Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, object or idea. The Hindi word for ‘noun’ is संज्ञा (sangyaa). In Hindi, all nouns have a gender, either masculine or feminine. That means that even inanimate objects such as a chair or desk have a gender. In addition, adjectives and verbs change or inflect depending on the gender of the noun they agree with.
Here is a list of some nouns illustrating masculine (m) and feminine (f) words:
| Hindi Words | Transliteration (Pronunciation) | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| घर | ghar | (m) house |
| पिता | pitaa | (m) father |
| कमरा | kamraa | (m) room |
| कुत्ता | kuttaa | (m) dog |
| मेज़ | mez | (f) table |
| माला | maalaa | (f) garland |
| माता | maataa | (f) mother |
| कुरसी | kursee | (f) chair |
| चिड़िया | chiRiyaa | (f) bird |
In addition, most nouns inflect in plural, as shown below:
| Hindi Singular Word | English Translation | Hindi Plural Word | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| घर | house | घर | houses |
| पिता | father | पिता | fathers |
| कमरा | room | कमरे | rooms |
| कुत्ता | dog | कुत्ते | dogs |
| मेज़ | table | मेज़ें | tables |
| माला | garland | मालाएं | garlands |
| माता | mother | माताएँ | mothers |
| कुरसी | chair | कुर्सियाँ | chairs |
| चिड़िया | bird | चिड़ियाँ | birds |
The general rules for changing nouns to plural are as follows:
Masculine words:
- For most masculine nouns that end in आ (aa), the आ changes to ए e.g. कमरा changes to कमरे and कुत्ता changes to कुत्ते. This is not always the case, as words like पिता and राजा do not change in plural.
- For all other masculine nouns, they do not inflect in plural i.e. the same word is used in singular and plural.
Feminine words:
- For feminine words that end in इ, ई or इयां, remove the इ, ई or इयां and add इयाँ e.g. मूर्ति changes to मूर्तियाँ , कुरसी changes to कुर्सियाँ and चिड़िया changes to चिड़ियाँ.
- For all other feminine words, एँ is added to the word e.g. माला changes to मालाएँ and मेज़ changes to मेज़ें.
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