Karak (Case): The Eight Cases and Case Markers — Patwari Notes

What is Karak (case)?

The relationship a noun or pronoun has with the verb in a sentence is called karak (case), and the markers that show this relationship (such as ने, को, से, के लिए, का, में, पर) are called vibhakti (case markers). Hindi grammar recognises eight cases — karta (nominative/agent), karma (accusative/object), karan (instrumental), sampradan (dative), apadan (ablative), sambandh (genitive), adhikaran (locative), and sambodhan (vocative).

Of these, karan and apadan both use the marker 'से', but the sense differs. In the karan case, 'से' indicates the means or instrument by which an action was performed — as in 'वह कलम से लिखता है' ('he writes with a pen'). In the apadan case, 'से' indicates separation, comparison, or distance from something — as in 'पेड़ से पत्ता गिरा' ('a leaf fell from the tree' — separation) or 'विशु रोहन से फुर्तीला है' ('Vishu is nimbler than Rohan' — comparison).

The most reliable way to identify the case is to ask a question of the verb in the sentence — asking 'किसने किया?' ('who did it?') gives the karta; 'किसको/किसे?' ('to/for whom?') gives the karma; 'किससे/किसके द्वारा (साधन)?' ('by what means?') gives the karan; 'किसके लिए?' ('for whom?') gives the sampradan; 'किससे (अलग/तुलना)?' ('from what — separation/comparison?') gives the apadan; 'किसका/किसकी/किसके?' ('whose?') gives the sambandh; and 'कहाँ/कब?' ('where/when?') gives the adhikaran case. This questioning method is especially useful when the case marker is absent (zero marker) or when the same marker appears across several cases.

Keep in mind that karak and vibhakti are not the same thing — karak is the relationship between the noun/pronoun and the verb, while vibhakti (ने, को, से, का, etc.) is merely the marker showing that relationship. Sanskrit traditionally teaches six cases, while Hindi recognises eight by adding sambandh and sambodhan. When no clear case marker appears with the karta or karma (as in 'राम पढ़ता है' — 'Ram studies'), this is called the zero marker (shunya vibhakti), and even then the correct case can be identified by asking the question of the sentence.

This question-based method gets stronger with practice, so make it a habit to take 4-5 sentences from a passage each day and check the case of every underlined word this way. This builds the ability to correctly identify case even in new, unseen sentences in the exam.

When 'ने' comes with the karta case, and when it doesn't

The karta case's marker 'ने' doesn't always appear — this rule-based usage often trips people up in the exam. Usually, 'ने' appears with the karta in the past tense of a transitive verb (one that takes an object), as in 'राम ने पत्र लिखा' ('Ram wrote a letter'). But with an intransitive verb (one with no object), or in most forms of the present/future tense, 'ने' does not appear with the karta — as in 'राम सोता है' ('Ram sleeps' — present, intransitive) or 'राम पत्र लिखेगा' ('Ram will write a letter' — future). This is why the karta case is sometimes identified with 'ने' and sometimes without it (zero marker).

The eight cases, their markers, and examples

Note: both karan and apadan take 'से', and both karma and sampradan can take 'को' — the correct case is decided only by the sense (means/separation, or object/purpose).

How to tell karan-apadan and sampradan-karma apart

Both karan and apadan take 'से', so it's necessary to look at the sense in the question — if 'से' points to a means/instrument (by what was it done), it's karan; if it points to separation, distance, or comparison (separated from what, compared to what), it's apadan. Similarly, both sampradan and karma can take 'को' — if 'को' shows that something is being given/sent for someone's benefit (for whom), it's sampradan; if 'को' shows the direct receiver of the verb's effect (to whom something was done), it's the karma case.

The karan case has another use in passive-voice (karmavachya) sentences, where the original karta is marked with 'के द्वारा' or 'से' and shown like a karan — for example, when 'मोहन ने पत्र लिखा' ('Mohan wrote the letter' — active voice) is turned into the passive voice, it becomes 'मोहन के द्वारा पत्र लिखा गया' ('the letter was written by Mohan'), where 'मोहन के द्वारा' is used as the karan case. This connects to the next topic, called Vachya (Voice), so it's useful to study the two together.

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