कमाल (kamaal)
noun/adjective
Primarily a noun meaning 'wonder, marvel, feat of skill,' but very commonly used as an exclamatory adjective ('amazing!') and in fixed idiomatic phrases praising or mocking someone's skill or audacity.
Sense
1
:
a marvel, feat, or extraordinary thing/skill
noun, masculine
Synonyms: अजूबा (ajoobaa), करिश्मा (karishmaa), चमत्कार (chamatkaar)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You'll hear कमाल है! (kamaal hai, 'that's amazing/incredible') constantly in Delhi conversation, said with a shake of the head, whether someone just pulled off a brilliant trick or just did something utterly ridiculous. The word carries this double edge, genuine wonder and mock exasperation, in almost equal measure.
Common Mistakes: 1) कमाल (kamaal) is masculine, so possessives and adjectives agreeing with it take the masculine form, e.g. यह कमाल है (yah kamaal hai, 'this is a marvel'), not the feminine agreement a learner might default to. 2) In the common phrase कमाल करना (kamaal karnaa, 'to do something amazing/outrageous'), the tone can be either genuinely admiring or sarcastic depending on context -- learners often miss the sarcastic reading, e.g. when someone has done something foolish.
Sample Sentences:
यार, ये तो कमाल है!
Dude, that's amazing!
(yaar, ye to kamaal hai!)
उसने अपने हाथों से ये घड़ी बनाई है, सच में कमाल है।
He made this clock with his own hands -- it's truly a marvel.
(usne apne haathon se ye ghadii banaaii hai, sach men kamaal hai।)
बच्चे ने पाँच साल की उम्र में पूरा गाना गा दिया, ये कोई मामूली कमाल नहीं है।
The child sang the entire song at the age of five -- that's no small feat.
(bachche ne paanch saal kii umr men pooraa gaanaa gaa diyaa, ye koii maamoolii kamaal nahiin hai।)
तुमने फिर से मेरा फ़ोन तोड़ दिया, कमाल करते हो तुम भी!
You broke my phone again -- you really do the most extraordinary things!
(tumne phir se meraa fon tod diyaa, kamaal karte ho tum bhii!)
अगर वो ये मुकाबला जीत जाए, तो ये उसके करियर का सबसे बड़ा कमाल होगा।
If he wins this match, it will be the greatest feat of his career.
(agar vo ye mukaablaa jiit jaae, to ye uske kariyar kaa sabse badaa kamaal hogaa।)
इंजीनियरों ने इस पुल को बनाकर वाकई कमाल कर दिखाया।
The engineers truly achieved a marvel by building this bridge.
(injiiniyron ne is pul ko banaakar vaakaii kamaal kar dikhaayaa।)
प्रकृति के इस कमाल को देखकर हर कोई हैरान रह जाता है।
Everyone is left astonished upon seeing this marvel of nature.
(prakriti ke is kamaal ko dekhkar har koii hairaan rah jaataa hai।)
अगर तुम सच में इतनी कम उम्र में ये कमाल कर पाते, तो सब तुम्हें याद रखते।
If you had truly managed such a feat at this young age, everyone would have remembered you.
(agar tum sach men itnii kam umr men ye kamaal kar paate, to sab tumhen yaad rakhte।)
इस डॉक्टर ने अपने कमाल से न जाने कितनों की जान बचाई है।
This doctor has saved countless lives with his extraordinary skill.
(is doktar ne apne kamaal se n jaane kitnon kii jaan bachaaii hai।)
इस जादूगर का हर कमाल देखने लायक होता है।
Every feat of this magician's is worth watching.
(is jaadoogar kaa har kamaal dekhne laayak hotaa hai।)
टीम ने आखिरी मिनट में गोल करके कमाल कर दिया।
The team pulled off a marvel by scoring a goal in the last minute.
(tiim ne aakhirii minat men gol karke kamaal kar diyaa।)
Sense
2
:
amazing, wonderful (used predicatively/exclamatorily)
adjective Used invariantly, most often as an exclamation or predicate (कमाल है! kamaal hai) rather than directly before a noun; when used attributively it does not inflect for gender or number, e.g. कमाल आदमी (kamaal aadmii, 'an amazing man') and कमाल औरत (kamaal aurat, 'an amazing woman') both keep the same form.
Synonyms: अद्भुत (adbhut), शानदार (shaandaar), लाजवाब (laajvaab)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This exclamatory use overlaps closely with the noun sense above, both trace to the same root idea of 'a marvel,' but functioning as a standalone reaction word (कमाल! kamaal) is so common in spoken Hindi that it deserves its own mental slot as an adjective-like exclamation.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes try to inflect it like a regular -आ adjective (कमाला/कमाली); it never changes form regardless of the gender or number of what it describes.
Sample Sentences:
कमाल! तुमने तो कमाल कर दिया।
Amazing! You've really done something incredible.
(kamaal! tumne to kamaal kar diyaa।)
यह फिल्म सच में कमाल है।
This movie is truly amazing.
(yah philm sach men kamaal hai।)
उसकी आवाज़ कमाल है, यार।
Her voice is amazing, man.
(uskii aavaaz kamaal hai, yaar।)
यह खाना कमाल था, बिल्कुल लाजवाब।
This food was amazing, absolutely fantastic.
(yah khaanaa kamaal thaa, bilkul laajvaab।)
अगर यह प्रोजेक्ट सफल हो जाए, तो कमाल होगा।
If this project succeeds, it will be amazing.
(agar yah projekt saphal ho jaae, to kamaal hogaa।)
काश यह मौका मुझे मिल जाता, कितना कमाल होता।
If only I had gotten this chance, how amazing it would have been.
(kaash yah maukaa mujhe mil jaataa, kitnaa kamaal hotaa।)
क्या कमाल है यह जगह!
What an amazing place this is!
(kyaa kamaal hai yah jagah!)
उनका नया घर देखकर सब कह रहे थे, "कमाल है!"
Seeing their new house, everyone was saying, "Amazing!"
(unkaa nayaa ghar dekhkar sab kah rahe the, "kamaal hai!")
यह तकनीक वाकई कमाल है, इससे समय की बहुत बचत होती है।
This technology is truly amazing; it saves a lot of time.
(yah takniik vaakaii kamaal hai, isse samay kii bahut bachat hotii hai।)
अगर सब कुछ योजना के अनुसार हो जाए, तो नतीजा कमाल होगा।
If everything goes according to plan, the result will be amazing.
(agar sab kuchh yojnaa ke anusaar ho jaae, to natiijaa kamaal hogaa।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
कमाल
(kamaal)
(sg.m.oblique):
कमाल
(kamaal)
(pl.m.direct):
कमाल
(kamaal)
(pl.m.oblique):
कमालों
(kamaalon)
Adjective (invariant)
invariant:
कमाल
(kamaal)