General Hindi
General Hindi in PET checks applied grammar and vocabulary: संधि, समास, उपसर्ग–प्रत्यय, वाक्य-शुद्धि, मुहावरे, पर्यायवाची, विलोम, and तत्सम–तद्भव. Questions are short; marks come from recognising the rule, not from long translation.
Core rules
- संधि joins two sounds. In स्वर संधि, अ + आ = आ (दीर्घ), अ + उ = ओ (गुण), and अ + इ = ए (गुण).
- समास names a compound: तत्पुरुष has a case relation; द्वंद्व joins equivalents with “और”; बहुव्रीहि’s meaning points to a third entity; अव्ययीभाव begins with an indeclinable.
- उपसर्ग changes meaning before a root (अनु + शासन = अनुशासन); प्रत्यय follows it (सुंदर + ता = सुंदरता).
- For वाक्य-शुद्धि, check लिंग, वचन, कारक, और क्रिया agreement.
Worked example
हिम + आलय की संधि कीजिए। Reasoning: हिम ends in अ and आलय begins with आ. In स्वर संधि, अ + आ = आ (दीर्घ संधि). Therefore हिम + आलय = हिमालय, meaning “abode of snow.” If you wrote हिमआलय, you left the vowel junction unresolved.
Traps
Do not call every compound तत्पुरुष; identify the relation first. Do not confuse उपसर्ग with प्रत्यय: the prefix comes before the root. In मुहावरे, give the idiomatic sense, not the literal word-by-word meaning. For विलोम and पर्यायवाची, match the exact word’s register; a near synonym can be wrong.