पैसा (paisaa)
noun
Two main senses: (1) money in general -- the everyday word for cash/wealth, almost always used in its plural/oblique form पैसे (paise); (2) the historical small coin unit (paisa), now mostly a fossil sense inside idioms and formal pricing.
Sense
1
:
money, cash, wealth
noun, masculine In this everyday sense the word almost always appears in its oblique plural form पैसे (paise) -- 'मेरे पास पैसे हैं' (mere paas paise hain, 'I have money'), even when referring to an unspecified amount rather than literal coins.
Synonyms: धन (dhan, formal), दौलत (daulat), रुपया (rupyaa, often used loosely for 'money' too)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: पैसा (paisaa) is one of the first words every learner picks up, and in Delhi bargaining culture it's almost a verb of its own -- 'पैसे कम करो' (paise kam karo, 'lower the price') is heard in every bazaar. Note the family of related idioms: पैसा फेंकना (paisaa phenknaa, to throw money around) and पैसे वाला (paise vaalaa, a wealthy person) both lean on this sense.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often say पैसा है (paisaa hai) when they mean 'I have money' generally; native speakers overwhelmingly use the plural पैसे हैं (paise hain) here -- the singular पैसा (paisaa) sounds like you're talking about one specific paisa-coin or a very small, countable sum. 2) पैसा कमाना (paisaa kamaanaa, 'to earn money') keeps the singular in this fixed collocation even though 'having money' takes the plural -- there's no clean rule, it's just how the idiom sits.
Sample Sentences:
मेरे पास इतना पैसा नहीं है।
I don't have that much money.
(mere paas itnaa paisaa nahiin hai।)
वह बहुत पैसा कमाता है।
He earns a lot of money.
(vah bahut paisaa kamaataa hai।)
भाई साहब, थोड़ा पैसे कम करो।
Brother, lower the price a little.
(bhaaii saahab, thodaa paise kam karo।)
उसने अपना सारा पैसा शादी में उड़ा दिया।
He blew all his money on the wedding.
(usne apnaa saaraa paisaa shaadii men udaa diyaa।)
अगर मेरे पास पैसा होता, तो मैं यह घर खरीद लेता।
If I had money, I would buy this house.
(agar mere paas paisaa hotaa, to main yah ghar khariid letaa।)
कल तक सारा पैसा वापस कर दिया जाएगा।
All the money will be returned by tomorrow.
(kal tak saaraa paisaa vaapas kar diyaa jaaegaa।)
वह पैसा फेंकता है जैसे उसे कोई परवाह ही न हो।
He throws money around as if he doesn't care at all.
(vah paisaa phenktaa hai jaise use koii parvaah hii n ho।)
काश उसके पास इतना पैसा न होता।
I wish he didn't have so much money.
(kaash uske paas itnaa paisaa n hotaa।)
यह सुनिश्चित किया जाए कि सारा पैसा सही खाते में जमा हो।
It should be ensured that all the money is deposited into the correct account.
(yah sunishchit kiyaa jaae ki saaraa paisaa sahii khaate men jamaa ho।)
वह तो पैसे वाला आदमी है, उसे क्या फ़िक्र।
He's a rich man, what does he have to worry about.
(vah to paise vaalaa aadmii hai, use kyaa fikr।)
पैसा ही सब कुछ नहीं होता।
Money isn't everything.
(paisaa hii sab kuchh nahiin hotaa।)
पैसा हमेशा ईमानदारी से कमाया जाना चाहिए।
Money should always be earned honestly.
(paisaa hameshaa iimaandaarii se kamaayaa jaanaa chaahie।)
Sense
2
:
a paisa (1/100 of a rupee); a small coin/unit of currency
noun, masculine This sense survives mainly in fixed prices (50 पैसे, 50 paise) and in idioms about small amounts; the physical coin itself is essentially obsolete in circulation today.
Frequency: low
Cultural Note: Older Delhi-wallahs will still say एक पैसा भी नहीं (ek paisaa bhii nahiin, 'not even a single paisa') to mean 'not a bit,' a fossil of the days when the paisa was real spending currency -- much like English 'I don't have a penny to my name.'
Sample Sentences:
पुराने ज़माने में एक रुपये के सौ पैसे होते थे।
In the old days, there used to be a hundred paisas to one rupee.
(puraane zamaane men ek rupye ke sau paise hote the।)
मेरे पास एक पैसा भी नहीं है।
I don't have even a single paisa.
(mere paas ek paisaa bhii nahiin hai।)
दादाजी कहते थे कि उनके ज़माने में एक पैसे में भी कुछ मिल जाता था।
Grandfather used to say that in his time you could even get something for one paisa.
(daadaajii kahte the ki unke zamaane men ek paise men bhii kuchh mil jaataa thaa।)
अब बाज़ार में एक पैसे का सिक्का ढूँढे नहीं मिलता।
Now you can't find even a one-paisa coin in the market, no matter how hard you look.
(ab baazaar men ek paise kaa sikkaa dhoondhe nahiin miltaa।)
अगर एक-एक पैसा जोड़ते तो आज इतनी परेशानी न होती।
If we had saved every single paisa, we wouldn't be in so much trouble today.
(agar ek-ek paisaa jodte to aaj itnii pareshaanii n hotii।)
उस ज़माने में एक पैसे की भी बड़ी कीमत होती थी।
In those days, even a single paisa had great value.
(us zamaane men ek paise kii bhii badii kiimat hotii thii।)
नानी के बटुए में अब भी एक पुराना पैसा रखा है।
There's still an old paisa coin kept in grandmother's purse.
(naanii ke batue men ab bhii ek puraanaa paisaa rakhaa hai।)
उसने कसम खाई कि अब वह एक पैसा भी फ़िज़ूल खर्च नहीं करेगा।
He swore that he wouldn't waste even a single paisa from now on.
(usne kasam khaaii ki ab vah ek paisaa bhii fizool kharch nahiin karegaa।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
पैसा
(paisaa)
(sg.m.oblique):
पैसे
(paise)
(pl.m.direct):
पैसे
(paise)
(pl.m.oblique):
पैसों
(paison)