UP Police Constable · Bite-size lessons

Upsarg & Pratyay (उपसर्ग-प्रत्यय)

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

Time worked out from the lesson's 371 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Upsarg (उपसर्ग) and Pratyay (प्रत्यय) are word-building tools in Hindi that transform root words by adding prefixes and suffixes. Upsarg is attached before the root word (पूर्व में), while Pratyay is attached after the root word (बाद में). These elements change or refine the meaning of the original word, making vocabulary expansion systematic and predictable.

Key ideas

• Upsarg (उपसर्ग) is a prefix added to the beginning of a root word that alters or enhances its meaning. Upsargs do not have independent meaning but modify the root word contextually. Example: हार (defeat) becomes प्रहार (attack) when "प्र" is added.
• Pratyay (प्रत्यय) is a suffix added to the end of a root word, creating new nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Unlike upsargs, pratyays often denote gender, case, tense or abstract qualities. Example: मीठा (sweet) becomes मिठाई (sweetness/sweet dish) when "आई" is added.
• Tatsam vs Tadbhav: Most Hindi upsargs originate from Sanskrit (tatsam) like अ, प्र, वि, सम्, अधि, while some are Tadbhav (Hindi-evolved) like अन, कु. Understanding the Sanskrit origin helps predict meanings.
• Pratyay types: Two major categories — Krit Pratyay (कृत प्रत्यय) attached to verb roots (लिख + आवट = लिखावट), and Taddhit Pratyay (तद्धित प्रत्यय) attached to nouns/adjectives (मानव + ता = मानवता).
• Multiple affixes: A single word can contain multiple upsargs or pratyays. Example: अप्रत्याशित = अ (negation) + प्रति (towards) + आशित (hoped), meaning "unexpected."

Quick reference

• Upsarg = prefix (पहले), Pratyay = suffix (बाद में); both modify root word meaning.
• Negation upsargs: अ, अन्, नि/निर्, दुर् (असंभव, अनबन, निडर, दुर्बल).
• Positive/Intensity upsargs: प्र, सु, अति, सम् (प्रचार, सुलभ, अतिरिक्त, संगीत).
• Common pratyays for abstract nouns: आई, पन, ता, त्व (भलाई, बचपन, सुंदरता, मनुष्यत्व).
• Krit pratyay = verb root + suffix (लिख + आवट = लिखावट); Taddhit pratyay = noun/adjective + suffix (सुंदर + ता = सुंदरता).

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.

Read the full noteFlashcards for this topic