वचन (Vachan) is Hindi grammar's way of expressing quantity — whether you are talking about one thing or more than one. The word "vachan" literally means "utterance" or "statement," but in grammar it functions exactly like the English concept of grammatical number.
There are two forms:
Here is a concrete analogy. Think of vachan as a light switch — it is either off (एकवचन, one) or on (बहुवचन, many). Unlike English, Hindi does not have a dual form (a special "two of something" category). Once you have more than one, you are always in बहुवचन territory.
Why does this matter for the UP Police exam? Because vachan questions test two distinct things. First, whether you can correctly convert a word from singular to plural (or identify which plural form is spelled correctly). Second, whether you know the exceptions — words that are permanently stuck in singular or permanently stuck in plural, regardless of how many are meant. These exception words are where most marks are either won or lost.
Unlike mechanical conversion rules (which you can apply step by step), the exceptions must be memorized by category. The good news is the list is short and the same words appear in papers year after year: दर्शन, प्राण, आँसू always plural; वर्षा, जनता, सोना, चाँदी always singular. Master the conversion rules first, then pin down the exceptions, and this topic becomes almost free marks.
Hindi nouns have gender (लिंग), and the plural suffix depends on gender and the ending vowel of the word. This is the decision tree you need hardwired.
| Singular Ending | Plural Change | Example | |---|---|---| | आ (ā) | आ → ए | लड़का → लड़के, घोड़ा → घोड़े | | Any consonant or short vowel | No change | राजा → राजा, पिता → पिता (invariant) | | Other vowels (ई, ऊ, etc.) | No change in direct case | नेता → नेता, जामाता → जामाता |
Key insight: Masculine nouns ending in आ are the only masculine nouns that visibly change. Everything else stays the same in the direct case (though oblique case forms change — but that is कारक territory).
This is where most of the exam questions live, because feminine plural endings have more variety and more spelling traps.
| Singular Ending | Plural Change | Example | |---|---|---| | अ (short a) | अ → एँ | बात → बातें, रात → रातें, किताब → किताबें | | आ (ā) | आ → एँ | माता → माताएँ, लता → लताएँ | | इ / ई (short or long i) | इ/ई → इयाँ (short इ + याँ) | नारी → नारियाँ, लड़की → लड़कियाँ, टोपी → टोपियाँ | | उ / ऊ (short or long u) | Short vowel + एँ | वस्तु → वस्तुएँ, वधू → वधुएँ (note: ऊ shortens to उ) | | या (yā) | या → याँ | चिड़िया → चिड़ियाँ, लुटिया → लुटियाँ | | ति, नि, etc. (consonant + इ) | इ → ियाँ | जाति → जातियाँ, रात्रि → रात्रियाँ |
Look — the ई → इयाँ rule is critical. When a feminine noun ends in long ई, you shorten it to short इ and add याँ. The long ई never survives into the plural. This is why दवाईयाँ is wrong and दवाइयाँ is correct — the ई must become short इ.
Similarly, when ऊ words go plural, the ऊ shortens to उ: वधू → वधुएँ, not वधूएँ.
These are fixed pairs — no rule applies, just memory:
| एकवचन | बहुवचन | |---|---| | मैं | हम | | तू | तुम / आप | | यह | ये | | वह | वे |
The exam specifically asks about मैं → हम. Do not write "हम लोग" — that is a phrase, not the grammatical plural. हम alone is the answer.
This is the highest-yield sub-topic. Learn these cold.
These words have no singular form in standard Hindi usage:
These words remain singular even when referring to a collective large quantity:
The exam loves pitting वर्षा vs. जनता against होश vs. हस्ताक्षर in the same question. You need both lists clean.
Any feminine noun ending in ई (long) must shrink to इ (short) before taking याँ in plural. Think: ई is too long to carry the weight of याँ — it shrinks down. Test it on दवाई → दवाइयाँ, लड़की → लड़कियाँ, नारी → नारियाँ. Standard method (thinking through full grammar rule): 25 seconds. Pattern check (ई shrinks): 5 seconds. You save 4-5 seconds per question, which adds up across a full Hindi section.
When a feminine noun ends in long ऊ, its plural shortens ऊ to उ and adds एँ. वधू → वधु + एँ = वधुएँ. वस्तु (already short उ) → वस्तु + एँ = वस्तुएँ. The rule is symmetric: long vowels (ई and ऊ) always shorten in plural. This eliminates wrong options like "वधूएँ" in 3 seconds — just check whether the option kept the long vowel. Standard elimination: 20 seconds. Vowel-length check: 5 seconds.
Remember the mnemonic P-A-A-H for always-plural words: Praan (प्राण), Aansoo (आँसू), Aakshar as in hastakshar (हस्ताक्षर), Hosh (होश). Add दर्शन separately — it is the most-tested. When a question asks "which word is always plural," scan the options for any of these five first. If दर्शन is in the options, that is almost certainly the answer — it has appeared in multiple years. Scanning with this cluster: 4 seconds vs. thinking from scratch: 15-20 seconds.
Varsha + Janata = always singular pair (think VJ, like a video jockey — solo performer, always one). When a question asks for always-singular words, the pair वर्षा + जनता is the standard correct answer. If you see them together in an option, select it immediately. This exact combination appeared in a 2024 paper. Recognition time: 3 seconds.
