बुरी तरह (burii tarah)
adverb
A fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'badly, terribly, to a severe degree' -- combines बुरी (burii, the feminine form of बुरा, 'bad') with तरह (tarah, 'manner/way'), and is used to intensify a verb rather than describe a noun.
Sense
1
:
badly, terribly, severely (intensifying a negative outcome)
adverb Always appears in the fixed feminine form बुरी (burii) regardless of the gender/number of the subject, since it modifies the verb, not a noun -- e.g. वह बुरी तरह हार गया (vah burii tarah haar gayaa, 'he lost badly').
Synonyms: बहुत ज़्यादा (bahut zyaadaa), बेतरह (betrah, literary), सख्त (sakht, colloquial intensifier)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You'll hear this constantly in everyday complaints and gossip in Delhi -- वह बुरी तरह फँस गया (vah burii tarah phans gayaa, 'he got badly trapped/stuck') is the kind of line that comes up when someone's plan backfires spectacularly. It pairs naturally with verbs like हारना (haarnaa, 'to lose'), फँसना (phansnaa, 'to get stuck'), डरना (darnaa, 'to be afraid'), and पिटना (pitnaa, 'to get beaten').
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes try to match बुरी (burii) to the subject's gender, changing it to बुरा तरह (buraa tarah) or बुरे तरह (bure tarah) -- the phrase is frozen and never changes form. 2) It is used almost exclusively with negative or painful outcomes (losing, failing, getting hurt, being scared) -- learners sometimes misuse it to intensify a positive statement, where बहुत (bahut) or ज़बरदस्त (zabardast) would be the natural choice instead.
Sample Sentences:
वह बुरी तरह फँस गया।
He got badly trapped.
(vah burii tarah phans gayaa।)
हमारी टीम बुरी तरह हार गई।
Our team lost badly.
(hamaarii tiim burii tarah haar gaii।)
वह बुरी तरह डरता है जब बिजली चली जाती है।
He gets terribly scared whenever the power goes out.
(vah burii tarah dartaa hai jab bijlii chalii jaatii hai।)
अगर तुम यह डील गड़बड़ करोगे तो बुरी तरह फँस जाओगे।
If you mess up this deal, you'll get badly trapped.
(agar tum yah diil gadbad karoge to burii tarah phans jaaoge।)
बाज़ार में चोर बुरी तरह पिट रहा था।
The thief was getting badly beaten up in the market.
(baazaar men chor burii tarah pit rahaa thaa।)
काश वह बुरी तरह न फँसता।
If only he hadn't gotten so badly trapped.
(kaash vah burii tarah n phanstaa।)
देखना, ऐसे झूठ बोलोगे तो एक दिन बुरी तरह फँसोगे।
Watch out, if you keep lying like this, one day you'll get badly caught.
(dekhnaa, aise jhooth bologe to ek din burii tarah phansoge।)
उस हादसे में उसकी गाड़ी बुरी तरह क्षतिग्रस्त हो गई।
His car was badly damaged in that accident.
(us haadse men uskii gaadii burii tarah kshatigrast ho gaii।)
कृपया सावधान रहें, वरना बुरी तरह धोखा खा जाएँगे।
Please be careful, or else you will be badly deceived.
(kripyaa saavdhaan rahen, varnaa burii tarah dhokhaa khaa jaaenge।)
पिछले साल की मंदी में कई कंपनियाँ बुरी तरह टूट गईं।
During last year's recession, many companies were badly broken down.
(pichhle saal kii mandii men kaii kampniyaan burii tarah toot gaiin।)
उसकी बेइज़्ज़ती इस तरह हुई कि वह बुरी तरह शर्मिंदा हो गया।
He was insulted in such a way that he got terribly embarrassed.
(uskii beizztii is tarah huii ki vah burii tarah sharmindaa ho gayaa।)