Itna

Itna is a common Hindustani word used as a determiner and an adverb. In Devanagari it is written as इतना and in Urdu script as اتنا. It conveys degree or extent, roughly translating to “to this extent,” “so much,” or “this much.” It is used to modify nouns or adjectives, and can also function as a proform in clauses, as in expressing extent or amount sought or needed.

Morphology and usage are relatively regular. As a determiner before nouns it changes for gender and number: itna (masculine singular), itni (feminine singular), itne (masculine plural), and itni (feminine plural). For example, particle use with nouns occurs in forms like itna paani (this much water) or itni raushni (this much light). As an adverb, itna can precede adjectives to express degree, such as itna accha (so good). In sentences it can also appear after a verb to indicate extent, and it can function as a proform in phrases like mujhe itna nahi pata (I don’t know this much).

In contemporary Hindustani, itna appears across informal speech, literature, media, and education. It often coexists with synonyms like bahut or kafi, sometimes overlapping in meaning with nuances of emphasis or scope. The word is integral to expressing quantitative and qualitative degree in both Hindi and Urdu, reflecting common syntactic patterns shared by the languages.

See also: Hindi grammar, Urdu grammar, Hindustani vocabulary.