आधा (aadhaa)
adjective
Means 'half' -- used as an adjective (half of something), and idiomatically to mean 'incomplete' or 'partial.'
Sense
1
:
half (a quantity)
adjective Agrees in gender/number with the noun it modifies, e.g. आधा गिलास (aadhaa gilaas, 'half a glass') vs आधी रोटी (aadhii rotii, 'half a roti').
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You'll hear this constantly in daily transactions -- ordering आधा किलो (aadhaa kilo, 'half a kilo') of vegetables at the sabzi mandi, or asking for आधा कप चाय (aadhaa kap chaay, 'half a cup of tea') when you don't want a full serving. It's one of the first quantity words learners pick up because it's so practical.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often place आधा (aadhaa) after the noun as in English ('glass half'), but Hindi puts it before, like any other adjective: आधा गिलास (aadhaa gilaas) not गिलास आधा (gilaas aadhaa). 2) With time expressions, साढ़े (saadhe) is used for 'half past' (साढ़े तीन (saadhe tiin, 'three thirty')) rather than आधा (aadhaa) -- learners sometimes wrongly try to build clock-time phrases directly with आधा (aadhaa).
Sample Sentences:
मुझे आधा किलो आलू दे दो।
Give me half a kilo of potatoes.
(mujhe aadhaa kilo aaloo de do।)
क्या आप मुझे आधा कप चाय दे सकते हैं?
Can you give me half a cup of tea?
(kyaa aap mujhe aadhaa kap chaay de sakte hain?)
उसने आधी रोटी खा ली और बाकी बचा दी।
She ate half the roti and saved the rest.
(usne aadhii rotii khaa lii aur baakii bachaa dii।)
हम हर महीने आधी तनख्वाह किराए में दे देते हैं।
We give away half our salary in rent every month.
(ham har mahiine aadhii tanakhvaah kiraae men de dete hain।)
अगर तुम आधा सामान भी बेच देते, तो इतना कर्ज़ न होता।
If you had sold even half the goods, there wouldn't have been so much debt.
(agar tum aadhaa saamaan bhii bech dete, to itnaa karz n hotaa।)
मीटिंग तक आधा काम पूरा हो जाना चाहिए।
Half the work should be finished by the meeting.
(miiting tak aadhaa kaam pooraa ho jaanaa chaahie।)
यह पूरा बिस्किट नहीं है, सिर्फ आधा है।
This isn't a whole biscuit, it's just half.
(yah pooraa biskit nahiin hai, sirph aadhaa hai।)
आधी रात तक वह काम करता रहेगा।
He will keep working until half the night is gone.
(aadhii raat tak vah kaam kartaa rahegaa।)
फल को आधा-आधा बाँट लो, ताकि दोनों को बराबर मिले।
Divide the fruit into two halves, so both of you get equal shares.
(phal ko aadhaa-aadhaa baant lo, taaki donon ko baraabar mile।)
आधा गिलास पानी उसने खुद पी लिया और आधा मुझे दे दिया।
He drank half the glass of water himself and gave me the other half.
(aadhaa gilaas paanii usne khud pii liyaa aur aadhaa mujhe de diyaa।)
संपत्ति का आधा हिस्सा उसके नाम कर दिया गया।
Half the property was transferred to his name.
(sampatti kaa aadhaa hissaa uske naam kar diyaa gayaa।)
Sense
2
:
incomplete, partial
adjective
Synonyms: अधूरा (adhooraa)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: You'll hear आधा काम (aadhaa kaam, 'half-done work') or आधा मन (aadhaa man, 'half-hearted,' literally 'half a mind') used to describe someone not fully committed to a task -- a nice window into how Hindi builds emotional idioms around body/mind-as-container imagery.
Common Mistakes: 1) In this figurative sense आधा (aadhaa) and अधूरा (adhooraa) overlap, but आधा (aadhaa) leans toward 'half-finished' (implying some measurable portion remains), while अधूरा (adhooraa) is the more general word for 'incomplete' -- learners sometimes use them as if fully interchangeable.
Sample Sentences:
उसने आधा काम छोड़ दिया।
He left the work half-done.
(usne aadhaa kaam chhod diyaa।)
मेरा मन आधा ही लग रहा है इस काम में।
My heart is only half into this work.
(meraa man aadhaa hii lag rahaa hai is kaam men।)
आधे मन से कोई काम मत करो।
Don't do any work half-heartedly.
(aadhe man se koii kaam mat karo।)
अगर तुम आधे मन से पढ़ोगे तो पास नहीं होगे।
If you study half-heartedly, you won't pass.
(agar tum aadhe man se padhoge to paas nahiin hoge।)
यह रिपोर्ट अभी आधी है, पूरी नहीं हुई।
This report is still incomplete, it hasn't finished.
(yah riport abhii aadhii hai, poorii nahiin huii।)
काश मैं यह प्रोजेक्ट आधा न छोड़ता।
I wish I hadn't left this project half-done.
(kaash main yah projekt aadhaa n chhodtaa।)
अगर वह आधे मन से न आता, तो टीम की हार पहले ही तय थी।
If he hadn't come half-heartedly, the team's defeat would have been decided already.
(agar vah aadhe man se n aataa, to tiim kii haar pahle hii tay thii।)
आधे मन से किया गया काम कभी अच्छा नहीं होता।
Work done half-heartedly never turns out well.
(aadhe man se kiyaa gayaa kaam kabhii achchhaa nahiin hotaa।)
साहब, माफ करें, यह प्रस्ताव अभी आधा ही तैयार हुआ है।
Sir, excuse me, this proposal has only been half prepared so far.
(saahab, maaph karen, yah prastaav abhii aadhaa hii taiyaar huaa hai।)
शायद उसका मन आधा हो, इसलिए वह जल्दी-जल्दी काम खत्म कर रहा है।
Maybe his heart is only half in it, that's why he's rushing to finish the work.
(shaayad uskaa man aadhaa ho, islie vah jaldii-jaldii kaam khatm kar rahaa hai।)
Morphology
Adjective (variable)
(sg.m):
आधा
(aadhaa)
(pl.m):
आधे
(aadhe)
(sg.f):
आधी
(aadhii)
(pl.f):
आधी
(aadhii)