डेढ़ (dedh)
numeral
A single-sense numeral meaning 'one and a half' -- used constantly with time, money, and quantities in everyday speech.
Sense
1
:
one and a half
numeral Unlike other fractions built with सवा (savaa, 'plus a quarter') or साढ़े (saadhe, 'plus a half'), डेढ़ (dedh) is a fused, irregular form that does not attach to the base number the way साढ़े does (compare साढ़े तीन (saadhe tiin, 'three and a half') but not a parallel construction for one and a half).
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: डेढ़ (dedh) shows up everywhere in daily life -- डेढ़ घंटा (dedh ghantaa, 'an hour and a half') for how long the metro ride takes, डेढ़ सौ रुपये (dedh sau rupye, 'a hundred and fifty rupees') when haggling at the market, or डेढ़ किलो (dedh kilo, 'one and a half kilos') of आटा (aataa) from the local kirana store. It pairs closely with सवा (savaa, 'quarter past/plus') and साढ़े (saadhe, 'half past/plus') as the three key fraction-words in a learner's numeral toolkit.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes try to build 'one and a half' compositionally as एक और आधा (ek aur aadhaa) or by analogy with साढ़े एक (saadhe ek) -- both are wrong; डेढ़ (dedh) is the only correct form, used on its own before the noun. 2) डेढ़ (dedh) is invariant and does not change form before masculine or feminine nouns, unlike some other number-adjective combinations.
Sample Sentences:
मेट्रो में डेढ़ घंटा लगता है।
It takes an hour and a half on the metro.
(metro men dedh ghantaa lagtaa hai।)
भाई साहब, यह डेढ़ सौ रुपये का है।
Brother, this costs a hundred and fifty rupees.
(bhaaii saahab, yah dedh sau rupye kaa hai।)
मुझे डेढ़ किलो आटा चाहिए।
I need one and a half kilos of flour.
(mujhe dedh kilo aataa chaahie।)
हम डेढ़ साल से इस फ्लैट में रह रहे हैं।
We have been living in this flat for a year and a half.
(ham dedh saal se is phlait men rah rahe hain।)
पिछले हफ्ते हमने डेढ़ लाख रुपये का सामान खरीदा।
Last week we bought goods worth a hundred and fifty thousand rupees.
(pichhle haphte hamne dedh laakh rupye kaa saamaan khariidaa।)
अगर ट्रैफिक ज्यादा न होता, तो डेढ़ घंटे में पहुँच जाते।
If there hadn't been so much traffic, we would have arrived in an hour and a half.
(agar traiphik jyaadaa n hotaa, to dedh ghante men pahunch jaate।)
कृपया डेढ़ बजे तक रिपोर्ट भेज दें।
Please send the report by half past one.
(kripyaa dedh baje tak riport bhej den।)
अगली बार शायद डेढ़ गुना ज्यादा मुनाफ़ा हो।
Maybe next time the profit will be one and a half times more.
(aglii baar shaayad dedh gunaa jyaadaa munaafaa ho।)
इस परियोजना पर डेढ़ करोड़ रुपये खर्च किए जाएंगे।
One and a half crore rupees will be spent on this project.
(is pariyojnaa par dedh karod rupye kharch kie jaaenge।)
मेरी दादी कहती थीं कि डेढ़ चम्मच नमक ही काफी होता है।
My grandmother used to say that one and a half spoons of salt is enough.
(merii daadii kahtii thiin ki dedh chammach namak hii kaaphii hotaa hai।)
बच्चा डेढ़ साल का हो गया है।
The child has turned one and a half years old.
(bachchaa dedh saal kaa ho gayaa hai।)