UP Police Constable · Bite-size lessons

Samas (समास)

About 6 min · General Hindi (सामान्य हिंदी) · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 339 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Samas (समास) is the process of combining two or more words to form a single, concise compound word without losing the essential meaning. In Hindi grammar, samas is tested in UP Police Constable exams through multiple-choice questions that ask you to identify the type of compound, break down a compound word into its components (विग्रह), or form a compound from a given phrase.

Key ideas

• Samas means joining or compounding. It shortens a phrase (usually two words) into one word, making the language more concise and elegant.
• The original phrase is called विग्रह (vigraha). The compound word formed is called समस्त पद (samast pad).
• There are six primary types: Avyayibhav, Tatpurush, Karmadhaaray, Dvigu, Dvandva and Bahuvrihi. Each has a different internal relationship between components.
• Tatpurush is the largest category, subdivided based on the karak (case relation) between the two words—e.g. karm tatpurush, karan tatpurush, etc.
• In Dvandva, both words have equal importance. In Bahuvrihi, the compound describes a third entity, not directly named in the compound itself.

Watch out for

• Confusing Karmadhaaray with Tatpurush: Karmadhaaray is a special case of tatpurush where there is no case relation, only a descriptive or metaphorical link. Wrong: calling "महापुरुष" plain tatpurush. Correct: it's karmadhaaray (महान है जो पुरुष).
• Misidentifying Bahuvrihi as Tatpurush: Students often overlook the third-party reference. Wrong: treating "चक्रपाणि" (Vishnu) as simple tatpurush. Correct: बहुव्रीहि, because it refers to Vishnu (चक्र है पाणि में जिसके).
• Ignoring the role of numerals in Dvigu: Any compound starting with a number denoting a collection is dvigu. Wrong: calling "पंचवटी" tatpurush. Correct: द्विगु (पाँच वटों का समूह).

Quick reference

• अव्ययीभाव: अव्यय + पद → यथाशक्ति, आजन्म, प्रतिदिन
• तत्पुरुष: उत्तरपद प्रधान → राजपुरुष, गगनचुंबी, देशभक्ति
• कर्मधारय: विशेषण-विशेष्य → नीलकंठ, महापुरुष, चंद्रमुख
• द्विगु: संख्या + पद (समूहवाची) → त्रिलोक, चौराहा, सप्तऋषि
• द्वन्द्व: दोनों पद प्रधान (और से जुड़े) → माता-पिता, राम-लक्ष्मण, दिन-रात

Check yourself: 3 questions

This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.

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