प्रत्येक pratyek means “each” or “every” in formal, administrative, and academic Hindi. Like neutral everyday हर, it is indeclinable and normally precedes a singular count noun: प्रत्येक छात्र, प्रत्येक फ़ाइल, प्रत्येक दिन.
The difference is primarily register, not logical meaning. A teacher speaking naturally may say हर छात्र, while an examination notice may write प्रत्येक परीक्षार्थी. Treating प्रत्येक as the only “correct” word for each would make ordinary conversation unnecessarily bureaucratic.
Core paradigm
| Function | Formal phrase | What changes? |
|---|---|---|
| direct masculine | प्रत्येक छात्र | प्रत्येक stays fixed |
| direct feminine | प्रत्येक छात्रा | the noun supplies gender |
| with को | प्रत्येक छात्र को | invariant छात्र shows no overt case change |
| with में | प्रत्येक कमरे में | कमरा becomes oblique कमरे |
| ergative | प्रत्येक सदस्य ने | ने marks the agent |
प्रत्येक आवेदक को पहचानपत्र दिखाना होगा।
pratyek āvedak ko pahcānpatr dikhānā hogā.
Each applicant will have to show identification. (formal)
प्रत्येक फ़ाइल पर तारीख़ लिखी है।
pratyek fāil par tārīx likhī hai.
A date is written on each file. (formal)
प्रत्येक never agrees with आवेदक or फ़ाइल. In the second example, feminine लिखी follows तारीख़, the subject of the passive/result expression—not the nearest noun फ़ाइल inside a postpositional phrase.
Formal and everyday versions
हर यात्री अपना टिकट संभालकर रखे।
har yātrī apnā ṭikaṭ sambhālkar rakhe.
Every passenger should keep their ticket safe. (neutral)
प्रत्येक यात्री अपना टिकट संभालकर रखे।
pratyek yātrī apnā ṭikaṭ sambhālkar rakhe.
Each passenger should keep their ticket safe. (formal notice)
The propositional content is the same. प्रत्येक makes the sentence sound like a written instruction or announcement. In relaxed conversation, हर is normally the more natural choice. This distinction is explained further in formal written Hindi.
Singular distribution versus plural totality
प्रत्येक सदस्य उपस्थित था।
pratyek sadasya upasthit thā.
Each member was present. (formal; individual-by-individual)
सभी सदस्य उपस्थित थे।
sabhī sadasya upasthit the.
All the members were present. (the group as a whole)
प्रत्येक सदस्य is grammatically singular and takes था when the set is masculine or mixed. सभी सदस्य is plural and takes थे. With an explicitly all-female group, agreement is feminine singular after प्रत्येक and feminine plural after सभी.
This singular/plural contrast is grammatical, even when both statements describe the same real people.
Case and postpositions
The head noun, not प्रत्येक, takes any visible oblique marking.
प्रत्येक विभाग को नए निर्देश भेजे गए हैं।
pratyek vibhāg ko nae nirdeś bheje gae haiṃ.
New instructions have been sent to each department. (formal)
प्रत्येक कमरे में धुएँ का अलार्म लगा है।
pratyek kamre meṃ dhuẽ kā alārm lagā hai.
A smoke alarm is installed in every room. (formal)
कमरा → कमरे before में. In the first example, plural निर्देश controls भेजे गए हैं, because प्रत्येक विभाग को is a को-marked recipient.
Definiteness and discourse domain
प्रत्येक quantifies over a set supplied by the document or situation. It does not require an article and does not point to one member.
किसी आवेदक ने अतिरिक्त जानकारी माँगी।
kisī āvedak ne atirikt jānkārī mā̃gī.
An applicant asked for additional information. (indefinite)
प्रत्येक आवेदक ने घोषणा पर हस्ताक्षर किए।
pratyek āvedak ne ghoṣṇā par hastākṣar kie.
Each applicant signed the declaration. (formal universal)
The first selects an unspecified member. The second distributes over every member of the application set. Hindi gets definiteness and specificity from determiners, context, word order, and object marking rather than a dedicated a/the contrast.
Numbers and distributive scope
Hindi has no obligatory numeral classifier in प्रत्येक समूह. A number can occur in the object phrase to specify what each member receives.
प्रत्येक समूह को तीन मिनट मिलेंगे।
pratyek samūh ko tīn minaṭ mileṅge.
Each group will get three minutes.
सभी समूहों को कुल तीन मिनट मिलेंगे।
sabhī samūhoṃ ko kul tīn minaṭ mileṅge.
All the groups together will get three minutes in total.
In the first sentence, तीन मिनट falls inside the distribution: three minutes per group. कुल in the second forces a total of three minutes shared across all groups. This is a scope contrast, not a difference in numeral formation.
Perfective clauses still follow ordinary agreement
प्रत्येक छात्र ने तीन कहानियाँ पढ़ीं।
pratyek chātr ne tīn kahāniyā̃ paṛhīṃ.
Each student read three stories. (formal)
The ने-marked subject cannot control the perfective verb. Feminine plural unmarked तीन कहानियाँ controls पढ़ीं. Neither the singular meaning of प्रत्येक छात्र nor the formal register changes this agreement rule.
Important limits
प्रत्येक normally selects a singular noun: प्रत्येक नागरिक, not प्रत्येक नागरिकों. Do not combine it mechanically with English one: ordinary “each student” is प्रत्येक छात्र, not प्रत्येक एक छात्र. The sequence प्रत्येक एक may occur only in highly marked, contrastive phrasing and is not the productive basic pattern.
For “one item each,” use एक-एक. For “all members” with plural agreement, use सब/सभी. For ordinary spoken “every,” use हर.
Common Mistakes
1. Using a plural noun after प्रत्येक
❌ प्रत्येक छात्रों ने फ़ॉर्म भरा।
Incorrect: प्रत्येक normally selects singular छात्र.
✅ प्रत्येक छात्र ने फ़ॉर्म भरा।
pratyek chātr ne form bharā.
Each student filled out the form. (formal)
2. Adding English “one” mechanically
❌ प्रत्येक एक कर्मचारी को सूचना दी गई।
Incorrect as the normal form of ‘each employee’: एक is unnecessary.
✅ प्रत्येक कर्मचारी को सूचना दी गई।
pratyek karmacārī ko sūcnā dī gaī.
Each employee was informed. (formal)
3. Giving a singular noun plural agreement
❌ प्रत्येक मशीन तैयार हैं।
Incorrect: distributive प्रत्येक मशीन is feminine singular.
✅ प्रत्येक मशीन तैयार है।
pratyek maśīn taiyār hai.
Each machine is ready. (formal)
4. Forcing agreement with the ने-marked subject
❌ प्रत्येक छात्र ने दो पुस्तक पढ़ा।
Incorrect: the noun must be plural पुस्तकें, and that feminine plural object controls पढ़ीं.
✅ प्रत्येक छात्र ने दो पुस्तकें पढ़ीं।
pratyek chātr ne do pustakeṃ paṛhīṃ.
Each student read two books. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- प्रत्येक is the formal, administrative, or academic counterpart of everyday हर.
- It is indeclinable and normally takes a singular noun with singular distributive agreement.
- Ordinary postpositional case and perfective agreement rules still apply.
- Use word order and markers such as कुल to distinguish a per-member number from one total.
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