झूठ (jhooth)
noun/adjective
Primarily a noun meaning 'a lie/falsehood,' with a very common adjectival/adverbial use meaning 'false, untrue' -- as in बोलना (jhuuth bolnaa, 'to tell a lie'). Both senses share the same root idea, just different grammatical jobs.
Sense
1
:
a lie, falsehood
noun, masculine
Synonyms: मिथ्या (mithyaa, literary), असत्य (asaty, formal)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: Every Hindi-speaking kid has heard झूठ मत बोलो (jhooth mat bolo, 'don't lie') from a parent or teacher at some point -- it is one of the first moral instructions given to children. The classic idiom सफेद झूठ (saphed jhooth, 'a white lie,' literally 'a white/blatant lie') is used ironically in Hindi to mean a bald-faced, shameless lie -- the opposite of the English 'white lie' as something harmless.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often say कहना (kahnaa) for 'to tell a lie' by direct translation from English, but the native collocation is झूठ बोलना (jhooth bolnaa, 'to speak a lie') -- बोलना (bolnaa), not कहना (kahnaa), is the verb that pairs with झूठ (jhooth). 2) झूठ (jhooth) itself is often used without an article, more like a mass noun ('falsehood') than 'a lie' -- so झूठ मत बोलो (jhooth mat bolo, 'don't lie') is far more natural than trying to say 'a lie' with a number word.
Sample Sentences:
झूठ मत बोलो।
Don't lie.
(jhooth mat bolo।)
यह बिलकुल सफेद झूठ है।
This is a complete bald-faced lie.
(yah bilkul saphed jhooth hai।)
उसने अपनी माँ से झूठ बोला।
He told his mother a lie.
(usne apnii maan se jhooth bolaa।)
वह हमेशा झूठ बोलता रहता है।
He always keeps telling lies.
(vah hameshaa jhooth boltaa rahtaa hai।)
अगर तुमने झूठ न बोला होता, तो आज यह मुसीबत न होती।
If you hadn't lied, this trouble wouldn't be here today.
(agar tumne jhooth n bolaa hotaa, to aaj yah musiibat n hotii।)
उसका झूठ पकड़ा गया।
His lie was caught.
(uskaa jhooth pakdaa gayaa।)
क्या तुम मुझसे झूठ बोल रहे हो?
Are you lying to me?
(kyaa tum mujhse jhooth bol rahe ho?)
शायद वह झूठ बोल रहा हो, ठीक से पता नहीं।
Maybe he's lying, I'm not quite sure.
(shaayad vah jhooth bol rahaa ho, thiik se pataa nahiin।)
मैं चाहता हूँ कि वह कभी झूठ न बोले।
I wish that he would never tell a lie.
(main chaahtaa hoon ki vah kabhii jhooth n bole।)
एक झूठ को छिपाने के लिए उसने दस और झूठ बोले।
To hide one lie, he told ten more lies.
(ek jhooth ko chhipaane ke lie usne das aur jhooth bole।)
झूठ की उम्र लंबी नहीं होती।
A lie's life is never long.
(jhooth kii umr lambii nahiin hotii।)
Sense
2
:
false, untrue
adjective In this sense झूठ (jhooth) functions as an invariant qualifier, often right before a noun or verb, distinct from its inflecting cousin झूठा (jhoothaa) which is the more standard attributive adjective form.
Synonyms: झूठा (jhoothaa, more common as attributive adjective), गलत (galat, meaning scope: 'wrong/incorrect' rather than 'false')
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: You will often hear झूठ (jhooth) used almost adverbially in casual speech, as in झूठ ही बोल रहा है (jhooth hii bol rahaa hai, 'he's just lying/talking nonsense') -- a slightly dismissive, everyday way to call out something as untrue.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes confuse this bare झूठ (jhooth) with झूठा (jhoothaa) -- both can mean 'false,' but झूठा (jhoothaa) inflects for gender/number when modifying a noun (झूठी कहानी jhoothii kahaanii, 'false story'), while झूठ (jhooth) itself does not change form.
Sample Sentences:
यह बात बिलकुल झूठ है।
This statement is completely false.
(yah baat bilkul jhooth hai।)
उसकी कहानी झूठ निकली।
His story turned out to be false.
(uskii kahaanii jhooth niklii।)
वह झूठ ही बोल रहा है, उस पर यकीन मत करो।
He's just talking nonsense, don't believe him.
(vah jhooth hii bol rahaa hai, us par yakiin mat karo।)
अगर यह खबर झूठ होती, तो अखबार इसे नहीं छापता।
If this news were false, the newspaper wouldn't have printed it.
(agar yah khabar jhooth hotii, to akhbaar ise nahiin chhaaptaa।)
क्या यह इल्ज़ाम झूठ है?
Is this accusation false?
(kyaa yah ilzaam jhooth hai?)
मुझे लगता है कि उसका बयान झूठ हो सकता है।
I think his statement might be false.
(mujhe lagtaa hai ki uskaa bayaan jhooth ho saktaa hai।)
साबित हो गया कि यह पूरी बात झूठ थी।
It was proven that this whole matter was false.
(saabit ho gayaa ki yah poorii baat jhooth thii।)
यह अफवाह झूठ साबित होगी, मुझे यकीन है।
This rumor will prove to be false, I'm sure.
(yah aphvaah jhooth saabit hogii, mujhe yakiin hai।)
उसने कहा कि सारे इल्ज़ाम झूठ हैं और उसने कुछ नहीं किया।
He said that all the accusations are false and that he did nothing.
(usne kahaa ki saare ilzaam jhooth hain aur usne kuchh nahiin kiyaa।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
झूठ
(jhooth)
(sg.m.oblique):
झूठ
(jhooth)
(pl.m.direct):
झूठ
(jhooth)
(pl.m.oblique):
झूठों
(jhoothon)
Adjective (invariant)
invariant:
झूठ
(jhooth)