तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है।

Because छपना and छापना are different verbs.

• छपना = to be printed / to get printed
• छापना = to print something

In this sentence, the picture is the thing that appears in the newspaper, so Hindi uses छपना:

• तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है। = The picture is printed / gets printed in the newspaper.

If you wanted to say Someone prints the picture, you would use छापना, for example:

• वे तस्वीर छापते हैं। = They print the picture.

Because the verb agrees with तस्वीर, and तस्वीर is a feminine noun.

In the present habitual form:

• masculine singular: छपता है
• feminine singular: छपती है
• masculine plural: छपते हैं
• feminine plural: छपती हैं

So:

• तस्वीर = feminine singular
• therefore: छपती है

This is very common in Hindi: the verb often matches the gender and number of the subject.

Yes, तस्वीर is treated as a feminine noun in standard Hindi.

So you get forms like:

• अच्छी तस्वीर = a good picture
• यह तस्वीर छपती है = this picture gets printed

Because it is feminine, adjectives and verbs often show feminine agreement with it.

में usually means in or inside.

So:

• अख़बार में = in the newspaper

Hindi uses postpositions, not prepositions. That means the word like में comes after the noun, not before it.

Compare:

• English: in the newspaper
• Hindi: अख़बार में

In Hindi, nouns often go into an oblique form before postpositions like में, से, पर, and so on.

But not all nouns visibly change.

अख़बार is one of the nouns whose singular form usually looks the same in both direct and oblique use:

• direct: अख़बार
• oblique singular: अख़बार

So:

• अख़बार = newspaper
• अख़बार में = in the newspaper

There is still an oblique function here, but the form does not visibly change.

This is the habitual present form.

It is often used for:

• general truths
• habitual actions
• regular events
• things that typically happen

So तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है can mean something like:

• the picture gets printed in the newspaper
• the picture is printed in the newspaper
• the picture appears in the newspaper

The exact English translation depends on context, but grammatically this is the normal present habitual pattern:

• verb stem + ता / ती / ते
  • है / हैं

It has a passive-like meaning in English, but grammatically Hindi is using the verb छपना, not the formal passive of छापना.

Two useful patterns are:

1. छपना = to get printed / be printed

   • तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है।

2. छापा जाना = to be printed, using a more explicit passive construction

   • तस्वीर अख़बार में छापी जाती है।

Both can be translated similarly, but छपती है is very natural and common.

So a learner should not assume every English passive must become X किया जाता है in Hindi. Sometimes Hindi simply uses a different intransitive verb.

है is the singular present form of to be.

In the habitual construction, Hindi commonly uses:

• छपता है
• छपती है
• छपते हैं

So है helps complete the present-time statement.

Because तस्वीर is singular, the sentence uses है, not हैं.

Compare:

• तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है। = The picture gets printed...
• तस्वीरें अख़बार में छपती हैं। = The pictures get printed...

Hindi normally does not use articles like English a, an, and the.

So:

• तस्वीर can mean a picture or the picture
• अख़बार can mean a newspaper or the newspaper

The exact meaning comes from context.

That is why the Hindi sentence can be translated in slightly different ways depending on the situation.

By itself, अख़बार में can be understood either specifically or generally, depending on context.

It might mean:

• in the newspaper
• in a newspaper
• in newspapers, as a general medium

If Hindi wants to be clearly plural, it can say:

• अख़बारों में = in newspapers

So:

• तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है। = could be specific or generic
• तस्वीर अख़बारों में छपती है। = in newspapers

अख़बार is commonly pronounced roughly like akh-baar.

The letter ख़ represents a sound borrowed from Persian/Arabic. In careful pronunciation, it is a deeper, throaty sound than regular ख.

But in everyday speech, many speakers pronounce ख़ almost the same as ख, so learners are usually understood either way.

So you may hear:

• a careful pronunciation with a distinct ख़
• a more ordinary pronunciation that sounds close to ख

Both are common in real life.

Normally, अख़बार में is the natural choice here.

Why?

Because the picture is understood as appearing in the newspaper as published content, not merely on top of a physical object.

• में = in
• पर = on / on top of / on

With publications like newspapers, magazines, and books, Hindi often uses में when talking about content appearing in them.

So the standard sentence is:

• तस्वीर अख़बार में छपती है।

If you want to say pictures instead of picture, you would make both the noun and the verb plural:

• तस्वीरें अख़बार में छपती हैं। = Pictures are printed in the newspaper.

Notice the changes:

• तस्वीर → तस्वीरें
• है → हैं

The participle छपती stays feminine because तस्वीरें is feminine plural, and feminine plural uses ती in this pattern.