Plurals

PLURALS IN HINDI 

The endings for plural nouns vary depending on the gender of that noun. 

Let’s start with masculine nouns. 

Masculine nouns ending in –aa -आ change to –e –ए

बेटा betaa son बेटे bete sons

लड़का larkaa boy लड़के larke boys

All other masculine nouns –those that end in consonants or other vowels – remain the same plural:

दोस्त Dost (friend/friends)  शहर shahar (city/cities)

Some masculine nouns ending in –आ are actually Sanskrit loanwords, and they remain the same in plural. Of course, you won’t recognize these at first, but you’ll get a better sense of them as you learn more Hindi. Also nouns ending in –आ and indicating familial relations remain the same in plural. राजा raajaa (king/kings) चाचा chaachaa (uncle/uncles)

Now let’s take a look at feminine nouns.

 Feminine nouns ending in –ई ee and –इ I change to –इयाँ iyaan in the plural. Keep in mind that the long –ई gets shortened to –इ in the plural, and don’t forget that the ending is nasal.

बेटी बेटियाँ (daughter- daughters)

नदी नदियाँ  (river- rivers)

There are a just few feminine nouns that end in –या –yaa. The –या of this nouns is nasalized in the plural becoming –याँ –yaan.

चिड़िया chiriyaa bird चिड़ियाँ chiriyaan birds

All the other fem. Nouns take the additional –एँ –en in the plural.

किताब Kitaab book  किताबें kitaaben books

भाषा Bhaashaa language भाषाएँ bhaashaaen languages

Just note that if a feminine noun ends in a long oo, it is shortened in the plural.

वधू Vadhoo bride वधुएँ vadhuen brides