The compound postposition के दौरान ke daurān means “during” or “in the course of.” It places one situation inside an event or interval that has some duration: बैठक के दौरान baiṭhak ke daurān “during the meeting,” यात्रा के दौरान yātrā ke daurān “during the journey.” Unlike a clock-time expression, its complement supplies a time span within which something happens.
English puts during before its noun. Hindi puts के दौरान after an oblique complement. The construction is temporal and abstract; it has no ordinary literal spatial use in modern Hindi.
Events as containing intervals
The most typical complement names an event that unfolds over time. The event becomes a temporal container for another occurrence.
बैठक के दौरान किसी ने अपना फ़ोन नहीं देखा।
baiṭhak ke daurān kisī ne apnā fon nahīṃ dekhā.
No one checked their phone during the meeting.
यात्रा के दौरान हमें कई छोटे गाँव दिखाई दिए।
yātrā ke daurān hameṃ kaī choṭe gā̃v dikhāī die.
We saw several small villages during the journey.
मैच के दौरान अचानक बिजली चली गई।
maic ke daurān acānak bijlī calī gaī.
The power suddenly went out during the match.
These sentences do not say that the second event lasted for the whole meeting, journey, or match. के दौरान only locates it somewhere within the containing interval. Context or an expression such as पूरे ... के दौरान supplies a throughout reading.
पूरे कार्यक्रम के दौरान वह मंच के पास खड़ा रहा।
pūre kāryakram ke daurān vah mañc ke pās khaṛā rahā.
He remained near the stage throughout the entire program.
Here पूरे and the durative predicate खड़ा रहा jointly create the “throughout” interpretation.
The complement is oblique
As with other compound postpositions, a changing noun takes its oblique form. The fixed के belongs to the postposition; it does not agree with the gender of the time-denoting noun.
| Direct form | Before के दौरान |
|---|---|
| कार्यक्रम kāryakram | कार्यक्रम के दौरान kāryakram ke daurān |
| दौरा daurā | दौरे के दौरान daure ke daurān |
| छुट्टियाँ chuṭṭiyā̃ | छुट्टियों के दौरान chuṭṭiyoṃ ke daurān |
| रात rāt | रात के दौरान rāt ke daurān |
प्रधानमंत्री के दौरे के दौरान कई सड़कें बंद रहेंगी।
pradhānmantrī ke daure ke daurān kaī saṛkeṃ band raheṅgī.
Several roads will remain closed during the prime minister's visit. (formal)
The first के links प्रधानमंत्री to दौरे; the second belongs to के दौरान. In छुट्टियों के दौरान, plural छुट्टियाँ becomes oblique छुट्टियों.
Pronouns and इस दौरान
When a previously mentioned event is represented by a demonstrative, the genitive forms इसके दौरान “during this/it” and उसके दौरान “during that/it” can make the event itself the complement.
प्रशिक्षण तीन घंटे चला; उसके दौरान दो छोटे विराम हुए।
praśikṣaṇ tīn ghaṇṭe calā; uske daurān do choṭe virām hue.
The training lasted three hours; there were two short breaks during it.
Personal pronouns are unusual as literal time intervals, but a person's life, term, or performance can be made explicit: मेरे कार्यकाल के दौरान “during my term,” not normally bare मेरे दौरान.
Very common इस दौरान is daurān means “during this time” or “meanwhile,” while उस दौरान us daurān means “during that time.” These are grammaticalized time adverbials without के.
मैं टिकट लेने गया; इस दौरान बाकी लोग बाहर इंतज़ार करते रहे।
maĩ ṭikaṭ lene gayā; is daurān bākī log bāhar intazār karte rahe.
I went to get the tickets; meanwhile, everyone else kept waiting outside.
Do not extend this omission freely: an ordinary noun still needs के, so बैठक दौरान is not standard.
के दौरान versus में
Temporal में can locate something in a named period: मार्च में “in March,” गर्मियों में “in summer.” के दौरान foregrounds the period as an unfolding span and is particularly natural with events.
मार्च में नई शाखा खुलेगी।
mārc meṃ naī śākhā khulegī.
The new branch will open in March.
मार्च के दौरान तीन नई शाखाएँ खुलेंगी।
mārc ke daurān tīn naī śākhāẽ khuleṅgī.
Three new branches will open over the course of March.
The second wording encourages the reader to view March internally as a stretch of time. This difference is a construal preference, not a claim that में is impossible with extended periods.
