हाथ (haath)
noun
Primarily a body-part noun for 'hand/arm,' but it also appears constantly in idioms about control, help, and involvement, and as a measure of length or of cards in a game.
Sense
1
:
hand/arm (body part)
noun, masculine
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This is the anchor sense that all the idiomatic uses below grow out of -- once you have हाथ (haath) = hand firmly in mind, expressions like हाथ लगाना (haath lagaanaa) or हाथ बँटाना (haath bantaanaa) become easy to remember because they are literally pictures of hands doing things.
Common Mistakes: 1) हाथ (haath) covers both 'hand' and 'arm/forearm' -- Hindi does not routinely distinguish them the way English does, so learners sometimes hunt for a separate word for 'arm' when हाथ (haath) already covers it (बाँह (baanh) exists for 'arm' specifically but is far less common in speech).
Sample Sentences:
मेरा हाथ दर्द कर रहा है।
My hand is hurting.
(meraa haath dard kar rahaa hai।)
उसने अपना हाथ ऊपर उठाया।
He raised his hand up.
(usne apnaa haath oopar uthaayaa।)
कृपया अपने दोनों हाथ धो लीजिए।
Please wash both your hands.
(kripyaa apne donon haath dho liijie।)
बच्चा अपनी माँ का हाथ पकड़े हुए है।
The child is holding his mother's hand.
(bachchaa apnii maan kaa haath pakde hue hai।)
अगर तुम्हारा हाथ टूट जाता, तो तुम यह काम नहीं कर पाते।
If your hand had been broken, you wouldn't have been able to do this work.
(agar tumhaaraa haath toot jaataa, to tum yah kaam nahiin kar paate।)
डॉक्टर ने मरीज़ का हाथ बहुत ध्यान से जाँचा।
The doctor examined the patient's hand very carefully.
(doktar ne mariiz kaa haath bahut dhyaan se jaanchaa।)
उसका हाथ चोट लगने से सूज गया है।
His hand has swollen up because of the injury.
(uskaa haath chot lagne se sooj gayaa hai।)
हो सकता है सर्जरी के बाद उसका हाथ पहले जैसा न रहे।
It's possible that his hand may not be like before after the surgery.
(ho saktaa hai sarjrii ke baad uskaa haath pahle jaisaa n rahe।)
बच्चे का हाथ खिड़की में दब गया था।
The child's hand had gotten caught in the window.
(bachche kaa haath khidkii men dab gayaa thaa।)
उसे बचपन से ही अपने दाएँ हाथ से लिखने की आदत है।
He has had the habit of writing with his right hand since childhood.
(use bachpan se hii apne daaen haath se likhne kii aadat hai।)
मूर्ति का एक हाथ टूटा हुआ पाया गया।
One hand of the statue was found broken.
(moorti kaa ek haath tootaa huaa paayaa gayaa।)
Sense
2
:
control, possession, influence ('in one's hands')
noun, masculine Common frame: X किसी के हाथ में है (X kisii ke haath men hai, 'X is in someone's hands/control').
Synonyms: क़ब्ज़ा (qabzaa, more physical/legal possession), बस (bas, control, as in किसी के बस में (kisii ke bas men))
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: This is the same mental image English uses when it says something is 'in someone's hands' -- Hindi and English overlap nicely here, which makes this sense an easy, low-risk one to adopt early.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often translate 'it's in my hands' too literally with पास (paas, 'near/with') when the idiomatic sense of control or decision-making specifically wants हाथ में (haath men), not पास (paas).
Sample Sentences:
यह फ़ैसला अब तुम्हारे हाथ में है।
This decision is in your hands now.
(yah faislaa ab tumhaare haath men hai।)
कंपनी का सारा कारोबार उसके हाथ में है।
The company's entire business is under his control.
(kampnii kaa saaraa kaarobaar uske haath men hai।)
सत्ता उनके हाथ से निकल गई।
Power slipped out of their hands.
(sattaa unke haath se nikal gaii।)
बाज़ी अभी हमारे हाथ में है, घबराओ मत।
The game is still in our hands, don't panic.
(baazii abhii hamaare haath men hai, ghabraao mat।)
अगर बागडोर मेरे हाथ में होती, तो हालात कुछ और होते।
If the reins had been in my hands, the situation would have been different.
(agar baagdor mere haath men hotii, to haalaat kuchh aur hote।)
पूरा इलाक़ा माफ़िया के हाथ में चला गया है।
The whole area has fallen under the mafia's control.
(pooraa ilaaqaa maafiyaa ke haath men chalaa gayaa hai।)
किसी दिन यह ज़मीन उसके हाथ आ जाएगी।
Someday this land will come into his possession.
(kisii din yah zamiin uske haath aa jaaegii।)
मुमकिन है कि मामला जल्द ही अदालत के हाथ में चला जाए।
It's possible the matter will soon pass into the court's control.
(mumkin hai ki maamlaa jald hii adaalat ke haath men chalaa jaae।)
देश की बागडोर एक नए नेता के हाथ सौंपी गई।
The reins of the country were handed over to the control of a new leader.
(desh kii baagdor ek nae netaa ke haath saumpii gaii।)
उसकी क़िस्मत अब वक़्त के हाथ में है।
His fate is now in the hands of time.
(uskii qismat ab vaqt ke haath men hai।)
सब कुछ प्रभु के हाथ में है, हम तो केवल कोशिश कर सकते हैं।
Everything is in the Lord's hands; we can only try.
