Hindi Language Blog

When a masculine word ends in अ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, it does not change in the plural :

So बाल (child) will be बाल (children)

When a masculine word ends in आ, change it to ए to make it plural :

काला (black singular) = कालो (black plural)

When a feminine word ends in अ or आ, change it to एँ :

रात (dark sing.) = रातों (dark plu.)

When a feminine word ends in या, change it to याँ :

कुटिया (shack) = कुटियाँ (shacks)

When a feminine word ends in इ or ई, change it to इयाँ :

बिल्ली (cat) = बल्लियाँ (cats)

When a feminine word ends in उ, ऊ, औ change it to एँ :

गौ (cow) = गौएँ (cows)

Some singular words don’t change in the plural :

मामा (uncle) = मामा (uncles)

There are some masculine words that don’t follow any rules when they change in the feminine form :

पिता (father) = माता (mother)

Last week, in many different regions in India, people celebrated the New Year according to the various Indian calendars.

New Years to the Sindhis (सिन्धी) is called Cheti Chand. This day also marks the birth of a river deity famous in Sindhi lore. Here is a clip of some of the festivities:

New Years to the Telegu people is called युगादी. On this day a mixture called Pachhadi is consumed. Pachhadi is a concoction of six different tastes that include, sourness, sweetness, tanginess, spicyness, saltiness, and bitterness. This is supposed to represent the idea that life is a mixture of emotions like sadness, happiness, anger, etc. Here is an easy recipe of how to make Pachhadi :

Gudi Padwa (गुढी पाडवा) is also New Years for people in the regions of Goa and Maharashtra. More info about this celebration is here: http://blogs.transparent.com/hindi?s=gudi+padwa. Along with a video:

For today’s lesson we’ll look at ways to convert masculine words to feminine words.

If a word ends in अ or आ, change it to ई :

पुत्र (son) will become पुत्री (daughter)

If a word ends in आ, change it to इया :

डिब्बा (case/box in the masculine) will be डिबिया (case/box in the feminine)

If a word relating to an occupation ends in अ, आ, इ, ई, change it to इन :

लुहार (blacksmith in the masculine) will become लुहारिन (blacksmith in the feminine)

Words relating to status may have suffix आइन :

पंडित (male scholar/priest) will become पंडिताइन (female scholar/priest)

With words ending in अ, change it to नी or आनी :

सिंह (lion) will become सिंहनी (lioness)

With words ending in ई, change it to इनी :

योगी (male yogi) will become योगिनी (female yogi)

When a word ends in आन् change it to अती :

भगवान् (male name of god) will become भगवती (female name of godess)

There are some Hindi words that don’t follow these general guidelines, and with those words, you’ll just have to memorize the feminine forms.