Vocabulary, मुहावरे, लोकोक्तियाँ and Applied Usage
This domain tests word knowledge in use: पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी, तत्सम-तद्भव, मुहावरे and लोकोक्तियाँ. The exam rarely asks for a definition - it asks you to supply the word or to use the मुहावरा correctly inside a sentence, so context decides the mark.
Rules that hold
- मुहावरा vs लोकोक्ति: a मुहावरा is a phrase that must sit inside a sentence and takes that sentence's tense and gender; a लोकोक्ति is a complete saying that stands alone.
- A मुहावरा is never translated literally and never used for a meaning it does not carry.
- विलोम must be a genuine opposite, not an added negative prefix: उदय → अस्त, not अनुदय.
- पर्यायवाची should fit the sentence's register and gender.
- तत्सम words retain Sanskrit form (अग्नि), तद्भव are evolved forms (आग).
Worked example
Use 'आँख का तारा' in a sentence and state its meaning. Model: 'अपने माता-पिता के लिए वह आँख का तारा है।' Meaning: बहुत प्यारा। Reasoning: the phrase is a मुहावरा because it needs the frame 'के लिए ... है' to complete its sense. The literal reading (a star in the eye) is meaningless, and the idiom is used for a beloved person, not for an object of little value. The verb 'है' agrees with 'वह', which shows the phrase has not broken the sentence's grammar.
Traps that cost marks
- Giving the literal meaning of a मुहावरा instead of its idiomatic sense.
- Making a विलोम by simply prefixing अ or अन.
- Confusing look-alike pairs such as शब्द/स्वर or कवि/कविता.
- Using a मुहावरा in the wrong tense or with the wrong gender of subject.
- Treating a लोकोक्ति as a phrase and embedding it mid-sentence where it no longer reads as a saying.