# Hindi/Urdu: chand(चंद) vs kuch(कुछ)



## lafz_puchnevala

Hi,

Can the above 2 words be freely interchanged? 

Thanks!


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## Alfaaz

چند/ chand is derived from Farsi while کچھ /kuch is from Sanskrit. Both can be interchanged (in a few cases, but probably not others):

چند روز قبل/ کچھ دن پہلے : chand roz qabl/kuch din pehle (both could switched)
a few days ago

کچھ کچھ ہوتا ہے : kuch kuch hota hai- here "chand" would sound awkward or wrong....

Basically, it seems that "chand" can be used where "kuch" is being used in the sense of "thoRa, some, a little"


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## marrish

I agree fully with the detailed reply of Alfaaz, I may only add that _chand_ is not used much in colloquial Hindi.

_chand_ means _a couple of, a few.
_
One important thing is that there is no word like _kuch_. It is کچھ कुछ _kuchh._


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## lcfatima

I thought also that chand was not used in spoken Hindi and I remember learning that in class but I have personally heard chand used before by Hindi speakers.


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## BP.

Alfaaz said:


> ... Both can be interchanged (in a few cases, but probably not others):...


Sometimes not in the exact phrasing, e.g. _kuch.h_ can't replace _chand _here without major reconstruction: "ارے تا چند تو ٹھہرئے".
It appears _kuch.h_ has the second connotation of ذرہ or ذرا that you refer to.


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## marrish

My post is based on what I read or heard, too, that is why I said it was not used much. Thanks for confirming.


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## Qureshpor

chand? How many? (Even "How much?" in older Urdu)

taa chand? kab tak?

chand: Some/A few 

chand is used in Urdu for countable nouns whereas kuchh is used for countable (number) and non-countable (quantity).

mujhe kuchh chaahiye (I need something) NOT mujhe chand chaahiye.

kuchh kuchh = somewhat

kuchh nah kuchh =something or other

kyaa kuchh = What (various things)

kuchh to = something at least

jo kuchh = whatever

sab kuchh  = everything

aur kuchh = What else


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## BP.

Thanks for laying it plain QP.


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## greatbear

"chand" is used in spoken Hindi, lcfatima and marrish. It is less often used than "kuchh", but is often enough used. All the three "kuchh", "chand" and "thore" are used - "chand din", "kuchh din", "thore din" (चंद दिन, कुछ दिन, थोड़े दिन).


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## lafz_puchnevala

QURESHPOR said:


> chand? How many? (Even "How much?" in older Urdu)
> 
> taa chand? kab tak?
> 
> chand: Some/A few
> 
> chand is used in Urdu for countable nouns whereas kuchh is used for countable (number) and non-countable (quantity).
> 
> mujhe kuchh chaahiye (I need something) NOT mujhe chand chaahiye.
> 
> kuchh kuchh = somewhat
> 
> kuchh nah kuchh =something or other
> 
> kyaa kuchh = What (various things)
> 
> kuchh to = something at least
> 
> jo kuchh = whatever
> 
> sab kuchh  = everything
> 
> aur kuchh = What else



So, I presume that 'mujhe chand caay cahie' would be wrong as 'caay' is uncountable?


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## Qureshpor

lafz_puchnevala said:


> So, I presume that 'mujhe chand caay cahie' would be wrong as 'caay' is uncountable?



No, you could be asking for a few cups of tea!


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## lafz_puchnevala

So, probably asking that for some amount of tea in a cup in that manner would be wrong.


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## Qureshpor

lafz_puchnevala said:


> So, probably asking that for some amount of tea in a cup in that manner would be wrong.



Yes.


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## greatbear

lafz_puchnevala said:


> So, I presume that 'mujhe chand caay cahie' would be wrong as 'caay' is uncountable?



Yes, it would be wrong. For a few cups of tea, you would say "chand chai ke pyaale", not "chand chai". As for some tea, in Hindi it would be "thodi (si) chai" or "kuchh chai".


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## lcfatima

Kuch ashyaa sounds wrong to native Urdu speakers, right? How come one can say both kuch cheezen and chand cheezen, and chand ashyaa is fine, but kuch ashyaa sounds off? Cheez is countable, shay is countable...

Also, one can say chand ek ashyaa, but not kuch ek cheezen.


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## BP.

I always though the word chandah-چندہ- came from chand, since it is a little amount of money. Am I right?


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## Qureshpor

If you accept "Daar-ul-3uluum, Deoband" 's Urdu to be at par with "native" speakers', then kuchh ashyaa' is fine.

