What are common mistakes with क्रमसूचक और भिन्न?

Building the first six ordinals regularly, and using sadhe below three. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: the irregular start and the adjectival agreement both match Russian, so the residual work is dhai, which has no single Russian word behind it.

क्रमसूचक और भिन्न: rules, examples & exercises | Hindi Grammar A2

क्रमसूचक और भिन्न

A2 — संख्या

पहला, दूसरा, आधा, डेढ़, सवा, पौने

I can give an order, a floor number and a quantity with a fraction in it

पहला, दूसरा, आधा, डेढ़, सवा, पौने

Examples

— I live on the third floor.
— Give me a kilo and a half of mangoes.
— This is her second book.

संख्याA2

Ordinals and Fractions

First, second, half, one and a half, quarter past and quarter to

Learning Goal

I can give an order, a floor number and a quantity with a fraction in it

Exam Skills:बोलनालिखना

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

I live on the third floor.

Give me a kilo and a half of mangoes.

This is her second book.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Ordinals

पहला	first	चौथा	fourth
दूसरा	second	पाँचवाँ	fifth
तीसरा	third	छठा	sixth

The first six are irregular. From seven onwards it is regular: -वाँ on the cardinal - सातवाँ, आठवाँ, दसवाँ. All of them agree like -आ adjectives: पहली मंज़िल, दूसरे दिन.

Fractions

आधा	half	आधा किलो
डेढ़	one and a half	डेढ़ घंटा
ढाई	two and a half	ढाई किलो
सवा	and a quarter	सवा तीन
पौने	a quarter less	पौने चार

डेढ़ and ढाई replace the number entirely; from three onwards साढ़े is used: साढ़े तीन.

Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Building the first six ordinals regularly, and using sadhe below three.

Common Error Patterns

Regular formation of the first six ordinals

pahla, dusra, tisra, chautha, panchvan, chhatha are learned whole.

sadhe used below three

derh and dhai cover 1.5 and 2.5; sadhe starts at three.

I live on the third floor.

tisri agrees with manzil, which is feminine.

Give me a kilo and a half of mangoes.

derh is one word, exactly as poltora is.

This is her second book.

The first six ordinals are irregular in both languages.

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises

A2 Course

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Frequently asked questions

When is क्रमसूचक और भिन्न used?: The first six are irregular. From seven onwards it is regular: -वाँ on the cardinal - सातवाँ, आठवाँ, दसवाँ. All of them agree like -आ adjectives: पहली मंज़िल, दूसरे दिन.
How is क्रमसूचक और भिन्न formed?: डेढ़ and ढाई replace the number entirely; from three onwards साढ़े is used: साढ़े तीन.
What are common mistakes with क्रमसूचक और भिन्न?: Building the first six ordinals regularly, and using sadhe below three. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: the irregular start and the adjectival agreement both match Russian, so the residual work is dhai, which has no single Russian word behind it.

Sources

हिन्दी व्याकरण — काशी नागरी प्रचारिणी सभा, 1920
Kamta Prasad Guru's grammar, the standard prescriptive reference for Hindi morphology and syntax.
Outline of Hindi Grammar — Oxford University Press, 1995
R. S. McGregor's outline, the standard concise academic description of Hindi morphology.