(sab kuchh prabhu ke haath men hai, ham to keval koshish kar sakte hain।)
Sense
3
:
help, assistance (as in lending a hand)
noun, masculine Appears in fixed collocations like हाथ बँटाना (haath bantaanaa, 'to share the work/help out') and हाथ लगाना (haath lagaanaa, 'to lend a hand' or, contextually, 'to touch').
Synonyms: मदद (madad), सहायता (sahaaytaa, formal)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You will hear this at home constantly: a mother telling her kids रसोई में हाथ बँटाओ (rasoii men haath bantaao, 'help out in the kitchen') -- it carries a warm, family-labor connotation rather than formal assistance.
Common Mistakes: 1) हाथ बँटाना (haath bantaanaa) specifically means to share/divide the workload (help with a task), not just any kind of help -- for general assistance मदद करना (madad karnaa) is the more neutral choice.
Sample Sentences:
माँ ने कहा, "रसोई में हाथ बँटाओ।"
Mother said, "Help out in the kitchen."
(maan ne kahaa, "rasoii men haath bantaao।")
क्या तुम मेरा हाथ बँटाओगे?
Will you lend me a hand?
(kyaa tum meraa haath bantaaoge?)
पड़ोसी हमेशा मुसीबत में हाथ बँटाते हैं।
The neighbors always lend a hand in times of trouble.
(padosii hameshaa musiibat men haath bantaate hain।)
उसने मुसीबत में मेरा हाथ थामा।
He supported me in my time of trouble.
(usne musiibat men meraa haath thaamaa।)
अगर उस वक्त तुमने हाथ न बँटाया होता, तो हम डूब जाते।
If you hadn't helped out at that time, we would have gone under.
(agar us vakt tumne haath n bantaayaa hotaa, to ham doob jaate।)
बच्चे भी घर के काम में हाथ बँटा रहे हैं।
The kids are also helping out with the housework these days.
(bachche bhii ghar ke kaam men haath bantaa rahe hain।)
बाढ़ पीड़ितों की मदद के लिए हर तरफ से हाथ बढ़ाए गए।
Hands were extended from every side to help the flood victims.
(baadh piiditon kii madad ke lie har taraph se haath badhaae gae।)
काश कोई इस दुख की घड़ी में मेरा हाथ बँटाता।
If only someone would help me in this hour of grief.
(kaash koii is dukh kii ghadii men meraa haath bantaataa।)
सरकार को आपदा के समय जनता का हाथ बँटाना चाहिए।
The government should lend a hand to the people during a disaster.
(sarkaar ko aapdaa ke samay jantaa kaa haath bantaanaa chaahie।)
उसने बिना कुछ कहे मेरा हाथ बँटाया।
He helped me out without saying a word.
(usne binaa kuchh kahe meraa haath bantaayaa।)
दोस्तों, आगे बढ़कर हाथ बँटाओ, यही तो असली दोस्ती है।
Friends, step forward and lend a hand -- that's what true friendship is.
(doston, aage badhkar haath bantaao, yahii to aslii dostii hai।)
Sense
4
:
a unit of measure (a hand's length, roughly a cubit) or a round/turn in a game
noun, masculine Used in ताश का एक हाथ (taash kaa ek haath, 'a hand/round of cards') and in older measurements of cloth or distance.
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This sense mirrors English 'a hand of cards' almost exactly -- if you play ताश (taash, cards) with friends in India, you will hear हाथ (haath) used this way very naturally.
Sample Sentences:
एक हाथ और खेल लो, फिर सो जाना।
Play one more round, then go to sleep.
(ek haath aur khel lo, phir so jaanaa।)
इस हाथ में मेरे पत्ते बहुत अच्छे थे।
In this hand, my cards were very good.
(is haath men mere patte bahut achchhe the।)
हम रोज़ रात को दो-तीन हाथ ताश खेलते हैं।
We play two or three hands of cards every night.
(ham roz raat ko do-tiin haath taash khelte hain।)
अगला हाथ कौन जीतेगा, ये तो देखना पड़ेगा।
We'll have to see who wins the next hand.
(aglaa haath kaun jiitegaa, ye to dekhnaa padegaa।)
अगर वो हाथ मैं जीत जाता, तो सारे पैसे मेरे होते।
If I had won that hand, all the money would have been mine.
(agar vo haath main jiit jaataa, to saare paise mere hote।)
इस हाथ को छोड़ो, अगला हाथ ध्यान से खेलना।
Forget this hand, play the next one carefully.
(is haath ko chhodo, aglaa haath dhyaan se khelnaa।)
शायद इस हाथ में उसकी किस्मत चल जाए।
Maybe his luck will work out in this hand.
(shaayad is haath men uskii kismat chal jaae।)
पिछले हाथ में उसने सारे इक्के छुपा रखे थे।
In the last hand, he had kept all the aces hidden.
(pichhle haath men usne saare ikke chhupaa rakhe the।)
एक हाथ की शर्त पर सौ रुपये लगे हैं।
A hundred rupees have been bet on this one hand.
(ek haath kii shart par sau rupye lage hain।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
हाथ
(haath)
(sg.m.oblique):
हाथ
(haath)
(pl.m.direct):
हाथ
(haath)
(pl.m.oblique):
हाथों
(haathon)