General Hindi and Hindi Language Knowledge
General Hindi and Hindi Language Knowledge tests formal grammar, vocabulary and sentence correctness. UPSSSC papers usually favour applied grammar - identifying a sandhi, naming a samas, correcting a sentence - over literary history.
High-yield grammar areas
- संधि: स्वर, व्यंजन and विसर्ग. Examples: महा + उत्सव = महोत्सव (गुण); अति + अधिक = अत्यधिक (यण); निः + चय = निश्चय (विसर्ग).
- समास: तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु, द्वंद्व, बहुव्रीहि, अव्ययीभाव. Examples: राजपुत्र = राजा का पुत्र (तत्पुरुष); नीलकमल = नीला है जो कमल (कर्मधारय); चौराहा = चार राहों का समूह (द्विगु); दशानन = दस हैं आनन जिसके (बहुव्रीहि).
- उपसर्ग and प्रत्यय: अ, अन, नि, प्र, परा; and -ता, -त्व, -ई, -इक.
- Vocabulary: तत्सम–तद्भव, पर्यायवाची, विलोम, अनेकार्थी, मुहावरे and लोकोक्तियाँ.
- Composition: वाक्य शुद्धि, वाच्य, कारक, काल, अलंकार and रस.
Worked example
Identify the sandhi in सूर्योदय. Split it as सूर्य + उदय. The final अ of सूर्य combines with उ to give ओ. That is a गुण संधि. The reasoning is: vowel + different vowel produces a third vowel; here अ + उ = ओ. If the result had been व् or य्, it would have been यण् संधि instead.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating मुहावरा (idiom used in a sentence) as लोकोक्ति (a complete proverb).
- Labelling every repetition as अनुप्रास; अनुप्रास repeats consonants, while उपमा uses सा, सम or जैसा and रूपक identifies one thing with another.
- Confusing कर्मवाच्य with भाववाच्य: “पत्र राम से लिखा गया” is कर्मवाच्य, while “राम से चला नहीं जाता” is भाववाच्य.
- Missing spelling distinctions among श/ष/स and व/ब.
Exam approach
Learn sandhi and samas through 20–30 worked examples rather than definitions alone. For sentence correction, read the full sentence before selecting an option.