चारों तरफ़ (chaaron taraf)
adverb
A fixed spatial expression meaning 'all around, on all sides' -- literally 'in all four directions.' Built from चार (chaar, 'four') plus the emphatic-plural ों and तरफ़ (taraf, 'direction, side').
Sense
1
:
all around, on every side
adverb Functions as an adverbial phrase of place, typically placed before the verb or the thing being described as surrounding something: चारों तरफ़ पानी था (chaaron taraf paanii thaa, 'there was water all around').
Synonyms: हर तरफ़ (har taraf), चारों ओर (chaaron or), इधर-उधर (idhar-udhar, not exact, more 'here and there')
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You will hear this constantly in descriptions of scenes -- a crowded market, a flooded street, a garden in bloom -- चारों तरफ़ भीड़ थी (chaaron taraf bhiid thii, 'there was a crowd all around'). It pairs naturally with चारों ओर (chaaron or), which is essentially interchangeable and slightly more literary-leaning, though both are common in speech.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes treat तरफ़ (taraf) as needing a postposition of its own here, but चारों तरफ़ (chaaron taraf) already functions as a complete adverbial and needs no extra से (se) or में (men) attached to mean 'around.' 2) Confusing this fixed phrase with चार तरफ़ (chaar taraf) (without ों), which sounds incomplete/unnatural to native ears -- the ों plural-oblique marker is fixed in this expression.
Sample Sentences:
बाज़ार में चारों तरफ़ भीड़ थी।
There was a crowd all around in the market.
(baazaar men chaaron taraf bhiid thii।)
बारिश के बाद चारों तरफ़ पानी भर जाता है।
After the rain, water fills up all around.
(baarish ke baad chaaron taraf paanii bhar jaataa hai।)
कमरे में चारों तरफ़ किताबें बिखरी पड़ी हैं।
Books are scattered all around the room.
(kamre men chaaron taraf kitaaben bikhrii padii hain।)
ज़रा देखो, चारों तरफ़ कितनी हरियाली है!
Just look, how much greenery there is all around!
(zaraa dekho, chaaron taraf kitnii hariyaalii hai!)
अगर पेड़ नहीं होते, तो चारों तरफ़ धूल ही उड़ रही होती।
If there were no trees, dust would be flying all around.
(agar ped nahiin hote, to chaaron taraf dhool hii ud rahii hotii।)
पहाड़ों पर चारों तरफ़ बर्फ़ जमी हुई थी।
Snow had settled all around in the mountains.
(pahaadon par chaaron taraf barf jamii huii thii।)
पुलिस ने चारों तरफ़ से घर को घेर लिया।
The police surrounded the house from all around.
(pulis ne chaaron taraf se ghar ko gher liyaa।)
चारों तरफ़ इतना कूड़ा क्यों फैला हुआ है?
Why is so much garbage spread all around?
(chaaron taraf itnaa koodaa kyon phailaa huaa hai?)
गाँव में चारों तरफ़ से लोग मदद के लिए आ गए।
People came from all around the village to help.
(gaanv men chaaron taraf se log madad ke lie aa gae।)
शहर के चारों तरफ़ ऊँची दीवार बनाई गई थी।
A high wall had been built all around the city.
(shahar ke chaaron taraf oonchii diivaar banaaii gaii thii।)
अंधेरे में चारों तरफ़ सन्नाटा छाया हुआ था।
In the darkness, silence had spread all around.
(andhere men chaaron taraf sannaataa chhaayaa huaa thaa।)