जाना-पहचाना (jaanaa-pahchaanaa)

adjective A compound adjective meaning 'familiar' or 'well-known,' built from the perfective participles of जाना (jaanaa, 'to go/be known') and पहचानना (pahchaannaa, 'to recognize'); the two halves together intensify the sense of familiarity.

Sense 1 : familiar, well-known (person, place, face, voice, etc.)

adjective

Synonyms: परिचित (parichit), जाना-माना (jaanaa-maanaa, often used for well-known public figures rather than personal familiarity)

Frequency: medium

Cultural Note: This word captures a very Hindi habit of doubling near-synonyms for emphasis -- 'gone and recognized' becomes 'thoroughly familiar.' You will often hear it describe a face in a crowd or a street corner someone has passed a thousand times: जाना-पहचाना चेहरा (jaanaa-pahchaanaa chehraa, 'a familiar face').

Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes treat this as a simple synonym of परिचित (parichit), but जाना-पहचाना (jaanaa-pahchaanaa) leans toward describing something sensorily or experientially familiar (a face, a voice, a street), while परिचित (parichit) works more broadly, including for people one has been formally introduced to. 2) Because it looks like two verb forms glued together, learners sometimes try to conjugate the pieces separately; the whole compound simply agrees as one adjective with the noun it modifies (जानी-पहचानी (jaanii-pahchaanii) आवाज़ (aavaaz), 'familiar voice').

Sample Sentences:

यह चेहरा मुझे जाना-पहचाना लगता है। This face seems familiar to me.

(yah chehraa mujhe jaanaa-pahchaanaa lagtaa hai।)

भीड़ में उसे एक जाना-पहचाना चेहरा दिखाई दिया। In the crowd, he spotted a familiar face.

(bhiid men use ek jaanaa-pahchaanaa chehraa dikhaaii diyaa।)

यह गली मुझे बहुत जानी-पहचानी लगती है, शायद मैं पहले भी यहाँ आया हूँ। This lane feels very familiar to me -- maybe I've come here before too.

(yah galii mujhe bahut jaanii-pahchaanii lagtii hai, shaayad main pahle bhii yahaan aayaa hoon।)

फोन पर आवाज़ जानी-पहचानी थी, पर नाम याद नहीं आ रहा था। The voice on the phone was familiar, but I couldn't recall the name.

(phon par aavaaz jaanii-pahchaanii thii, par naam yaad nahiin aa rahaa thaa।)

काश यह जगह इतनी जानी-पहचानी न होती, तो हम रास्ता भटक ही जाते। If only this place hadn't been so familiar, we would surely have lost our way.

(kaash yah jagah itnii jaanii-pahchaanii n hotii, to ham raastaa bhatak hii jaate।)

अगर वह चेहरा जाना-पहचाना हो, तो मुझे बताना। If that face is familiar, then let me know.

(agar vah chehraa jaanaa-pahchaanaa ho, to mujhe bataanaa।)

इस इलाके की हर गली-नुक्कड़ उसके लिए जानी-पहचानी है। Every lane and corner of this area is familiar to him.

(is ilaake kii har galii-nukkad uske lie jaanii-pahchaanii hai।)

प्रधानमंत्री का जाना-पहचाना अंदाज़ फिर से भाषण में झलका। The Prime Minister's familiar style once again showed through in the speech.

(pradhaanmantrii kaa jaanaa-pahchaanaa andaaz phir se bhaashan men jhalkaa।)

जब भी वह इस जाने-पहचाने रास्ते से गुज़रता है, पुरानी यादें ताज़ा हो जाती हैं। Whenever he passes through this familiar road, old memories come alive.

(jab bhii vah is jaane-pahchaane raaste se guzartaa hai, puraanii yaaden taazaa ho jaatii hain।)

क्या तुम्हें यह धुन जानी-पहचानी नहीं लगती? Doesn't this tune seem familiar to you?

(kyaa tumhen yah dhun jaanii-pahchaanii nahiin lagtii?)

Morphology

Adjective (variable)

Morphology could not be generated (hyphen-joined variable adjective 'जाना-पहचाना').