एकाध (ekaadh)
adjective
A single-sense quantifier meaning 'one or two, a couple of' -- used to hint at a small, imprecise number.
Sense
1
:
one or two, a couple of (imprecise small quantity)
adjective Placed directly before the noun it quantifies, like other quantity words: एकाध किताब (ekaadh kitaab, 'one or two books'). The noun that follows generally stays in the singular even when the meaning is plural-ish.
Synonyms: दो-चार (do-chaar, 'a few'), कुछ (kuchh, less specific), इकलौता (iklautaa, meaning scope: only 'sole/single', not interchangeable)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This word is a nice example of Hindi's comfort with fuzzy quantities -- एक (ek, 'one') plus आध (aadh, related to 'half') fuse into a word that shrugs off precision, much like English 'a couple of' but even looser. You will hear it constantly in casual talk: एकाध दिन में आ जाऊँगा (ekaadh din men aa jaaoongaa, 'I will come in a day or two'), where nobody actually cares if it is one day or two.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes pluralize the following noun out of habit (e.g. treating it like 'a couple of books' in English) -- Hindi speakers keep the noun singular: एकाध किताब (ekaadh kitaab, 'a couple of books'), not एकाध किताबें. 2) एकाध (ekaadh) is vaguer than दो (do, 'two') -- it signals 'maybe one, maybe two, no need to count exactly,' so swapping in दो changes the tone from casual estimate to precise count.
Sample Sentences:
एकाध दिन में आ जाऊँगा।
I will come in a day or two.
(ekaadh din men aa jaaoongaa।)
मेरे पास एकाध किताब ही बची है।
I only have a couple of books left.
(mere paas ekaadh kitaab hii bachii hai।)
क्या तुम्हारे पास एकाध रुपया है?
Do you have a rupee or two?
(kyaa tumhaare paas ekaadh rupyaa hai?)
एकाध सवाल पूछ लेना, कोई बात नहीं।
Go ahead and ask a question or two, it's fine.
(ekaadh savaal poochh lenaa, koii baat nahiin।)
अगर एकाध गलती हो जाती तो कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता।
If there had been a mistake or two, it wouldn't have mattered.
(agar ekaadh galtii ho jaatii to koii phark nahiin padtaa।)
शायद एकाध लोग ही समारोह में आएँ।
Maybe only a couple of people will come to the event.
(shaayad ekaadh log hii samaaroh men aaen।)
एकाध बार उससे मुलाकात हुई थी, बस।
I met him once or twice, that's all.
(ekaadh baar usse mulaakaat huii thii, bas।)
इस मोहल्ले में एकाध दुकान ही खुली रहती है इतवार को।
In this neighborhood, only a shop or two stays open on Sundays.
(is mohalle men ekaadh dukaan hii khulii rahtii hai itvaar ko।)
रिपोर्ट में एकाध जगह सुधार किया जाना चाहिए था।
A place or two in the report should have been corrected.
(riport men ekaadh jagah sudhaar kiyaa jaanaa chaahie thaa।)
उसने एकाध बार फोन करके हालचाल पूछा था।
She had called once or twice to ask how I was doing.
(usne ekaadh baar phon karke haalchaal poochhaa thaa।)
समिति ने एकाध सुझाव पर विचार करने का निर्णय लिया।
The committee decided to consider a couple of suggestions.
(samiti ne ekaadh sujhaav par vichaar karne kaa nirnay liyaa।)
Morphology
Adjective (invariant)
invariant:
एकाध
(ekaadh)