संतरा (santraa)

noun A simple, single-sense everyday noun meaning 'orange' (the citrus fruit).
Sense 1 : orange (fruit)
noun, masculine
Synonyms: नारंगी (naarangii, also means the color orange)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: You'll hear this constantly at any thela (thelaa, pushcart) or fruit-seller's stall in winter, since orange season in North India lines up with the cold months -- vendors call out संतरे ले लो (santre le lo, 'take some oranges!') in markets across Delhi-NCR. It's also a common Hindi-medium answer to 'what's your favorite fruit' in schoolbooks, so it's one of the earliest fruit-vocabulary words learners pick up.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes confuse this with नारंगी (naarangii), which can mean both 'orange fruit' (in some regions) and 'orange color' everywhere -- in everyday Delhi-NCR speech, संतरा (santraa) is the fruit and नारंगी (naarangii) is usually reserved for the color. 2) The word is masculine, so learners sometimes wrongly feminize adjectives or verbs agreeing with it -- e.g. it's मीठा संतरा (miithaa santraa, 'sweet orange'), not मीठी संतरा (miithii santraa).
Sample Sentences:
सर्दियों में संतरे बहुत मिलते हैं। Oranges are widely available in winter.
(sardiyon men santre bahut milte hain।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
ठेले वाला चिल्ला रहा था, "संतरे ले लो, ताज़े संतरे!" The cart vendor was shouting, "Take some oranges, fresh oranges!"
(thele vaalaa chillaa rahaa thaa, "santre le lo, taaze santre!")
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Continuous -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
मुझे संतरा बहुत पसंद है। I like orange a lot.
(mujhe santraa bahut pasand hai।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
क्या तुम्हारा पसंदीदा फल संतरा है? Is your favorite fruit orange?
(kyaa tumhaaraa pasandiidaa phal santraa hai?)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
बाज़ार से दो किलो संतरे ले आओ। Bring two kilos of oranges from the market.
(baazaar se do kilo santre le aao।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
अगर संतरे सस्ते होते तो मैं और खरीदता। If oranges were cheap, I would have bought more.
(agar santre saste hote to main aur khariidtaa।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
संतरे छीलकर बच्चों को दे दो। Peel the oranges and give them to the kids.
(santre chhiilkar bachchon ko de do।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
संतरे विटामिन सी से भरे होते हैं। Oranges are packed with vitamin C.
(santre vitaamin sii se bhare hote hain।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
मैंने सुबह-सुबह एक संतरा खाया। I ate an orange early in the morning.
(mainne subah-subah ek santraa khaayaa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
टोकरी में रखे हुए संतरे धूप में चमक रहे थे। The oranges kept in the basket were gleaming in the sunlight.
(tokrii men rakhe hue santre dhoop men chamak rahe the।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Continuous -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
क्या हो सकता है कि ये संतरे नागपुर से आए हों? Could it be that these oranges came from Nagpur?
(kyaa ho saktaa hai ki ye santre naagpur se aae hon?)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Voice: Active
यह संतरा किसी दुकान से नहीं, बल्कि हमारे बगीचे से लाया गया था। This orange wasn't brought from a shop, but from our own garden.
(yah santraa kisii dukaan se nahiin, balki hamaare bagiiche se laayaa gayaa thaa।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Passive
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct): संतरा (santraa)
(sg.m.oblique): संतरे (santre)
(pl.m.direct): संतरे (santre)
(pl.m.oblique): संतरों (santron)