Official/Administrative Terminology and Correspondence (कार्यालयी पत्राचार एवं पारिभाषिक शब्दावली)
The कार्यालयी हिंदी domain tests two linked skills: knowing the approved administrative term and producing a correctly formatted official letter. Questions ask you to match terms (अधिसूचना, परिपत्र, अनुस्मारक, प्रतिवेदन, निविदा, संलग्नक), to convert English officialese into Hindi, or to complete or draft an application. Format errors are as costly as vocabulary errors.
Core terminology
- अधिसूचना - notification; परिपत्र - circular; कार्यालय ज्ञापन - office memorandum; अनुस्मारक - reminder; प्रतिवेदन - report; निविदा - tender; अग्रिम - advance; संलग्नक - enclosure; क्रमांक - reference number.
- प्रेषक/प्राप्तकर्ता - sender/recipient; विषय - subject; सन्दर्भ - reference; भवदीय - yours faithfully (formal close).
- Standard phrases: संलग्न प्रेषित है (please find enclosed); आवश्यक कार्यवाही हेतु अग्रेषित (forwarded for necessary action); कृपया अवलोकनार्थ प्रस्तुत है (submitted for kind perusal).
Format sequence
- सेवा में, followed by the officer's designation.
- विषय line, then सन्दर्भ line if a previous letter exists.
- महोदय/महोदया as salutation.
- Body: purpose, facts, request - in that order.
- भवदीय, then name, designation, and date.
Worked example
“I request you to grant me two days' casual leave.” A literal version (मैं आपसे प्रार्थना करता हूँ कि मुझे दो दिन का आकस्मिक अवकाश दें) is grammatical but not office style. Official Hindi prefers an impersonal opening: “सविनय निवेदन है कि मुझे दो दिन का आकस्मिक अवकाश स्वीकृत करने की कृपा करें।” Reasoning: मैं आपसे is dropped because the salutation already addresses the officer; grant becomes स्वीकृत करने की कृपा करें, the standard polite causative; and का is correct because अवकाश is masculine singular.
Traps
- Mixing personal-letter formulas with official ones: प्रिय महोदय or आपका with भवदीय are errors.
- Omitting the विषय line, which loses format marks even when the body is correct.
- Literal translation of English officialese instead of the fixed Hindi equivalent.
- Writing the request before stating the facts, which reverses the expected order.
- Using conversational vocabulary (छुट्टी for formal अवकाश is acceptable in speech, less so in a formal application).
- Forgetting the date or designation under the signature.