اگر وہ دکان محض حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کی نہیں بلکہ زیادہ تر حلال اشیاء فروخت ہوتی ہیں* کچہ حرام اشیاء* بھی فروخت کرنا پڑتی ہیں تو ایسی صورت میں آپ کے لیے اس دوکان سے ملنے والی تنخواہ حلال ہے، البتہ جہاں تک ہوسکے 
حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کرنے سے گریز کیا کریں۔ فتاوی محمودیہ وغیرہ میں ایسا ہی لکھا ہے۔


​


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## Faylasoof

lcfatima said:


> Kuch ashyaa sounds wrong to native Urdu speakers, right? How come one can say both kuch cheezen and chand cheezen, and chand ashyaa is fine, but kuch ashyaa sounds off? Cheez is countable, shay is countable...
> 
> Also, one can say chand ek ashyaa, but not kuch ek cheezen.


 Just to add to what has been said already, and as a native speaker, _kuchh ashyaa_ is perfectly fine. I'm curious to know who told you that it was wrong! But you are correct, we do say _chand ek ashyaa_ but don’t say _kuch ek chiizen_. However, we do say say _ek aadh chiizen_!!


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> If you accept "Daar-ul-3uluum, Deoband" 's Urdu to be at par with "native" speakers', then kuchh ashyaa' is fine.
> 
> اگر وہ دکان محض حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کی نہیں بلکہ زیادہ تر حلال اشیاء فروخت ہوتی ہیں* کچہ حرام اشیاء* بھی فروخت کرنا پڑتی ہیں تو ایسی صورت میں آپ کے لیے اس دوکان سے ملنے والی تنخواہ حلال ہے، البتہ جہاں تک ہوسکے
> حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کرنے سے گریز کیا کریں۔ فتاوی محمودیہ وغیرہ میں ایسا ہی لکھا ہے۔
> 
> 
> 
> ​


Good answer, Qureshpor SaaHib.
This kucch can be translated in English as ''certain things' as opposed to 'a few, a couple of things' - chand ashyaa'.

Qureshpor SaaHib, I see your quotation is _nast3aliiq_!


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## Qureshpor

BelligerentPacifist said:


> I always though the word chandah-چندہ- came from chand, since it is a little amount of money. Am I right?



According to Platts, you are, although he spells the word with an alif.

P چندا _ćandā (for ćanda, rel. n. fr. ćand, q.v.), s.m. Contribution, subscription, donation; assessment;—the fund for remounts (in police accounts):—ćandā denā, To pay a contribution, give a subscription or donation:—ćandā karnā, To raise a subscription.
_
Here is what Steingass says.

چندا _chandā,_ How much? how many? a contribution.


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## Qureshpor

marrish said:


> Qureshpor SaaHib, I see your quotation is _nast3aliiq_!




This is very interesting! On my screen it appears as "nasx" and I copy/pasted it *seeing* it as nasx!!


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## marrish

QURESHPOR said:


> This is very interesting! On my screen it appears as "nasx" and I copy/pasted it *seeing* it as nasx!!



Intriguing, indeed! I see this one as _nast3aliiq_, but any other inputs as _nasx_!


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## Faylasoof

QURESHPOR said:


> If you accept "Daar-ul-3uluum, Deoband" 's Urdu to be at par with "native" speakers', then kuchh ashyaa' is fine.
> 
> اگر وہ دکان محض حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کی نہیں بلکہ زیادہ تر حلال اشیاء فروخت ہوتی ہیں* کچہ حرام اشیاء* بھی فروخت کرنا پڑتی ہیں تو ایسی صورت میں آپ کے لیے اس دوکان سے ملنے والی تنخواہ حلال ہے، البتہ جہاں تک ہوسکے
> حرام اشیاء کے فروخت کرنے سے گریز کیا کریں۔ فتاوی محمودیہ وغیرہ میں ایسا ہی لکھا ہے۔
> 
> 
> ​


 The Urdu presented here has passed the test of this native speaker! I still don't understand why anyone would say that _kuchh __ashyaa_ is unacceptable! There are other ways to say the same (post#18).

(As a minor point, I do prefer the دکان to the دوکان !)


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## Qureshpor

Faylasoof said:


> (As a minor point, I do prefer the دکان to the دوکان !)



Faylasoof SaaHib, do you pronounce دکان with a tashdiid (as per Arabic and hence dakaakiin for plural) or just dukaan?


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## Faylasoof

QURESHPOR said:


> Faylasoof SaaHib, do you pronounce دکان with a tashdiid (as per Arabic and hence dakaakiin for plural) or just dukaan?


 No QP SaaHib, I / we say it just like all us South Asians: dukaan - so no shaddah, and we of course also do not use dakaakiin. For us it is always Prakrit pluralization.


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