बहुत bahut, ज़्यादा zyādā, and काफ़ी kāfī all raise degree, but they do not mean the same thing. बहुत means “very” without requiring a comparison. ज़्यादा means “more” or, with an implicit limit, “too.” काफ़ी before an adjective means “quite/considerably”; as a predicate of an amount, it can mean “enough.” More formal comparisons often use अधिक and कम.
All three are invariant. A declinable adjective after them continues to agree with its noun.
Core contrast
| Modifier | Core contribution | Example |
|---|---|---|
| बहुत | high degree | बहुत लंबा very long |
| ज़्यादा | higher than a standard / excessive | ज़्यादा लंबा longer / too long |
| काफ़ी | substantial degree | काफ़ी लंबा quite long |
| बहुत ज़्यादा | extreme or excessive degree | बहुत ज़्यादा लंबा far too long |
रिपोर्ट बहुत लंबी है, लेकिन सार काफ़ी छोटा है।
riporṭ bahut lambī hai, lekin sār kāfī choṭā hai.
The report is very long, but the summary is quite short.
यह मेज़ कमरे के लिए ज़्यादा चौड़ी है।
yah mez kamre ke lie zyādā cauṛī hai.
This table is too wide for the room.
The practical room constraint supplies the excess standard in the second sentence.
Agreement through the degree phrase
| Head noun | With बहुत | With काफ़ी |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular direct | बहुत पुराना घर | काफ़ी पुराना घर |
| masculine plural direct | बहुत पुराने घर | काफ़ी पुराने घर |
| masculine singular oblique | बहुत पुराने घर में | काफ़ी पुराने घर में |
| feminine singular/plural | बहुत पुरानी इमारतें | काफ़ी पुरानी इमारतें |
The modifiers stay fixed; पुराना supplies पुराना/पुराने/पुरानी.
काफ़ी पुराने मकान में अब भी लकड़ी की सीढ़ियाँ हैं।
kāfī purāne makān meṃ ab bhī lakṛī kī sīṛhiyā̃ haiṃ.
The fairly old house still has wooden stairs.
Masculine singular oblique पुराने मकान में shows that degree modification does not suspend case agreement.
Attributive and predicative position
हमने बहुत शांत इलाक़ा चुना।
hamne bahut śānt ilāqā cunā.
We chose a very quiet area.
यह इलाक़ा रात में बहुत शांत रहता है।
yah ilāqā rāt meṃ bahut śānt rahtā hai.
This area stays very quiet at night.
Attributive बहुत शांत precedes the noun; predicative बहुत शांत follows the subject. Indeclinable शांत is unchanged, while the surrounding predicate carries masculine singular agreement.
ज़्यादा: comparative and excessive readings
नई बैटरी पुरानी बैटरी से ज़्यादा टिकाऊ है।
naī baiṭrī purānī baiṭrī se zyādā ṭikāū hai.
The new battery is more durable than the old battery.
यह बैग रोज़ के इस्तेमाल के लिए ज़्यादा भारी है।
yah baig roz ke istemāl ke lie zyādā bhārī hai.
This bag is too heavy for everyday use.
An overt से standard forces comparison. A purpose phrase plus a practical limit favors “too.” बहुत भारी would merely say “very heavy” without necessarily rejecting the bag.
बहुत ज़्यादा strengthens either degree or excess:
इस छोटे कमरे में रोशनी बहुत ज़्यादा तेज़ है।
is choṭe kamre meṃ rośnī bahut zyādā tez hai.
The light is far too bright in this small room.
काफ़ी: quite versus enough
Before an adjective, काफ़ी normally marks a substantial degree.
स्टेशन यहाँ से काफ़ी दूर है।
sṭeśan yahā̃ se kāfī dūr hai.
The station is quite far from here.
As a predicate of a quantity or resource, it means “enough.”
चार लोगों के लिए यह खाना काफ़ी है।
cār logoṃ ke lie yah khānā kāfī hai.
This food is enough for four people.
In काफ़ी दूर, काफ़ी normally means “quite”; in खाना काफ़ी है, it predicates sufficiency of the food. A salient requirement can also produce “adjective enough”:
यह कमरा चार लोगों के लिए काफ़ी बड़ा है।
yah kamrā cār logoṃ ke lie kāfī baṛā hai.
