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Grammatical Gender – Non Living Things Posted by on Dec 28, 2012 in Hindi Language

Some of our readers have requested the topic of the grammatical gender of non-living things and I would like to explain the same in this post.

Hindi poses a challenge to the learners when it comes to the grammatical gender of non-living things as unlike English, Hindi has grammatical gender for them as well. Moreover, there are no articles before nouns which can provide you a hint unlike in some languages i.e. der, die and das in German language. The identification of grammatical gender of noun for non-living things must be learned by heart as they are needed for the noun declension.

Like I covered in the post on identification of grammatical gender, I would like to revise some of the rules which will help you to identify if the thing has feminine or masculine gender. Those nouns which usually end in ई (i) in Hindi are feminine nouns  like कुर्सी (Kursi – Chair), लकड़ी (Lakadi – Wood), रोटी (Roti – Bread), खिड़की (Khidki – Window) etc. Masculine nouns have a similar pattern, for example those end with आ (aa) like बस्ता (Basta – Bag), कपड़ा (Kapada – Cloth), चश्मा (Chashma – Glasses) etc.

Let me show you some of the common nouns with their grammatical gender.

English Hindi Rom. Hindi Gender
Chair कुर्सी Kursi feminine
Bed पलंग/बिस्तर Plang/Bistar masculine
Computer कंप्यूटर Computer masculine
Pen पेन/कलम Pen/Kalam masculine
Bag बस्ता Bastaa masculine
Tea चाय Chai feminine
Bulb बल्ब Balb masculine
Cloth कपड़ा Kapada masculine
Glass कांच Kaanch masculine
Glasses चश्मा Chasma masculine
Door द्वार/दरवाजा Davaar/Darvaaja masculine
Food भोजन/खाना Bhojan/Khana masculine
Matches माचिस Maachis feminine
Wood लकड़ी Lakadi feminine
Wall दीवार Divaar feminine
Slipper चप्पल Chappal feminine
Cigarette सिगरेट Cigarate feminine
Gun बंदूक Bandook feminine
Bread रोटी Roti feminine
Electricity बिजली Bijli feminine
Water पानी Paani masculine
Air वायु/हवा Vaayu/Havaa feminine
Work काम Kaam masculine
Shoe जूता Juta masculine
Cup कप Cup masculine
Book किताब Kitaab feminine
Bottle बोतल Bottle feminine
Window खिड़की Khidaki feminine
Wire तार Taar masculine
Sweets मिठाई Mithai feminine
Shirt शर्ट Shart feminine
Trousers पेंट/पतलून Pent/Pataloon feminine
Tie टाई Tai feminine
Plate प्लेट Plate feminine
Spoon चम्मच Chammach feminine
Bowl कटोरा Katora masculine
Fridge फ्रिज Fridge masculine
Television टेलीविज़न Television masculine
Cd सीडी CD feminine
Spice मसाला Masaala masculine
Roof छत Chat feminine
House घर Ghar masculine
Car कार Gaadi feminine
Bus बस Bas feminine
Train रेलगाड़ी Railgadi feminine
Street सड़क Sadak feminine
Country देश Desh masculine
Guitar गिटार Gitar masculine
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About the Author: Nitin Kumar

Nitin Kumar is a native Hindi speaker from New Delhi, India. His education qualification include Masters in Robotics and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Currently, he is working in the Research and Development in Robotics in Germany. He is avid language learner with varied level of proficiency in English, German, Spanish, and Japanese. He wish to learn French one day. His passion for languages motivated him to share his mother tongue, Hindi, and culture and traditions associated with its speakers. He has been working with Transparent Language since 2010 and has written over 430 blogs on various topics on Hindi language and India, its culture and traditions. He is also the Administrator for Hindi Facebook page which has a community of over 330,000 members.


Comments:

  1. xyz:

    How does it work when we have a combination of hindi and english with words like Bus, shirt, table etc. For example: “Bus aayi” and not “bus aaya” right?

