Hindi grammar · Beginner (A1)
Gender of nouns: masculine and feminine
Every Hindi noun is masculine or feminine. Learn the endings that help you guess, how plurals are made, and how gender shows in a sentence.
Two genders
Every noun in Hindi is either masculine or feminine, even things like tables and ideas. There is no “it” gender. Gender matters because adjectives, verbs and the word for “of” (, , : kaa, kee, ke) change to match it.
For people and animals the gender is usually the natural one: (larkaa, boy) is masculine, (larkee, girl) is feminine. For things you have to learn it, so always learn a new noun together with its gender.
- अच्छा लड़काachchhaa larkaaa good boy
- अच्छी लड़कीachchhee larkeea good girl
Clues from the ending
The ending of a noun often tells you its gender, but there are exceptions, and many nouns give no clue at all.
| Ending | Usually | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -आ (-aa) | masculine | (larkaa) boy, (kamraa) room, (kapraa) cloth |
| -आ, exceptions | feminine | (maataa) mother, (bhaashaa) language, (havaa) air |
| -ई (-ee) | feminine | (larkee) girl, (kursee) chair, (chaabee) key |
| -ई, exceptions | masculine | (paanee) water, (aadmee) man, (haathee) elephant |
| -इया (-iyaa) | feminine | (chiriyaa) bird, (guriyaa) doll |
| other endings | learn each one | (ghar) house m, (doodh) milk m, (kitaab) book f, (chaay) tea f |
Plurals
Masculine nouns ending in -आ change it to -ए (-e), except a few words for people, such as (pitaa, father), which don't change. Other masculine nouns stay the same: (ek ghar, do ghar, one house, two houses).
Feminine nouns ending in -ई change it to -इयाँ (-iyaan). Other feminine nouns add -एँ (-en), and those ending in -इया just add the moon sign.
| Singular | Plural | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| (larkaa) boy | (larke) boys | masculine -आ → -ए |
| (ghar) house | (ghar) houses | other masculine: no change |
| (larkee) girl | (larkiyaan) girls | feminine -ई → -इयाँ |
| (kitaab) book | (kitaaben) books | other feminine: add -एँ |
| (maataa) mother | (maataayen) mothers | other feminine: add -एँ |
| (chiriyaa) bird | (chiriyaan) birds | feminine -इया: add ँ |
How gender shows in a sentence
You will often hear the gender of a noun in the words around it, especially in adjectives ending in -आ and in verbs.
- कमरा बड़ा है।Kamraa baraa hai.The room is big.
- गाड़ी बड़ी है।Gaaree baree hai.The car is big.
- दूध ठंडा है।Doodh thandaa hai.The milk is cold.
- चाय ठंडी हो गई।Chaay thandee ho gaee.The tea has gone cold.