Hindi pronoun plurals are predictable except one: people write "हम लोग" for the plural of मैं. The grammatical plural is simply हम — not हम लोग, not हम सब, not हम दोनों. Those are emphatic phrases, not the grammatical vachan form. When you see this question type, go straight to the shortest हम option. Comparison: reading all four options = 10 seconds; knowing the rule and picking हम directly = 3 seconds.
When you see a vachan question in the exam hall, run this decision tree:
Step 1 — Is it a "always singular / always plural" question? Yes → run the PAAD cluster check (प्राण, आँसू, हस्ताक्षर, होश, दर्शन) for always-plural, and VJ check (वर्षा, जनता) for always-singular. Pick and move.
Step 2 — Is it a pronoun question? Yes → recall the fixed grid. मैं→हम, तू→तुम, यह→ये, वह→वे. Done.
Step 3 — Is it a conversion question (find the correct plural of X)?
Total time budget: 30-45 seconds per vachan question.
Why this question: Tests whether you know the याँ rule for nouns ending in या — one of the most common feminine plural patterns.
Solving path: लुटिया ends in या. Feminine nouns ending in या form their plural by adding ँ (chandrabindu) to make याँ → लुटियाँ. Option A (लुटेना) and C (लूटना) are verbs, not noun plurals at all. Option D is a verb phrase. Only option B follows the ya→yaँ pattern.
Why this question: The classic "always plural" trap — tests the PAAD cluster knowledge directly.
Solving path: बहन, लता, गाय are all normal nouns with singular and plural forms. दर्शन has no singular usage in standard Hindi — you cannot say "एक दर्शन" in the way you can say "एक बहन." Spot दर्शन → select immediately.
Why this question: Tests the इ + याँ rule with a word that looks like it might take a different ending.
Solving path: जाति ends in ति (consonant + इ). The plural suffix is ियाँ → जाति + याँ = जातियाँ. Option A (जातो) invents a non-existent ending. Option B (जातियों) is the oblique plural (used after postpositions like में, को), not the direct plural. Option C (जातिया) is missing the chandrabindu. Only option D is correct.
Why this question: Pronoun vachan is a guaranteed 1-2 marks in every paper. This tests the most commonly confused pair.
Solving path: Eliminate हम लोग, हम सब, हम दोनों — all are emphatic phrases (emphasis expressions), not grammatical vachan forms. The singular मैं maps to the grammatical plural हम — clean and simple.
Why this question: Tests spelling precision — specifically the ई→इ shrink rule under exam pressure.
Solving path: दवाई ends in long ई. Apply the shrink rule: ई → short इ, then add याँ → दवाइयाँ. Option A (दवइयाँ) drops the आ entirely. Option C (दवाएँ) treats it like a word ending in plain आ. Option D (दवाईयाँ) keeps the long ई — this is the most common wrong answer because it looks natural but violates the shrink rule. Only B is correct.
Why this question: Tests the "always singular" category with a paired option format — a format that often trips up candidates who know individual words but not pairs.
Solving path: Check each pair. Option C has होश (always plural) — eliminate. Option D has प्राण (always plural) — eliminate. Option B has हस्ताक्षर (always plural) — eliminate. Option A: वर्षा (always singular) + जनता (always singular) — both qualify. This is the VJ pair. Select A.
Why this question: Tests the ऊ→उ shortening rule — the less commonly practiced sister rule to the ई→इ rule.
Solving path: वधू ends in long ऊ. Rule: ऊ shortens to उ and takes एँ → वधु + एँ = वधुएँ. Option D (वधूएँ) keeps the long ऊ — wrong. Options A and C invent suffixes that do not exist in Hindi grammar. Option B is correct.
Keeping the long vowel in plural spellings. The most common error: writing दवाईयाँ instead of दवाइयाँ, or वधूएँ instead of वधुएँ. Long ई and long ऊ always shorten when yaँ or eँ is added. Train your eye to flag any plural with ईयाँ or ऊएँ — they are almost always wrong.
Using oblique plural instead of direct plural. जातियों is oblique (used after में, को, से). जातियाँ is direct. When the question asks for बहुवचन without a postposition context, the direct form is required. Mixing these costs marks in both conversion and sentence-correction questions.
Writing "हम लोग" as the plural of मैं. हम लोग is a colloquial emphatic phrase. The grammatical answer is simply हम. Exam questions are testing grammar, not everyday speech.
Assuming दर्शन can be singular. Because you visit a temple once for "one darshan," students write एक दर्शन लिया — which sounds natural in speech but is grammatically non-standard. In formal Hindi grammar, दर्शन is always plural. Same trap applies to प्राण and आँसू.
Confusing जनता as plural. जनता looks like it refers to many people, so students treat it as plural and use plural verbs (जनता ने वोट दिए — plural). But जनता is grammatically always singular (जनता ने वोट दिया). This matters in error-spotting sentence questions.
Missing the chandrabindu (ँ) in yaँ endings. चिड़िया → चिड़ियाँ, not चिड़िया. The chandrabindu is part of the correct plural spelling. In objective questions, one option will often have yaँ and another will have ya without the chandrabindu — the one without is always wrong.