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Sangya & Sarvanam (संज्ञा-सर्वनाम)
About 6 min · General Hindi (सामान्य हिंदी) · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 385 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Sangya (संज्ञा/Noun) and Sarvanam (सर्वनाम/Pronoun) form the foundational building blocks of Hindi grammar. These topics appear in sentence correction, blank-filling, and classification questions.
Key ideas
- Sangya (Noun) is any word that names a person, place, thing, quality, state, or action. It answers "कौन?" (who?) or "क्या?" (what?). Example: राम, दिल्ली, पुस्तक, सुंदरता।
- Sarvanam (Pronoun) replaces a noun to avoid repetition and maintain sentence flow. It refers back to a previously mentioned noun (antecedent). Example: वह, मैं, कोई, जो।
- Sangya has five main types: Vyakti-vachak (व्यक्तिवाचक/Proper), Jativachak (जातिवाचक/Common), Bhav-vachak (भाववाचक/Abstract), Dravya-vachak (द्रव्यवाचक/Material), and Samuh-vachak (समूहवाचक/Collective).
- Sarvanam has six main types: Purush-vachak (पुरुषवाचक/Personal), Nishchay-vachak (निश्चयवाचक/Demonstrative), Anishchay-vachak (अनिश्चयवाचक/Indefinite), Sambandh-vachak (संबंधवाचक/Relative), Prashna-vachak (प्रश्नवाचक/Interrogative), and Nij-vachak (निजवाचक/Reflexive).
- Gender (ling), number (vachan), and case (karak) affect both sangya and sarvanam forms. Pronouns must agree with the noun they replace in gender and number (not case — a pronoun takes the case of its own role in its sentence).
Watch out for
- Wrong thinking: यह and वह are only demonstrative pronouns
- Correct approach: यह/वह can function both as Purush-vachak (personal — he, she, this one) AND Nishchay-vachak (demonstrative — this, that). Context determines usage. "यह मेरा घर है" (demonstrative); "यह आया" (personal).
- Wrong thinking: Writing "दो दूध" or "तीन सोना"
Quick reference
- Five Sangya types: Vyakti-vachak (proper), Jativachak (common), Bhav-vachak (abstract), Dravya-vachak (material), Samuh-vachak (collective)
- Six Sarvanam types: Purush-vachak (personal), Nishchay-vachak (demonstrative), Anishchay-vachak (indefinite), Sambandh-vachak (relative), Prashna-vachak (interrogative), Nij-vachak (reflexive)
- Purush-vachak three persons: Uttam (मैं, हम), Madhyam (तू, तुम, आप), Anya (वह, वे, यह, ये)
- Abstract noun suffixes: -ता, -पन, -आई, -आहट, -आवट convert adjectives/verbs to Bhav-vachak sangya
- Material nouns are uncountable — always use measurement units (गिलास दूध, किलो चावल)
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. निम्नलिखित में से कौन सा शब्द भाववाचक संज्ञा है? (Which of the following is an abstract noun?)
2. वाक्य में रिक्त स्थान के लिए उपयुक्त सर्वनाम चुनिए: 'राम ने कहा कि ____ कल दिल्ली जाएगा।' (Choose the appropriate pronoun for the blank: 'Ram said that ____ will go to Delhi tomorrow.')
3. निम्नलिखित में से किस वाक्य में निजवाचक सर्वनाम का प्रयोग हुआ है? (In which sentence is a reflexive pronoun used?)
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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