दिन (din)
noun
Basic word for 'day' -- covers both the 24-hour calendar day and the daylight portion as opposed to night. It also appears in several everyday idiomatic phrases about time and circumstance.
Sense
1
:
day (calendar unit / 24 hours)
noun, masculine
Synonyms: दिवस (divas, formal)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: दिन (din) is one of the first words learners meet, often in greetings like शुभ दिन (shubh din, 'have a good day') or in asking किस दिन? (kis din, 'on which day?'). Note that it is masculine, so आज का दिन (aaj kaa din, 'today's day') takes का (kaa), not की (kii).
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often try to use को (ko) with दिन (din) the way they would with a clock time, but for 'on that day' the natural phrase is उस दिन (us din, 'on that day') with no postposition needed -- दिन (din) itself functions adverbially here.
Sample Sentences:
आज कौन सा दिन है?
What day is it today?
(aaj kaun saa din hai?)
एक हफ्ते में सात दिन होते हैं।
There are seven days in a week.
(ek haphte men saat din hote hain।)
हमने तीन दिन में सारा काम खत्म कर दिया।
We finished all the work in three days.
(hamne tiin din men saaraa kaam khatm kar diyaa।)
आपका दिन शुभ हो!
Have a good day!
(aapkaa din shubh ho!)
अगर एक दिन में अड़तीस घंटे होते, तो शायद हम सब काम पूरा कर पाते।
If there were thirty-eight hours in a day, we might have managed to finish all the work.
(agar ek din men adtiis ghante hote, to shaayad ham sab kaam pooraa kar paate।)
मीटिंग किस दिन रखी जाएगी?
On which day will the meeting be held?
(miiting kis din rakhii jaaegii?)
उस दिन को याद रखना, जब हम पहली बार मिले थे।
Remember that day, when we met for the first time.
(us din ko yaad rakhnaa, jab ham pahlii baar mile the।)
हो सकता है कि रिपोर्ट किसी और दिन तैयार हो जाए।
It's possible the report will be ready on some other day.
(ho saktaa hai ki riport kisii aur din taiyaar ho jaae।)
आज का दिन बहुत खास है।
Today is a very special day.
(aaj kaa din bahut khaas hai।)
हर दिन सुबह वह पाँच बजे उठता है।
Every day he wakes up at five in the morning.
(har din subah vah paanch baje uthtaa hai।)
पिछले दिन जो हुआ, उसे भूल जाओ।
Forget what happened on the previous day.
(pichhle din jo huaa, use bhool jaao।)
Sense
2
:
daytime (as opposed to night)
noun, masculine
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: In everyday speech दिन (din) and रात (raat) are constantly paired, as in दिन-रात (din-raat, 'day and night, constantly') -- a common way to describe someone working nonstop, like a mother saying her son studies दिन-रात (din-raat) before exams.
Sample Sentences:
वह दिन-रात मेहनत करता है।
He works day and night.
(vah din-raat mehnat kartaa hai।)
दिन में यहाँ बहुत गर्मी होती है।
It's very hot here during the daytime.
(din men yahaan bahut garmii hotii hai।)
दिन में तो सड़क पर इतनी भीड़ नहीं थी।
During the daytime, there wasn't this much crowd on the road.
(din men to sadak par itnii bhiid nahiin thii।)
दिन में सोना मुझे पसंद नहीं है।
I don't like sleeping during the daytime.
(din men sonaa mujhe pasand nahiin hai।)
दिन में बत्ती जलाने की क्या ज़रूरत है?
What's the need to turn on the light during the daytime?
(din men battii jalaane kii kyaa zaroorat hai?)
परीक्षा से पहले वह दिन-रात पढ़ता रहा।
Before the exam, he kept studying day and night.
(pariikshaa se pahle vah din-raat padhtaa rahaa।)
काश दिन में भी इतनी ठंडी हवा चलती।
If only such a cool breeze blew during the daytime too.
(kaash din men bhii itnii thandii havaa chaltii।)
अगर दिन में मौसम अच्छा होता, तो हम बाहर घूमते।
If the weather were good during the daytime, we would go out roaming.
(agar din men mausam achchhaa hotaa, to ham baahar ghoomte।)
फैक्ट्री में मशीनें दिन-रात चलती रहती हैं।
The machines in the factory keep running day and night.
(phaiktrii men mashiinen din-raat chaltii rahtii hain।)
कृपया दिन में ही सामान की डिलिवरी करवाएँ।
Please have the goods delivered only during the daytime.
(kripyaa din men hii saamaan kii dilivrii karvaaen।)
माँ कहती है कि बच्चों को दिन में बाहर खेलना चाहिए, रात में नहीं।
Mother says children should play outside during the daytime, not at night.
(maan kahtii hai ki bachchon ko din men baahar khelnaa chaahie, raat men nahiin।)
Sense
3
:
period, era, time in one's life (often plural in sense)
noun, masculine Used in phrases like अच्छे दिन (achchhe din, 'good days/times') or बुरे दिन (bure din, 'hard times') to talk about a phase of life or fortune rather than a specific date.
Synonyms: ज़माना (zamaanaa, broader scope, era/times), वक़्त (vaqt, broader scope, time in general)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: अच्छे दिन (achchhe din, 'good days') became a famous political slogan in India, but in ordinary conversation you will hear grandparents reminisce about उनके दिन (unke din, 'their days/era') with real nostalgia -- it frames a whole stretch of life, not just 24 hours.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes translate 'these days' literally as ये दिन (ye din) when आजकल (aajkal, 'these days') is the natural adverb Hindi speakers reach for instead.
Sample Sentences:
वो हमारे कॉलेज के दिन थे।
Those were our college days.
(vo hamaare kolej ke din the।)
दादाजी अक्सर अपने ज़माने के दिन याद करते हैं।
Grandpa often reminisces about the days of his era.
(daadaajii aksar apne zamaane ke din yaad karte hain।)
सरकार ने वादा किया था कि अच्छे दिन आएँगे।
The government had promised that good days would come.
(sarkaar ne vaadaa kiyaa thaa ki achchhe din aaenge।)
अगर वो दिन लौट आएँ तो कितना अच्छा हो।
How wonderful it would be if those days returned.
(agar vo din laut aaen to kitnaa achchhaa ho।)
उनके दिन बड़े संघर्ष में बीते।
Their days/era passed amid great struggle.
(unke din bade sangharsh men biite।)
अगर मेरे बुरे दिन न होते तो मैं इतना मज़बूत न बनता।
If I hadn't had those bad days, I wouldn't have become this strong.
(agar mere bure din n hote to main itnaa mazboot n bantaa।)
आज भी लोग उस राजा के दिनों की कहानियाँ सुनाते हैं।
Even today, people tell stories of that king's era.
(aaj bhii log us raajaa ke dinon kii kahaaniyaan sunaate hain।)
उन दिनों नौकरी मिलना बहुत मुश्किल था।
In those times, getting a job was very difficult.
(un dinon naukrii milnaa bahut mushkil thaa।)
क्या तुम्हें अपने बचपन के दिन याद हैं?
Do you remember the days of your childhood?
(kyaa tumhen apne bachpan ke din yaad hain?)
देश के लिए ये सचमुच नाज़ुक दिन हैं।
These are truly delicate times for the country.
(desh ke lie ye sachmuch naazuk din hain।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
दिन
(din)
(sg.m.oblique):
दिन
(din)
(pl.m.direct):
दिन
(din)
(pl.m.oblique):
दिनों
(dinon)