  2. Anthony:

    In your last paragraph I think you mean masculine nouns not masculine verbs.

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Anthony Namaste Anthony,
      Thanks for finding that typo. I’ve corrected the mistake.
      Nitin

  3. Reetabrata:

    What is the gender of atta ( wheat ) or chaol ( rice )?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Reetabrata These noun does not have any gender in Hindi, they are neutral just liker their English equivalent Wheat and Rice.

    • Anu:

      @Reetabrata Aata chawal are masculine

      • Brijesh kumar:

        @Anu Anu ji, jail aur mej Ka gender batao?

  4. Adriana:

    This a good blog for learning hindi!
    I have understood some hindi from few blogs, sites, and from experts, teacher but to speak-out is important. Yes, when we used hindi masculine gender sentence instead of feminine (where we suppposed to use feminine) People never laughed or corrected i.e. when someone says “Chai Peena Hai” (wrongly) – but supposed to say correctly “Chai Peeni Hai” (correctly), On other side, when we used masculine words to feminine then people starts laughing and correcting i.e. “Khaana Khana Hai” not “Khaana Khani Hai”. So, in the above case of “Reetabrata” the nouns (mostly) which we do not know its gender can undoubtly be used in MASCULINE. It will looks more correctly than feminine. for example from the above “aata” (Wheat) can be used as Masculine (far better) than to be used as feminine. Sounds cooler i.e. “aata lena hai” than “aata leni hai”

    Regards,
    Learner from Manipur

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Adriana Namaste Adriana,

      Yes, you’re correct about the words’ gender. Thanks for pointing it out.
      I’ll reply to Reetabrata about it.

      Regards,
      Nitin – Transparent Languages Inc.

  5. Dan:

    Hi,

    What is the gender of the word Paneer (cottage cheese)?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Dan Paneer is masculine.

  6. akash:

    what z the rational behind this?for words that dnt not end wid “i” or “a”.why tar is masculin and deevar is feminin???whil both end with “r”???

  7. Jayanth:

    The logic which the author gave for “i” and “aa”, i wonder, is something written in the grammar books. Understanding the rational behind this gender differentiation for non living things is bit difficult for non-hindi speaking people. For example “chappal” feminine & “juta” masculine, “bus” feminine & “truck” masculine etc. I would really appreciate if you can help me with this differentiation. Are there any set of rules?

  8. Paul:

    Is Delhi masculine or feminine? Would you say Delhi acchi hai or Delhi accha hai?

  9. Paul:

    Do I say ‘Delhi dil le gayi’ even if I’m a girl? Delhi ends in ‘i’ so the rule of thumb is that Delhi is a feminine noun but if a female speaker is saying it does it become ‘Delhi dil le gaya’?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Paul Yes, you are right. Dilli (Delhi) is feminine noun. It depends on who is subject of the sentence. Here, “Dilli” is the subject as it took the heart so you will always say “Dilli dil le gayi” irrespective of speaker being female or male. If noun is masculine say “Nepal”, then you will have “Nepal dil le gaya”.

  10. Surya:

    Thanks Nitin for your post. The information is very helpful. Good luck ahead for learning more and more languages.
    I am non-native Hindi speaker and though I am recognized as a decent speaker of Hindi, the doubt about grammatical genders of non-living things keeps revisiting. As you mentioned, there are some general rules for identifying these but there are also exceptions. I agree that the best way is to by heart them.
    I made an attempt to learn French. One of my French colleagues (native French speaking) recommended that she would imagine that all things masculine are in her brother’s room and all things feminine in her own room.
    If you allow me digress- some interesting information on Indian languages.
    Telugu which is my native language – ‘country’ and, ’email’ are feminine in Telugu. As I understand they both are masculine in Hindi. Such kinds of contradictions result in confusion.
    Also interesting to know that Kannada (like Bengali) does NOT have grammatical gender for non-living things.
    A note of caution: all south Indian languages are not the same and hence categorizing the languages is not at all recommended. Over the last 4 centuries Telugu and Kannada have developed more commonalities with and influences from Sanskrit & Urdu (due to historical reasons), whereas Tamil and Malayalam are still strongly entrenched in their Dravidian forms.