के दौरान versus तक and भर
तक marks an endpoint: शाम तक “until/by evening.” के दौरान places something within a span. भर emphasizes the whole extent: रात भर “all night.”
बारिश दोपहर तक रुकी नहीं।
bāriś dopahar tak rukī nahīṃ.
The rain did not stop until the afternoon.
बारिश के दौरान हवा भी बहुत तेज़ थी।
bāriś ke daurān havā bhī bahut tez thī.
The wind was also very strong during the rain.
Neither phrase is a literal translation of every English for. “I waited for two hours” normally uses दो घंटे इंतज़ार किया or दो घंटे तक इंतज़ार किया, not दो घंटे के दौरान इंतज़ार किया unless another occurrence is being situated within that two-hour interval. The endpoint contrast is developed on the तक page.
Noun phrase or clause
के दौरान takes a noun phrase, not a finite clause. English while often introduces a clause, and Hindi then commonly uses जब ... तब, जबकि, or a nonfinite time expression.
जब मैं खाना बना रहा था, तब उसने मेज़ लगा दी।
jab maĩ khānā banā rahā thā, tab usne mez lagā dī.
While I was cooking, she set the table.
You can nominalize the activity as खाना बनाने के दौरान, but that style is heavier and often suits instructions or reports (formal). This is the key boundary between productive composition and lexical grammar: any suitable event noun can combine productively with के दौरान, whereas a finite “while” relation requires a clause pattern and cannot be generated by inserting के दौरान before a sentence.
A natural exchange
फ़िल्म के दौरान तुम बाहर क्यों गए थे? — मुझे एक ज़रूरी फ़ोन आया था।
film ke daurān tum bāhar kyoṃ gae the? — mujhe ek zarūrī fon āyā thā.
Why did you go outside during the film? — I got an important phone call. (informal)
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English preposition-first order
❌ के दौरान बैठक बाहर मत जाइए।
Incorrect: the interval phrase comes before के दौरान.
✅ बैठक के दौरान बाहर मत जाइए।
baiṭhak ke daurān bāhar mat jāie.
Please don't go outside during the meeting.
2. Leaving a masculine -आ noun direct
❌ दौरा के दौरान सड़क बंद थी।
Incorrect: दौरा becomes oblique दौरे before के दौरान.
✅ दौरे के दौरान सड़क बंद थी।
daure ke daurān saṛak band thī.
The road was closed during the visit.
3. Leaving a plural noun direct
❌ छुट्टियाँ के दौरान होटल महँगे होते हैं।
Incorrect: छुट्टियाँ becomes oblique plural छुट्टियों.
✅ छुट्टियों के दौरान होटल महँगे होते हैं।
chuṭṭiyoṃ ke daurān hoṭal mahãge hote haiṃ.
Hotels are expensive during the holidays.
4. Using के दौरान for a simple deadline
❌ रिपोर्ट शुक्रवार के दौरान भेज दीजिए।
Incorrect for a Friday deadline: use शुक्रवार तक.
✅ रिपोर्ट शुक्रवार तक भेज दीजिए।
riporṭ śukravār tak bhej dījie.
Please send the report by Friday.
Key Takeaways
- के दौरान places an event within an extended event or period.
- Its noun complement is oblique; demonstratives use इसके/उसके दौरान.
- Bare इस दौरान/उस दौरान are conventional time adverbials, but ordinary nouns retain के.
- Use तक for an endpoint, भर for full-span emphasis, and a clause pattern for finite English while.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- तक for endpoints and limitsA2 — Use तक for spatial destinations, deadlines, ranges, measurable limits, and the lexicalized expression यहाँ तक कि.
- के बाद sequenceB1 — Use के बाद to place an event, time, person, or item after an oblique reference point, including event clauses built with oblique infinitives.
- से पहले precedenceB1 — Use से पहले for temporal and ordered precedence, including oblique nouns, fused pronouns, and event complements in -ने से पहले.
- The oblique in compound postpositional phrasesA2 — Build oblique noun phrases before compound Hindi postpositions such as के साथ, के लिए, के पास, and के बारे में.
- Clock time and durationB1 — Tell clock time, read schedules, and distinguish Hindi expressions for when an event occurs from how long it lasts.
- Temporal जब तब clausesB1 — Link a temporal जब clause to its main event with तब, optional तो, or a contextually recoverable correlate.