This room is big enough for four people.
The adjective's position alone therefore does not settle the reading; a purpose phrase or contextual threshold can activate sufficiency.
Scope: degree versus quantity
शहर में बहुत पुराने घर बचे हैं।
śahar meṃ bahut purāne ghar bace haiṃ.
Very old houses remain in the city. (high degree of age)
शहर में बहुत-से पुराने घर बचे हैं।
śahar meṃ bahut-se purāne ghar bace haiṃ.
Many old houses remain in the city. (high number of houses)
In the first, बहुत groups with पुराने. In the second, agreeing बहुत-से quantifies plural घर. Hyphenation and -से make the count reading overt.
Negation also changes scope:
फ़िल्म बहुत अच्छी नहीं थी, पर बुरी भी नहीं थी।
film bahut acchī nahīṃ thī, par burī bhī nahīṃ thī.
The film wasn't very good, but it wasn't bad either.
This negates a high degree of goodness, not goodness altogether.
Conventional meanings
यह काफ़ी बड़ा क़दम है; इससे पूरी नीति बदल सकती है।
yah kāfī baṛā qadam hai; isse pūrī nīti badal saktī hai.
This is quite a major step; it could change the whole policy.
बड़ा means major or consequential here. Degree modification strengthens that conventional reading; it does not force physical size.
Agreement in a ने-clause
नादिया ने बहुत महँगी जैकेट खरीदी।
nādiyā ne bahut mahãgī jaikeṭ kharīdī.
Nadia bought a very expensive jacket.
Feminine महँगी/खरीदी agree with unmarked object जैकेट. Invariant बहुत does not agree, and the ने-marked agent is not the controller.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting ज़्यादा after the adjective
❌ यह चाय पीने के लिए बहुत गर्म ज़्यादा है।
Incorrect — ज़्यादा belongs before the adjective, and बहुत ज़्यादा functions as a single degree sequence here.
✅ यह चाय पीने के लिए बहुत ज़्यादा गर्म है।
yah cāy pīne ke lie bahut zyādā garm hai.
This tea is far too hot to drink.
2. Making ज़्यादा agree
❌ हमें ज़्यादी बड़ी मेज़ चाहिए।
Incorrect: ज़्यादा is invariant.
✅ हमें ज़्यादा बड़ी मेज़ चाहिए।
hameṃ zyādā baṛī mez cāhie.
We need a larger table.
3. Losing adjective agreement after काफ़ी
❌ यह काफ़ी महँगा घड़ी है।
Incorrect: feminine घड़ी requires महँगी.
✅ यह काफ़ी महँगी घड़ी है।
yah kāfī mahãgī ghaṛī hai.
This is quite an expensive watch.
4. Confusing degree with count quantity
❌ बहुत पुराने घर बचे हैं।
Incorrect for the intended ‘many old houses’: this naturally means ‘very old houses.’
✅ बहुत-से पुराने घर बचे हैं।
bahut-se purāne ghar bace haiṃ.
Many old houses remain.
Key Takeaways
- बहुत marks high degree, ज़्यादा comparison or excess, and काफ़ी substantial degree or sufficiency.
- All three are invariant; a following declinable adjective still agrees.
- बहुत पुराने घर and बहुत-से पुराने घर differ in scope: very old versus many.
- Contextual standards distinguish comparative and excessive ज़्यादा.
Related Topics
- Comparatives with सेB1 — Build unequal comparisons with an oblique standard plus से, while making the adjective agree with the item being described.
- Analytic degree with अधिक and कमB1 — Use invariant अधिक and कम before adjectives for formal more and neutral less, while preserving ordinary adjective agreement.
- Absolute superlative and emphatic reduplicationB1 — Express an extreme quality without comparison, and use repeated adjectives for vivid, plural, or distributive emphasis.
- Degree adverbs बहुत काफ़ी बिल्कुलA2 — Distinguish बहुत, काफ़ी, and बिल्कुल by scale, sufficiency, endpoint meaning, scope, and neutral position.
- बहुत and ज़्यादा much many moreA2 — Distinguish neutral बहुत from evaluative and comparative ज़्यादा across quantity, degree, count, mass, and scope.
- Declinable adjectives in -āA1 — Form the -ā, -e, and -ī agreement pattern of variable Hindi adjectives across gender, number, case, and predicate position.