Questions & Answers about जीवनी उपयोगी है।
How do I pronounce जीवनी उपयोगी है?
A rough pronunciation is:
- जीवनी — jee-va-nee (many speakers reduce the middle vowel a bit)
- उपयोगी — u-pyo-gee
- है — hai (often sounding like heh/hai depending on accent)
So the whole sentence is roughly:
jee-va-nee u-pyo-gee hai
What does each word mean in this sentence?
Word by word:
- जीवनी = biography
- उपयोगी = useful
- है = is
A very literal word-for-word order would be:
Biography useful is.
Natural English: The biography is useful.
Why is उपयोगी after जीवनी instead of before it?
Because this sentence is using उपयोगी as a predicate adjective, not as an adjective directly attached to the noun.
Compare:
उपयोगी जीवनी = a useful biography
here the adjective comes before the nounजीवनी उपयोगी है = The biography is useful
here useful is part of the statement about the noun, so it comes before है
This is very normal in Hindi.
Why is there no word for the or a?
Hindi normally does not use articles like English a/an/the.
So जीवनी उपयोगी है could mean:
- The biography is useful
- A biography is useful
- Biography is useful
The exact sense depends on context.
Is जीवनी feminine? How can I tell?
Yes, जीवनी is treated as a feminine noun.
A common clue is that nouns ending in -ी are often feminine, though this is not an absolute rule.
Gender matters because other words may agree with the noun. For example:
- यह जीवनी अच्छी है। = This biography is good.
Here अच्छी shows feminine agreement.
Why doesn’t उपयोगी change for gender? Why not something like उपयोगा / उपयोगी?
Because उपयोगी is an invariable adjective in normal usage. That means it usually stays the same regardless of gender or number.
So you can say:
- किताब उपयोगी है। = The book is useful.
- लेख उपयोगी है। = The article is useful.
- किताबें उपयोगी हैं। = The books are useful.
By contrast, some adjectives do change, for example:
- अच्छा (masculine singular)
- अच्छी (feminine singular)
- अच्छे (masculine plural / polite)
So उपयोगी is one of the adjectives that does not change like that.
What exactly does है do here?
है is the singular present-tense form of the verb to be.
In this sentence, it means is.
So:
- जीवनी उपयोगी है। = The biography is useful.
If the subject were plural, Hindi would usually use हैं instead:
- जीवनियाँ उपयोगी हैं। = The biographies are useful.
Can I leave out है?
In standard full sentences, learners should keep it.
So the normal sentence is:
जीवनी उपयोगी है।
You may sometimes see the verb omitted in:
- headlines
- notes
- slogans
- very casual speech
- poetic style
But for normal learning and correct standard usage, include है.
What would change if the sentence were plural?
The main change would be the noun and the verb:
- जीवनियाँ उपयोगी हैं। = Biographies are useful.
Notice:
- जीवनी → जीवनियाँ
- है → हैं
- उपयोगी stays the same
So the adjective still does not change here.
Could this sentence mean something general, not just one specific biography?
Yes. Because Hindi has no articles, the sentence can be understood in different ways depending on context.
For example, it might mean:
- a specific biography: The biography is useful
- a general statement: A biography is useful
- a topic-level idea: Biography is useful
If you want to make it more specific, you can add words like:
- यह जीवनी उपयोगी है। = This biography is useful.
- वह जीवनी उपयोगी है। = That biography is useful.
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