    Surya

  11. sandeep:

    What about “chai” and “dahi”? we usually say chai ban gayi and dahi jam gya. So why chai is feminine and dahi masculine , although both sound feminine?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @sandeep Dahi is feminine noun. We never say, dahi jam gaya but dahi jam gayi.
      Hope this help.

  12. Rupali:

    Hey Nitin

    I’m also from New Delhi, India and my mother tongue is Hindi. I had a doubt regarding one of the examples you have mentioned. You have written that spoon/chammach is feminine, but I have never heard anyone saying “Spoon/Chammach wahaan padi hai”. It’s always been “Spoon/Chammach wahaan pada hai”. I’m saying this after 30 years of experience in Hindi speaking and being MA in Hindi. It would be really nice if you could clear my doubt.

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Rupali Namaste Rupali Ji,
      Interesting question. Well, my experience is quite different than yours. I have always heard Chammach wahan padi hai ya aap ko kitni chammach chini chahiyen. If it is kitni chammach instead of kitna chammach than it (chammach) must be feminine. I think, we tend to assign feminine gender to smaller things, like rubber, pencil, dibiya, machis, pyaaz, bottle etc.

  13. manish:

    pls check your facts reg “dahi” which i have been taught to consider as masculine …

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @manish Namaste Manish ji,

      Dahi is considered as a feminine noun. Example, Dahi khatti hai. Yoghurt is sour.

      Hope this help

  14. Nakul:

    Hi

    Thanks for this post – it was really helpful. I would really appreciate if you can clarify one doubt for me. What would be the gender of “Belt”. IMO, it should be masculine however a colleague of mine argues it to be feminine.

    I would really appreciate your response!

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Nakul Namaste Nukulji,

      Thank you for your feedback! As for your question, the gender of “belt” is feminine. I believe, it is feminine because of its association with “Kamar (Back)” or “Pent (trouser)” or maybe because of “Kamarband” (feminine) in Hindi which was used before people switched to its english translation “Belt”.

  15. Hari Krishnan:

    Dear Nitinji,

    I am a non-native Hindi speaker, & a fairly good one ( in my opinion) , despite the fact that I never spoke Hindi in Kerala till 21 years, My introduction to spoken Hindi was while at work in North India.

    However, Gender and its use in Hindi was one thing that always stumped me. But reading through your blog gives me some insight,

    equally, I am amazed to know the contradictions even native speakers have of the concept of Gender , going through the comments.

    I never felt the need to iron out my Hindi genders, until now when I am required to teach my 7 year old CBSE Hindi. ( Grade 2)

    I really wish I could get more information to teach her correctly. can you suggest some links for a more detailed learning.?

    Keep up the good works! Love your efforts.

    thanks in advance.

  16. WILLS:

    Nice blog thanks. It gives nice explained things with Hindi means

  17. WILLS:

    What is the gender of PEN . Plz ans.. Famine of zebra. Panda and other animals also .

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @WILLS @WILLS: Gender of Pen is masculine. Feminine of Zebra, Panda and other animals may use prefix “Nar” for male and “Mada” for female i.e. nar panda, mada panda. Exception are Sher (Lion) and Sherni (Lioness) etc.

  18. Mehtab Rahaman:

    I can I decide a non living article whether this thing is
    feminine
    or masculine
    Please share some basic rules where I can decide whether the noun will be
    feminine or masculine…. Thanks
    Mehtab Rahaman
    jamesmahtab@gmail.com
    9800967777

  19. AD:

    I have a question. Why is it that:

    1. John Hindi bolta Hai.

    BUT

    2. John se Hindi boli na jati hai.

    Why is the feminine gender of Hindi relevant in the second case but not relevant in the first case?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @AD Actually, the 2 sentence is grammatically wrong. It should be, John Hindi nahi bolta or John Hindi nahi bol sakta or John se Hindi nahi boli jati. In 2nd sentence, Hindi is the subject of the sentence so the verb takes the gender of Hindi (all languages are feminine in Hindi). In 1st sentence, John is the subject.

