अध्याय (adhyaay)
noun
A straightforward one-sense noun: a chapter or section of a book, often with a formal or scholarly flavor.
Sense
1
:
chapter (of a book or text)
noun, masculine
Synonyms: भाग (bhaag, part/section, broader), खंड (khand, volume/section)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This is the word you will see printed at the top of every chapter in a Hindi textbook or novel -- अध्याय १ (adhyaay 1, 'Chapter 1'), and it carries a slightly bookish, formal register compared to everyday conversation. It is also the standard term for a chapter of a scripture, as in the eighteen अध्याय (adhyaay) of the Bhagavad Gita, so the word has a natural devotional or classical resonance alongside its ordinary use in schoolbooks.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes use this for a 'chapter' of life or a phase of events (as English does figuratively); in everyday Hindi that figurative sense is understood but is less commonly reached for than in English -- speakers are just as likely to say दौर (daur, 'phase/era') or पड़ाव (padaav, 'stage') for a life-chapter. 2) Don't confuse with पाठ (paath), which means 'lesson' -- a textbook is divided into अध्याय (adhyaay) which are further broken into पाठ (paath) in some curricula, though the two are often used interchangeably in casual speech.
Sample Sentences:
यह किताब कुल बारह अध्यायों में बँटी है।
This book is divided into a total of twelve chapters.
(yah kitaab kul baarah adhyaayon men bantii hai।)
गीता के अठारह अध्यायों में जीवन के हर पहलू पर चर्चा है।
In the Gita's eighteen chapters, there is discussion of every aspect of life.
(giitaa ke athaarah adhyaayon men jiivan ke har pahloo par charchaa hai।)
कृपया परीक्षा से पहले तीसरा अध्याय दोबारा पढ़ लो।
Please read the third chapter again before the exam.
(kripyaa pariikshaa se pahle tiisraa adhyaay dobaaraa padh lo।)
अगर उसने पहला अध्याय ध्यान से पढ़ा होता, तो वह यह सवाल ठीक से हल कर पाता।
If he had read the first chapter carefully, he would have been able to solve this question properly.
(agar usne pahlaa adhyaay dhyaan se padhaa hotaa, to vah yah savaal thiik se hal kar paataa।)
लेखक अगले अध्याय में इस विषय की गहराई से व्याख्या करेगा।
The author will explain this subject in depth in the next chapter.
(lekhak agle adhyaay men is vishay kii gahraaii se vyaakhyaa karegaa।)
पंडित जी हर शाम गीता का एक अध्याय सुनाते हैं।
The pandit recites one chapter of the Gita every evening.
(pandit jii har shaam giitaa kaa ek adhyaay sunaate hain।)
वह अध्याय, जो देश-विभाजन पर लिखा गया था, बहुत मार्मिक था।
That chapter, which was written on the partition of the country, was very poignant.
(vah adhyaay, jo desh-vibhaajan par likhaa gayaa thaa, bahut maarmik thaa।)
हो सकता है कि यह अध्याय अगली परीक्षा में न आए।
It's possible that this chapter won't come up in the next exam.
(ho saktaa hai ki yah adhyaay aglii pariikshaa men n aae।)
इतिहास की किताब का यह अध्याय स्वतंत्रता संग्राम के बारे में है।
This chapter of the history book is about the freedom struggle.
(itihaas kii kitaab kaa yah adhyaay svatantrtaa sangraam ke baare men hai।)
शिक्षक ने कहा कि सब लोग पाँचवाँ अध्याय पूरा कर लें।
The teacher said that everyone should finish the fifth chapter.
(shikshak ne kahaa ki sab log paanchvaan adhyaay pooraa kar len।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
अध्याय
(adhyaay)
(sg.m.oblique):
अध्याय
(adhyaay)
(pl.m.direct):
अध्याय
(adhyaay)
(pl.m.oblique):
अध्यायों
(adhyaayon)