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.