  20. kevin:

    I saw in one of the comment..how come Delhi (dilli) is feminine and Nepal masculine?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @kevin @Kevin: Because most of Hindi words which end in “i” are usually feminine. There are exception as well. There are no fix rule to assign gender to noun so you learn them by heart.

  21. Shruti:

    Chammach is smasculine for sure. We say kitne chammach chinni daalni hai not kitni, may be you got confused beacause you are using “daalni” ..also we say chammach kaha rakhe hain and not chammach kahan rakhi hain?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Shruti Namaste Shruti ji,

      Some people think that Chammach must be masculine but I must point out that it is feminine. Some people especially from other states such as Bihar consider Chammach to be masculine, that is my experience. Considering a noticable population of people from Bihar, this may create confusion. The native population Delhi, Haryana and Western UP (region where Hindi originated), chammach is considered feminine, it is Chammcha which is masculine. Chammach is small so it gets feminine gender, while Chammacha gets masculine gender as it is bigger than Chammach.

      Hope this help.

  22. Parvateshwar Kapadia:

    You said that Hawaa is a feminine noun. However, it ends with ‘aa’, so doesn’t that make it a masculine noun?

    Sincerely,
    Parvateshwar

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Parvateshwar Kapadia Namaste Parvateshwar Ji,

      Maybe because Hawaa is a loan word in Hindi, its origin is Turkish. There are many exception to ‘i’ and ‘a’ as it is not a rule but mere an observation of mine that majority of Hindi words seems to follow. I thought to share this observation with others. For the correct grammatical gender, you need to learn them by heart.

      Nitin

  23. Satish:

    Hi, this has been really helpful, but it’s still difficult to guess the gender of words that don’t end with ‘aa’ or ‘i’..
    can you please tell me the gender of kagaz and naqaab..and if we use them together, say like in ‘ paper mask’ or ‘a mask made of paper’, should we say ‘Kagaz ki naqaab’ or ‘kaagaz ka naqaab’ and can you please tell me whether the formation of this sentence depends on gender of kagaz or naqaab or both..thank you 🙂

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Satish Namaste Satish,

      Yes, the “aa” and “i” are just a hint, not a rule so you need to learn the gender of words by heart.

      Both words Kaagaz and Naqaab are from Urdu and masculine. Because Naqaab is masculine so it will be Kaagaz ka Naqaab, and the verb will take masculine too. The gender of noun will depend on Naqaab for Kaagaz ka Naqaab, or such compound nouns. They will also take the grammatical number so be careful. Like Kaagaz ke Naqaab (plural).
      Example, Yeh kaagaz ka naqaab achcha hai. Notice the “achcha hai” (masculine and singular).
      Yeh kaagaz ke naqaab achche hain. Notice the “achche hain” (masculine and plural)

      Hope this helps!

  24. Arvind P Kumar:

    Namaste Nitinji
    Is the word ‘Sharab’ is masculine?.. is it correct to say ‘sharab ka nasha’ ..
    Is the word ‘nasha’ masculine?
    How about dosti ka nasha? mohabbat ka nasha? apnapan ka nasha?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Arvind P Kumar Namaste Arvindji,

      Sharab is feminine and Nasha is masculine.

      The compound words will all be masculine. You can imagine why it is so by asking, kiska nasha? (whose addiction?)…Dosti ka, Mohabbat ka, Apnepan ka, Sharab ka and so on. Similarly, you can place a feminine noun like Chinta (worry) and you will have ‘ki’, like Ghar ki chinta, Paise ki chinta and so on.

