Vyakaran (Sandhi-Samas) Questions for IBPS RRB PO

Sandhi: What It Is and Why It Happens

Sandhi means 'joining'. When two sounds (varnas) come together, the sounds at the junction change or merge to make pronunciation smooth. This is purely a sound-level change. Think of it like two water streams meeting — the meeting point changes both streams slightly. Sandhi has three main types based on whether the sounds involved are vowels, consonants, or nasal/visarga sounds.

• Swar Sandhi: vowel meets vowel. Most common and most tested type.
• Vyanjan Sandhi: consonant meets vowel or consonant. Sound of the consonant changes.
• Visarg Sandhi: visarga (the : sound, written as colon after a letter) meets a vowel or consonant.
• Key rule: Sandhi happens at the word boundary — last sound of word 1 meets first sound of word 2.
• Sandhi-Viched means splitting the joined word back into original two parts — this is what exams ask.
• Trick to identify: if removing one letter and replacing with two letters makes sense in Hindi, it is Sandhi.

Samas: What It Is and How to Identify

Samas means 'compression'. Two or more words come together to form one shorter compound word, and in the process, the linking words (vibhakti or karak) are dropped. Think of it like a telegram — you drop unnecessary words to save space. The full expanded form is called Samas-Vigraha. Exams ask you to identify the type of Samas from the vigraha, or write vigraha for a given word.

• Avyayibhav Samas: first word is indeclinable (avyay), it dominates meaning. Example: yathashakti = shakti ke anusar.
• Tatpurush Samas: second word is dominant (pradhan). Karak vibhakti is dropped in middle. Example: raajmahal = raaja ka mahal.
• Karmadharaya Samas: both words describe the same thing (adjective-noun or noun-noun). Example: neelkamal = neela jo kamal hai.
• Dvigu Samas: first word is a numeral. Example: panchatantra = panch tantron ka sangrah.
• Dwandwa Samas: both words are equal in importance, joined by 'aur' or 'ya'. Example: ram-sita = ram aur sita.
• Bahuvrihi Samas: neither word is dominant — compound describes a third thing. Example: dashaanan = das hain aanan jiske (i.e., Ravana).

Quick Comparison: Sandhi vs Samas

Students confuse these two because both involve joining words. Remember this: Sandhi is a sound change at the meeting point of two sounds — it is a phonetic (sound) rule. Samas is a meaning compression — it is a grammatical (semantic) rule. In Sandhi, the original sounds change. In Samas, the sounds may not change but the karak (case marker) words are dropped.

• Sandhi: operates at the varna (sound) level. Vigraha means re-separating sounds.
• Samas: operates at the word level. Vigraha means expanding with dropped words restored.
• A Samas word may also have Sandhi inside it. Example: vidyalaya has both Samas (vidhya + aalay) and Sandhi (aa+aa=aa).
• If the question gives a vigraha with 'ka, ke, ki, ko, se, ne' etc. — it is always Tatpurush Samas.
• If the question gives a vigraha with 'aur' joining two equal items — it is Dwandwa Samas.
• Bahuvrihi is the trickiest — the compound word refers to something outside itself.

• Confusing Karmadharaya and Dvigu: Both look like adjective-noun but Dvigu always has a number as the first word. Panch (5) in Panchatantra is the giveaway.
• Confusing Karmadharaya and Bahuvrihi: In Karmadharaya, the compound word describes itself (neelkamal = blue lotus). In Bahuvrihi, it describes someone else (neelkanth = Shiva, not the throat itself). Ask: does the compound word refer to itself or to another person/thing?
• In Sandhi-Viched, students write the wrong vowel split. Remember: devendra splits as deva + indra (Gunn Sandhi), not dev + indra.
• Forgetting that Avyayibhav Samas is identified by the first word being an avyay (yatha, anu, prati, up, etc.) — this is a fast identification trick.
• Trying to do Vigraha in Sandhi the way you do in Samas. These are different processes — Sandhi Viched restores sounds, Samas Vigraha restores dropped words.

• SAMAS types memory trick: A TK DD B — Avyayibhav, Tatpurush, Karmadharaya, Dwigu, Dwandwa, Bahuvrihi. Remember: A Tiger Kills Deer Daily But (escapes).
• Sandhi vowel chain: Same vowels lengthen (Dirgha), a meets i/u = e/o (Gunn), a meets e/o = ai/au (Vriddhi). Think of it as climbing a ladder: same step, one step up, two steps up.
• Bahuvrihi test: If you can say 'jiske' or 'jiski' in the vigraha — it is Bahuvrihi. Example: dashaanan = das hain aanan jiske = Bahuvrihi. This jiske test never fails.
• Sandhi vs Samas visual analogy: Sandhi = two rivers merging (sounds change at the meeting point). Samas = two people walking together under one umbrella (they stay separate but function as one unit, and the middleman — karak — is removed).

• IBPS RRB PO Hindi paper typically has 2 to 3 direct Samas identification questions and 1 to 2 Sandhi Viched questions. Samas is more predictable and easier to score — prioritize it.
• Bahuvrihi and Karmadharaya are the favourite trick pair in MCQs. Examiners often give the same word and ask you to pick the correct type — use the jiske test for Bahuvrihi instantly.
• Sandhi questions in recent years have focused on Swar Sandhi (especially Gunn and Dirgha). Visarg Sandhi appears rarely — skip deep study if time is short.
• In fill-in-the-blank or error spotting questions in Hindi, knowing Sandhi rules helps you spot wrong spellings of compound words — an indirect use of this topic.
• Time strategy: A Samas question should take 20 to 30 seconds if you know the types cold. Do not spend more than 40 seconds on any single Sandhi-Samas question — move on and return.