feature	Example	Meaning
1	Avyaybhav	अव्ययीभाव	First word is an indeclinable (avyay)	यथाशक्ति	According to power
2	Tatpurush	तत्पुरुष	Second word is the main word; first modifies it	राजमहल	King's palace
3	Karmadharaya	कर्मधारय	Both words are equal; adjective + noun	नीलकमल	Blue lotus
4	Dvigu	द्विगु	First word is a number	त्रिभुज	Triangle (three sides)
5	Dvandva	द्वंद्व	Both words equally important; joined by 'and'	माता-पिता	Mother and father
6	Bahuvrihi	बहुव्रीहि	Neither word is the main meaning; describes something else	नीलकंठ	Blue-throated one (Shiva)

More examples:

Samas Type	Compound Word	Break-up	Meaning
Dvandva	दिन-रात	दिन + रात	Day and night
Tatpurush	देशभक्त	देश + भक्त	Devotee of the nation
Dvigu	सप्ताह	सप्त + अह	Seven days (a week)
Karmadharaya	महापुरुष	महा + पुरुष	Great man

4. विराम चिह्न — Viram Chihn (Punctuation)

Viram Chihn are marks used in writing to make the meaning clear and help the reader understand pauses and tone.

Punctuation Mark	Hindi Name	Symbol	Use	Example
Full stop	पूर्ण विराम	।	End of a statement	राम आया।
Comma	अल्प विराम	,	Short pause within a sentence	वह आया, खाया और चला गया।
Question mark	प्रश्नवाचक चिह्न	?	End of a question	तुम्हारा नाम क्या है?
Exclamation mark	विस्मयादिबोधक चिह्न	!	Emotion/surprise	वाह! क्या खूब!
Inverted commas	उद्धरण चिह्न	" "	Quoting speech	उसने कहा, "मैं आऊँगा।"
Colon	विवरण चिह्न	:	Introducing a list/explanation	फल: आम, केला, सेब।
Dash	योजक चिह्न	—	Connecting two related ideas	वह आया — और चला गया।

Important: Hindi uses । (called poorn viram) instead of a period (.) as the full stop. This is one of the most distinctive features of Hindi punctuation.

Quick check

Identify the tense of this sentence: "वह कल दिल्ली जाएगा।" (He will go to Delhi tomorrow.) — What type of future tense is it?
Rewrite the sentence "राम खेलता है" in the past tense (Samanay Bhoot) and the future tense.
What type of Vaakya (sentence) is: "अरे! बहुत अच्छा!" — Give the Hindi name for this sentence type.
Break down the Samas in "माता-पिता" and identify which type of Samas it is.
Which punctuation mark is used at the end of a Hindi sentence instead of a period (.)? Write its Hindi name and the symbol.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Hindi Vyakaran (Grammar).

Upsarg aur Pratyay