      Hope this helps!

  25. satpal singh gandhi:

    Dear Sir, I was looking after some one who could provide with the rules of determinig the genders in living and non living things in Hindi. I am sure that there are some mathametical calculations for determining the genders. One of my hindi teacher in std 8-9 gave us a lectuer on determining genders in hindi. after that one lecture I never herad or read anything about the method of determining the genders in Living & non living things.
    As in one of your examples you have said names ending with आ are masculin, but this is not true always. like राम is masculine and रमा is faminie, how do you explain this.Please let me know if there is any text book explaining the rules to determine the genders in hindi langyuage.

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @satpal singh gandhi Namaste Satpalji,

      I never said that these are the rules for identifying the grammatical gender. As most of the noun seems to follow a pattern so you can use the pattern to guess rather than determine the grammatical gender of the nouns. Even so, there are exceptions, just like your examples.

      As I have written in the post, you need to learn the grammatical gender of the noun by heart and there is no solution to this except the explained hints for some guess work. It is same in any other language, some language have article to define the gender of the nouns as in Sanskrit, German, French etc though the use of articles for defining grammatical gender make grammar much more difficult. Hindi and even English have grammar (which use article not for grammatical gender but grammatical number) which is much easier as compared to German, French which uses article for defining grammatical gender.

      Hope this helps!

  26. Arvind P Kumar:

    Shukriya Nitinji

  27. tashi:

    ur post has helped me a lot in determining the genders. …but I still have some confusions. .like “aisi post mat karo”ya “aisa post “and liquid like banana shake or orange juice ..when we say “20 ka banna shake “ya “20 ki banana shake” ya “ek 20 wala glass orange juice”ya”ek 20 wali glass “…….and again a last one “when someone ask kmfrm a shopkeeper “dahi dena ” and the shopkeeper replies kitna ki dun..the again people se “20 ki do” this is really confusing …kahin pe “20 ki” kahin pe “20 ka”..plzz help me

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @tashi Namaste, Tashi!

      I understand, it is not easy to determine the genders. Sometime, you need to learn them by heart.
      But anyway, I have some thoughts (expressed below) which you can also consider to determine the gender of such nouns.

      Post – Feminine (I think it is feminine because its Hindi equivalent, Chithi is feminine)
      Juice – Masculine (I think, it became masculine because most of the fruits are also masculine in Hindi, like Apple, Banana, Mango, Pineapple etc)
      Shake – Masuline (same reasoning as above)
      Dahi – Femimine (It has “i” at the end, most of nouns which end in “i” are feminine).

      Some people who come from other states tends to use incorrect gender and became the reason of confusion for those learning Hindi.

      Hope this helps!

  28. Rebecca:

    Great blog, and so interesting!
    When addressing a person, would other words would change if the gender of the person being spoken to changed? For example, if you were to take “हिम्मत रखने, मेरे प्यारे” and want to speak to a woman, my understanding is that “मेरे प्यारे” would change to “मेरी प्यारी”, but would “हिम्मत रखने” need to change at all? (And is this even correct?)

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Rebecca Namaste, Rebecca!,

      You are correct about changing प्यारे (for male) to प्यारी (for female). As far as हिम्मत रखने is concerned, it is incorrect. The correct one will be हिम्मत रखना (for single or plural, formal) or हिम्मत रखो (for single or plural, formal) or हिम्मत रख (for single, informal). These can be used irrespective of the gender, so no change. Moreover, you can also turn the order i.e. हिम्मत रखना, मेरे प्यारे।

      Hope this helps you!

  29. Radha:

    Thank You. Very useful information. Can you give more words and their gender, Sir?

  30. tashi:

    tnku nitin ji….u solved my everday confusion….now I speak a little confidentially

  31. Sanju:

    Please guide me guys.. I can understand Hindi very well.. can speak a little bit fluently as well.. but the problem is.. I always get confused when it comes to Acha/ Achi, Peena/ peeni, hota/ hoti, aaya/ aayi, gaya/ gayi.. etc etc.. especially when it’s about a non living thing.

