Vakya Shuddhi (वाक्य शुद्धि) — Sentence Correction

Overview

Vakya Shuddhi (sentence correction) tests your ability to identify and correct grammatical errors in Hindi sentences. In SSC GD examinations, you will encounter sentences with errors in gender agreement, number agreement, case markers, verb forms, word order, or improper use of particles. Your task is either to spot the error or choose the correctly reconstructed sentence from given options.

This topic directly evaluates your command over Hindi grammar fundamentals — लिंग (gender), वचन (number), कारक (case), काल (tense), and proper sentence structure. Questions typically present four sentence variations, with only one being grammatically correct. Mastering Vakya Shuddhi strengthens your overall Hindi comprehension and improves accuracy across other Hindi sections like idioms, synonyms, and comprehension passages.

Students must recognise that Hindi sentence correction isn't about fancy vocabulary — it's about grammatical precision. A single wrong postposition (के instead of को) or gender mismatch (गया instead of गयी) makes a sentence incorrect. Regular practice with common error patterns builds the instinct to spot mistakes instantly during the exam.

Key Concepts

• **Ling Shuddhi (लिंग शुद्धि)** — Gender agreement between noun, adjective and verb must match. Masculine nouns take masculine forms; feminine nouns take feminine forms.
• **Vachan Shuddhi (वचन शुद्धि)** — Singular and plural agreement must be consistent. Verbs, adjectives and pronouns must agree with the number of the subject.
• **Karak Shuddhi (कारक शुद्धि)** — Correct case markers (ने, को, से, में, पर, का, की, के) must be used according to grammatical function and the verb employed.
• **Kriya Shuddhi (क्रिया शुद्धि)** — Verb forms must match the subject in gender, number and person. Tense consistency within a sentence is essential.
• **Visheshan Shuddhi (विशेषण शुद्धि)** — Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in gender and number. Position of adjectives should follow Hindi conventions.
• **Sarvanam Shuddhi (सर्वनाम शुद्धि)** — Pronouns must correctly reflect the gender, number and case of the nouns they replace.
• **Shabd Chayan (शब्द चयन)** — Using the right word for context; avoiding confusion between similar-sounding or similar-meaning words (like और/अथवा, तथा/एवं).
• **Vakya Rachna (वाक्य रचना)** — Proper word order in Hindi typically follows subject-object-verb pattern, though flexibility exists; avoid awkward or ambiguous constructions.

Formulas / Key Facts

**Common Error Patterns:**

1. **Gender mismatch** — लड़की आया (wrong) → लड़की आयी (correct). Feminine subject needs feminine verb form. 2. **Number mismatch** — लड़के खेलता है (wrong) → लड़के खेलते हैं (correct). Plural subject needs plural verb. 3. **Wrong postposition** — मैं राम से मिला (meeting) vs मैं राम को मिला (found/met). से and को change meaning with certain verbs. 4. **Incorrect ने usage** — Past tense transitive verbs take ने with the subject: राम खाना खाया (wrong) → राम ने खाना खाया (correct). 5. **Adjective-noun mismatch** — सुंदर लड़की (correct) vs सुंदर लड़का (correct), but सुंदर लड़कियाँ (correct) — adjectives inflect. 6. **Redundant words** — वापस लौटना contains redundancy (both mean return); use वापस आना or लौटना alone. 7. **Wrong pronoun case** — मुझे को (wrong) → मुझे or मुझको (correct). Don't double the case marker. 8. **Tense inconsistency** — वह आया और जाता है mixes past and present incorrectly in context.

Worked Examples

**Example 1: Gender Agreement Error**

**Incorrect:** सीता बाजार गया। **Error:** 'सीता' is feminine, but 'गया' is masculine verb form. **Correct:** सीता बाजार गयी। **Explanation:** Feminine subject सीता requires the feminine past form गयी instead of masculine गया.

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**Example 2: Number Agreement Error**

**Incorrect:** बच्चे खेल रहा है। **Error:** 'बच्चे' is plural, but 'रहा है' is singular verb form. **Correct:** बच्चे खेल रहे हैं। **Explanation:** Plural subject बच्चे needs plural progressive form रहे हैं, not singular रहा है.

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**Example 3: Case Marker Error (ने usage)**

**Incorrect:** राम रोटी खायी। **Error:** Transitive verb खाना in past tense requires ने after subject. Also gender—रोटी is feminine, verb should be खायी but subject must take ने. **Correct:** राम ने रोटी खायी। **Explanation:** With transitive past tense, the subject takes ने, and the verb agrees with the object रोटी (feminine), hence खायी.

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**Example 4: Wrong Postposition**

**Incorrect:** मैं तुम्हारे को पुस्तक दी। **Error:** 'को' is already a postposition; adding 'के' before it creates error. Also 'दी' should be 'दूँगा' for future or past context correction. **Correct:** मैं तुम्हें पुस्तक दूँगा। OR मैंने तुम्हें पुस्तक दी। **Explanation:** Use तुम्हें (oblique + postposition merged) not तुम्हारे को. Tense and gender must match context.

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**Example 5: Redundancy**

**Incorrect:** वह वापस लौट आया। **Error:** 'वापस' and 'लौट' both mean return; using both is redundant. **Correct:** वह वापस आया। OR वह लौट आया। **Explanation:** Choose one term to avoid redundancy while keeping meaning clear.

Common Mistakes

1. **Ignoring gender inflection in adjectives** — Students write सुंदर लड़कियाँ correctly but fail when adjective changes: अच्छा लड़का but अच्छी लड़की. Always check if the adjective ending matches the noun's gender.

2. **Forgetting ने in past tense transitive constructions** — Many write मैं खाना खाया instead of मैंने खाना खाया. Remember: past tense + transitive verb = subject takes ने, and verb agrees with object, not subject.

3. **Mixing singular and plural verb forms** — Writing लड़का खेलते हैं (singular noun, plural verb). Always verify subject number matches verb number exactly.

4. **Overusing possessive के/की/के with postpositions** — Incorrect: राम के को instead of राम को. Postpositions don't combine with possessive forms unless grammatically warranted (e.g., राम के लिए is correct because लिए is a compound postposition).

5. **Confusing similar postpositions** — Using से when को is needed or vice versa. Example: मैं उससे बात करता हूँ (correct — talking with) vs मैं उसको बात करता हूँ (incorrect for this context). Learn which verbs pair with which postpositions.

Quick Reference

• **Gender match check:** Does verb/adjective ending match noun gender (आ/ई, या/यी)?
• **Number match check:** Singular subject → singular verb; plural subject → plural verb.
• **Past transitive formula:** Subject + ने + Object + Verb agrees with object's gender/number.
• **Redundancy red flag:** वापस लौटना, फिर से दोबारा, साथ-साथ मिलकर — avoidDoubling similar-meaning words.
• **Postposition pairs:** को (to/for direct object), से (from/with/by), में (in), पर (on), के लिए (for purpose).
• **Adjective-noun agreement:** Adjectives change form — अच्छा (m.sg), अच्छी (f.sg/f.pl), अच्छे (m.pl/oblique).

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**Practice Strategy:** Read each sentence slowly, checking subject-verb agreement first, then gender-number consistency, then postposition correctness. Eliminate obviously wrong options in MCQs before selecting the correct sentence. Regular reading of correct Hindi prose (newspapers, NCERT Hindi books) builds intuition for proper sentence structure.