नाख़ून (naakhoon)

noun A single everyday sense: 'nail' as in fingernail or toenail. Also spelled नाखून (naakhoon) without the nuqta, very commonly so in casual writing.
Sense 1 : fingernail/toenail
noun, masculine
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: In many Indian households cutting nails (naakhoon kaatnaa) after sunset is considered inauspicious, so you will often hear an elder say नाख़ून मत काटो, रात हो गई है (naakhoon mat kaato, raat ho gaii hai, 'don't cut your nails, it's nighttime') -- a small superstition worth knowing since it comes up in real family conversation.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes drop the nuqta sound and say it like नाकून (naakoon) -- the ख़ (kh) is a soft, breathy 'kh' sound (from Persian), not a hard 'k'. 2) नाख़ून काटना (naakhoon kaatnaa, 'to cut nails') is the standard collocation for trimming nails -- learners sometimes reach for 'nail cutting' phrasing that sounds unnatural in Hindi.
Sample Sentences:
मेरे नाख़ून बहुत बड़े हो गए हैं। My nails have grown very long.
(mere naakhoon bahut bade ho gae hain।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
नाख़ून मत काटो, रात हो गई है। Don't cut your nails, it's nighttime.
(naakhoon mat kaato, raat ho gaii hai।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
वह हर हफ़्ते अपने नाख़ून काटता है। He cuts his nails every week.
(vah har hafte apne naakhoon kaattaa hai।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
बच्चा अपने नाख़ून चबा रहा है। The child is biting his nails.
(bachchaa apne naakhoon chabaa rahaa hai।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Continuous -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
अगर तुम अपने नाख़ून साफ़ रखते तो इतनी गंदगी नहीं होती। If you kept your nails clean, there wouldn't be so much dirt.
(agar tum apne naakhoon saaf rakhte to itnii gandgii nahiin hotii।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
कृपया अपने नाख़ून काट लें, खाना बनाने से पहले। Please trim your nails before cooking.
(kripyaa apne naakhoon kaat len, khaanaa banaane se pahle।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
उसके नाख़ून पीले पड़ गए हैं, शायद कोई बीमारी है। His nails have turned yellow, maybe there's some illness.
(uske naakhoon piile pad gae hain, shaayad koii biimaarii hai।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
नाख़ून काटते वक़्त उसकी उंगली से खून निकल आया। While cutting his nails, blood started coming from his finger.
(naakhoon kaatte vaqt uskii unglii se khoon nikal aayaa।)
Register: Casual -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
डॉक्टर ने कहा कि नाख़ून बहुत ज़्यादा काटने से भी संक्रमण हो सकता है। The doctor said that cutting nails too much can also cause infection.
(doktar ne kahaa ki naakhoon bahut zyaadaa kaatne se bhii sankrman ho saktaa hai।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
पहले ज़माने में नाख़ून काटने के लिए ख़ास औज़ार नहीं होते थे। In earlier times, there were no special tools for cutting nails.
(pahle zamaane men naakhoon kaatne ke lie khaas auzaar nahiin hote the।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
नाख़ून हमेशा सीधी दिशा में काटे जाते हैं ताकि वे टूटें नहीं। Nails are always cut in a straight direction so that they don't break.
(naakhoon hameshaa siidhii dishaa men kaate jaate hain taaki ve tooten nahiin।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct): नाख़ून (naakhoon)
(sg.m.oblique): नाख़ून (naakhoon)
(pl.m.direct): नाख़ून (naakhoon)
(pl.m.oblique): नाख़ूनों (naakhoonon)