    Because of this problem, I am struggling and my hindi sounds like a mess.. so I avoid talking and it’s never improving.

    I asked many people but no one could properly explain the logic behind it.

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Sanju Namaste Sanju,

      First of all, I’d advise you not to avoid talking, instead talk as much as you can and if another person says that you have made a mistake, ask why and note it down somewhere. It is normal for beginners.

      And don’t forget to observe things that will help you to learn gender of non-living things. I will give few examples,
      In early days, there used to be Horsecart (Godha Gadi), the gender for Gadi is feminine and when word Car is introduced, people gave it the gender of Gadi (that is, feminine gender). Not just Car but Van, Bus, Bike, Cycle, Crane, Train etc are all feminine as they are Gadi (vehicle) The exception are Truck, Tempo which are masculine and which are used to transport things, not people.
      Now we take example of Belt, as people used Hindi word Kamarband (which was feminine) so after Belt become common, belt got feminine gender. Similar with shirt, pant etc.

      You need to learn the gender by heart and you can use these observations along with how the word ends as many words which end with “i” sound are feminine and those end with “a” are masculine.

      Hope this help and don’t give up!

  32. Om:

    Gday, Nitinji.

    Can you pls clarify if ‘Dhoop’ falls under Sthreeling or pulling. and the means to figure it out. Thanks.

    Brgds,
    Om

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Om Namaste Omji,

      ‘Dhoop’ is Streeling. Example: Aaj bahut tez dhoop pad rahi hai.

      Regards, Nitin

    • Anu:

      @Om Dhoop is Feminine.

  33. bunty:

    Hello Nitin
    I wanted to know how the word ‘ maza’ is used in Hindi. Mujhe mazaa as raha hai or mujhe mazaa as rahi hai ..which is correct?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @bunty Namaste Bunty,

      “Mujhe mazaa aa raha hai” is correct.

  34. chitti:

    Thanks a lot sir it help me much .

  35. alquama:

    nitin bhaii…
    qualam/penn….urdu mai feminine hai here also i think it should be feminine only.let me know if i am wrong.

  36. Srikant:

    Train aa rahi hai or Train aa raha hai …when its English I think its OK to mix up masculine or feminine . the best is train aavat hai or jaawat hai like in Sanskrit . Why not make hindi easy for every one ?

    regards

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Srikant @Srikant: Train aa rahi hai is correct. Train is a loaned word from English and feminine noun in Hindi. Hindi doesn’t take grammatical gender from other languages, it keeps its own. Train is a kind of vehicle (Gaadi) and Gaadi is feminine in Hindi. Therefore, most of the nouns which classify as a vehicle and are loan words i.e. Car, Cycle, Train, Metro etc. are feminine. So if you know gender of the main class, you can guess the grammatical gender of things which are classified in the same class. Hindi do use the same system for declension of verbs what Sanskrit uses, it is derived from it. Therefore, you need to learn grammatical gender of nouns so you can derive correct verb for it. I understand your problem, and grammatical gender can be hard to learn (just like many other languages) but once you’ve learned them, it will be very easy for you.

      Hope this help!

      • mahesh munda:

        @Nitin Kumar Mujhe saare feminine and mesculine gender ke rules janne hai wah kaise pata chalega plz bataen

  37. Srikant:

    Which one is right ? and Why ?

    Jail Ki Hawa Khana Padegi – जेल की हवा खाना पड़ेगी
    Jail Ki Hawa Khana Padega -जेल की हवा खाना पड़ेगा

    thanks

    Srikant , california, USA

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Srikant Namaste Srikant,

      Actually, both of these sentences are wrong. Hawaa (Air) is feminine it will be खानी पड़ेगी.
      The correct sentence, hence, will be जेल की हवा खानी पड़ेगी।

      Hope this help!

