Maharashtra HSC Urdu (MSBSHSE) key terms

Urdu prose writing, especially the short narrative and reflective pieces in the prescribed prose section; the word literally means 'prose' and contrasts with poetry.

An Urdu poem written in continuous rhymed or unrhymed lines on a single theme, as opposed to the couplet-based ghazal; the prescribed poems belong to this form.

A poem of five to fifteen autonomous couplets sharing one metre, rhyme and refrain, in which each couplet carries its own thought while the whole keeps a unity of tone.

A single couplet of two lines that forms one complete unit of meaning; it is the building block of the ghazal and of most classical Urdu poetry.

Another name for a couplet, used especially in mathnawi and qasida contexts; literally 'house', it denotes the two-line unit of verse.

The opening couplet of a ghazal, in which both lines carry the rhyme and refrain; it sets the pattern that later couplets follow.

The closing couplet of a ghazal, in which the poet usually inserts his or her pen name (takhallus); it rounds off the poem.

The refrain of one or more words repeated after the rhyme letter at the end of both lines of the opening couplet and the second line of every later couplet.

The rhyming word or syllable that comes immediately before the radeef in a ghazal; all couplets must share the same qafiya pattern.

The pen name a poet adopts and weaves into the last couplet of a ghazal, often as a self-address; it identifies authorship within the verse itself.

The metre of an Urdu verse line, built from recurring patterns of short and long syllables; all couplets of a ghazal share one behr.

A metrical foot, the repeated unit from which a behr is constructed; identifying the rukn helps a candidate scan and recite a verse correctly.

The act of scanning a verse into its metrical feet to check whether it conforms to the intended behr; a standard exercise in poetry appreciation.

An alternative spelling of radeef, the repeated refrain word or phrase at the end of the line; candidates should recognise both spellings.

The appreciation or explanatory commentary on a verse or passage, covering meaning, imagery, diction and emotional effect; a common examination task.

Comprehension of a text's plain sense, the first stage before interpretation; in the paper it usually means explaining a passage in the candidate's own words.

Metaphor: applying a word to something it does not literally denote, on the strength of a shared quality, as when a brave man is called a lion.

Simile: an explicit comparison in which the shared point and often a comparison particle such as 'jaise' or 'ki tarah' are stated.

An indirect expression that conveys meaning through allusion rather than direct statement, often used for polite or ironic effect.

The theme, subject or argument of a literary piece; also the title of the Urdu essay, a major form in the composition section.

The art of Urdu composition, covering essay writing, letter writing and applied prose; a prescribed section testing organised original writing.

A letter; the examination commonly asks for a formal or personal letter in Urdu, requiring correct salutation, body and closing conventions.

An application, typically addressed to an authority to request leave, admission, a certificate or similar; a standard functional-writing task in the paper.

Grammar: the rules of Urdu morphology and syntax, including word formation, gender, number, case and sentence construction.

A noun or name word, denoting a person, place, thing or abstract idea; it may be proper, common, collective or verbal.

A verb, the word that expresses an action or state and agrees with its subject in person, number and gender in Urdu.

A particle or function word such as 'mein', 'par', 'se' or 'ko', which carries grammatical meaning but does not stand alone as a noun or verb.

An adjective, a word describing a noun; in Urdu it normally precedes the noun and may itself take gender and number endings.

A pronoun, a word standing in place of a noun, such as 'mein', 'tum', 'woh'; Urdu pronouns distinguish person, number, gender and politeness level.

The passive voice, where the grammatical subject receives the action; in Urdu it is usually formed with the past participle plus a form of 'jana'.

The habitual or continuous past construction built from the imperfect participle plus auxiliary 'tha', 'thi' or 'the', as in 'woh parhta tha'.

The Persian-derived linking construction in which a noun and a following modifier are joined by a short 'e' sound, as in 'bazm-e-adab'.

An idiom: a fixed phrase whose overall meaning cannot be worked out from its individual words, such as 'aankh ka tara' for a beloved person.

A proverb, a short traditional saying that expresses a general truth or practical wisdom, used to enrich style and argument in prose.

Translation, the rendering of a passage from Urdu into English or Marathi, or from those languages into Urdu, preserving sense and register.

The modern Urdu short story, typically a compact narrative with a single situation, few characters and a suggestive ending; a key prescribed prose form.

The long traditional Urdu romance narrative in ornate prose, with digressions, marvels and stock characters; the ancestor of the modern short story.

Satire and humour: writing that ridicules folly or evokes laughter, often through exaggeration, irony and wordplay; a recognised critical category.

A literary school or movement, such as the Delhi or Lucknow school of poetry, marked by shared style, diction and thematic preferences.

A literary period or age, such as the Mughal, colonial or post-independence era, used to place authors and trace changes in style and theme.