Hindi Ling and Vachan: Gender and Number Endings, Exceptions and Plural Rules

Ling and Vachan: Small Topic, Guaranteed Marks

Hindi nouns have two genders, पुल्लिंग (masculine) and स्त्रीलिंग (feminine), and two numbers, एकवचन (singular) and बहुवचन (plural). Hindi has no neuter gender, so even a lifeless thing must be one or the other: 'मेज़' is feminine, 'पुस्तक' is feminine, but 'पुस्तकालय' is masculine.

Gender matters beyond the noun. The verb and the adjective change to match it: 'लड़का जाता है' but 'लड़की जाती है'; 'अच्छा बालक' but 'अच्छी बालिका'. That is why a wrong gender spoils the whole sentence, and why exams test it directly.

This short covers how to decide gender, the most tested exceptions, and how plurals are formed, so you can answer without guessing. Word lists must be learnt, but the patterns cut the list to a quarter.

1. Which of the following words is feminine?

2. Which of the following words is masculine?

3. What is the plural of the word 'लड़की'?

4. What is the plural of the word 'किताब'?

5. Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?

6. Which of the following nouns is used only in the plural in Hindi?

7. Which bird's name is always feminine in Hindi, whatever its sex?

8. Choose the correct sentence.