  38. R. Sai Prasad:

    Dear Sir,
    Even you have mentioned certain which is not ending in e, as feminine, why this happens, please if you explain it, it will be grateful like me.

    Thanks and regards,
    R. Sai Prasad.
    Chennail

  39. Srikant:

    what does this phrase mean ?

    इक दिन बिक जाएगा, माटी के मोल

    Thanks

  40. Srikant:

    Nitin Kumar – thanks for your service

    Regards

  41. Kavita:

    Yaad is masculine or feminine in hindi

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Kavita @Kavita: Yaad is feminine noun.

  42. Aishwarya:

    I wish to know the gender of the English word ‘ link ‘. For example if we say the. Sentence ” usne mujhe gaane ki link bheji hai ” or ” usne mujhe gaane ka link bheja hai ” which one is correct ?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Aishwarya @Aishwarya: Most people are using link as feminine so “Usne mujhe gaane ki link bheji hai” is correct.

      • Neeta:

        @Nitin Kumar @nitin kumar ji both ganaa and link ( link means jod in hindi)are masculine gender . So the correct sentence wud be usne mujhe gaane ka link bheja

        • Nitin Kumar:

          @Neeta @Neeta: As I said in my comment, some people use link as feminine and some masculine.
          In my experience, feminine is more prevalent.

  43. Sonu:

    Namste Nitin sir,
    Actualy, which is correct:
    Khana Pak gya. Or
    Khana pak gayi.

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Sonu @Sonu: “Khaana pak gaya” is correct.

  44. Md mubasshir rahman:

    What is the gender of rice?

  45. Srikant:

    Nitin – Yaad is feminine . then what does the phrase ‘yaad Aa raha hai’ mean ? Thanks

    याद आ रही है
    याद आ रहा है

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Srikant @Srikant: Yes, Yaad is feminine and ‘yaad aa raha hai’ is wrong, it must be ‘yaad aa rahi hai’ (याद आ रही है).
      Always remember that verb declension depend on the gender of noun.
      Hope this help.

  46. Srikant:

    But Nitin – there is a popular song ‘yaad aa raha hai ‘…’https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7B1_y2LAeI

    Now I am lost . these lyricist may put strange words but grammar ..I dont think they get it wrong

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Srikant @Srikant: There Yaad is used as verb “yaad aana” and verb declension take the gender of pyaar (masculine).

      Examples:
      Teri yaad aayi. (kya yaad aayi…teri (feminine) )
      tera pyaar yaad aaya (kya yaad aaya…tera pyaar (masculine) )
      kuch yaad aaya (kuch (masculine) )
      kahani yaad aayi (kahani (feminine) )

  47. Srikant:

    Thanks Nitin – for your insights . Why is this right ?
    हिमेश का संगीत और समीर के बोल ..why not Himesh Ka Sangeet aur sameer ka bol

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Srikant @Srikant: because “bol” (here, it means words) are plural and that’s why “sameer ke bol” and not “sameer ka bol”.

  48. karan:

    is barish Femimine?

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @karan @karan: yes, barish is feminine noun.

  49. Bala C Sethi:

    Please clarify if ‘ dahi’ is masculine or feminine ? Some say ‘dahi meetha hai’ while others insist it is ‘ dahi meethi hai ‘ … so am confused .
    Also what gender is to be used for ‘ doodh’ ??

    • Nitin Kumar:

      @Bala C Sethi @Bala: Dahi is feminine noun. Example: Dahi khatti hai (Yoghurt is sour) and Dahi meethi hai (Yoghurt is sweet).
      Many people who have migrated to North and are non-native Hindi speakers usually make this mistake, so I can understand the reason for the confusion.
      Doodh (Milk) is masculine.

      Hope this help!

  50. Krishna Ananya:

    Akhbar is feminine or masculine gender…it will be mene akhbar padha ya mene akhbar padhi ya Mein akhbar padhi ya Mein akhbar padha?

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