Mind Your Language: Remembering the rules of Hindi grammar is important to score good marks

If there is one area where every child struggles – be it English, हिन्दी or Sanskrit – it is grammar. Most language experts opine that this is because students find a disconnection between knowing the rules of grammar and being able to apply them when they are either listening, speaking, reading, or writing. This leads to a difference between informative knowledge and routine knowledge.

Another mistake that students make according to Jyoti Goyal, Primary teacher at Apeejay School, Charkhi Dadri who also teaches Hindi is not remembering the rules as they go into higher classes. “Basic rules of हिन्दी grammar are taught in primary classes. But as students go into higher classes they tend to forget these. This means that they end up making very simple but silly mistakes in spellings,” Goyal said.

Talking about हिन्दी as a subject, in most schools, it all begins with the Hindi alphabet (वर्णमाला). “When the students come to class 1 that is when we introduce them to matras (मात्रा) and slowly introduce them to very basic grammar. When the students come to us, they have no knowledge of swar or vyanjan. So, we have to start from scratch and teach them Hindi by showing them photographs of things to familiarise them with Hindi words and sounds. We then ask them to come up with words that start with the same alphabet,” Goyal said.

---

“The students must be taught the need to remember rules of grammar. Make them practice time and again so that they don’t make mistakes when they go into higher classes”

–Jyoti Goyal, Primary teacher at Apeejay School Charkhi Dadri

---

This is when the students start making mistakes in matras. “This is especially true when it comes to छोटा उ की मात्रा, बड़े ऊ की मात्रा, छोटी इ की मात्रा and बड़ी ई की मात्रा. Common mistakes made are की and कि. There is a rule that applies here – की is used when we have to join two things. Also, kee is used like ‘of’ in English,” Goyal explained.

Take an example:

ताले की चाबी खो गई ।

कि, she said, is used as a conjunction that joins the main sentence with a dependent clause. Also, कि is used like ‘that’ in English. Take an example:

तुम बिहार से हो कि बंगाल से ।

She also shared a few simple ways how students can improve their grammar.

1. Tell stories where primary class students can be taught matras.

2. Make them practice time and again so that they don’t make mistakes when they go into higher classes.

3. Tell them the importance of following rules in grammar. For example, when it comes to opposite words (विलोम), the students need to understand that these are opposite words like ऊपर (Above), नीचे (Below).

4. Similarly there is a difference between hai (है) and hain (हैं) in Hindi. Hai is used for singular; while hain is used for plural. Take an example: राधा खाना खा रही है । वे खेल रहे हैं ।

5. These rules need to be repeated time and again with the students so that it becomes part and parcel of their learning.

6. Students must be taught how to communicate what they want to say in Hindi. It has been found that when children speak in Hindi they tend to use English words as well. This should be discouraged because unless they learn to express themselves properly, they won’t be able to write correctly.

7. This exercise will also help the student increase his/her vocabulary and knowledge about Hindi as a subject as they go into higher classes.

8. Some of the things that are taught to students in class II are nouns, pronouns, and their definitions. They are also taught simple opposite words and vachan badlo (singular/plural).

9.  Again in vachan badlo there are rules. In masculine words ‘आ’ की जगह पर ‘ए’ has to be used and they become plural. Take an example. कलम-कलमे and जूता-जूते ।

10. When it comes to स्त्रीलिंग singular words, ‘अ’ is changed to ‘एँ’. Take an example. आँख-आँखे and बहन-बहनें ।

11. Sometimes स्त्रीलिंग singular words, ‘आ’ is changed to ‘ए’. Here is an example. कला-कलाएं and दवा-दवाएं ।

“Unless and until the students are made aware of these rules and they can master and remember them, they will continue to make mistakes. Now that the new session has started, students going into new classes can quickly revise these grammatical rules to score full marks in Hindi,” Goyal said in conclusion.