Since our childhood, the natives in India learn to associate Hindi nouns with gender. It comes as no surprise that being a widely spoken and versatile language, gender in Hindi grammar plays a significant role and is reflected in almost every aspect of the Indian culture.

It might blow your mind, but there are only two grammatical genders in Hindi. Yes, you read that right. Drop all the other grammatical gender types that you’ve been taught when learning other languages! As far as the Hindi language is concerned, from the tiniest thing to the biggest possible noun, we’ve got everything covered with just two main categories of gender in Hindi grammar. But what are they?

Read on and find out for yourself!

Table of Contents

1. “Gender” in Hindi
2. Masculine & Feminine Grammatical Gender in Hindi
3. Application of Gender in Speech
4. Characteristics of Masculine and Feminine Gender Nouns in Hindi
5. List of Masculine and Derived Feminine Gender Nouns in Hindi
6. Exceptions to Gender Rules in Hindi
7. How to Memorize the Gender of a Word
8. Gender Variations for Verbs and Adjectives
9. Quiz
10. Takeaway from HindiPod101.com

1. “Gender” in Hindi

So, are you ready to start?

The first question that pops into our mind is “What is the meaning of gender in Hindi?”

“Gender” in grammar is that which helps us recognize and differentiate between various nouns on the basis of their gender. Do you know how to say “gender” in Hindi?

Gender in Hindi grammar is known as लिंग (Ling).

To the fierce, passionate fighters for gender equality, the Hindi gender rules and the gender of nouns in Hindi vocabulary may be a tad bit disappointing!

Unfortunately, for a large portion of the Hindi gender list, the male gender in Hindi takes precedence. All in all, gender equality in the Hindi language still has a long way to go. And this also explains the rising presence of gender equality speech in Hindi in all the social institutions, such as schools and offices.

As we move forward in this lesson, you’ll be able to see how this bias affects the various genders of nouns in the Hindi language.

Do keep in mind, though, that while we use the word “gender” here, this has little to do with the actual sex of the noun in most cases. In a grammatical sense, the “gender” is simply a category under which a given noun falls.

2. Masculine & Feminine Grammatical Gender in Hindi

There are two main kinds of gender in Hindi: masculine and feminine.

The “masculine” gender of nouns in the Hindi language is known as पुल्लिंग (puLLing), whereas the “feminine” gender in Hindi is known as स्त्रीलिंग (STriiLing).

Unlike in English and other languages, there’s no neuter, or common, gender in Hindi.

3. Application of Gender in Speech

In Hindi, gender rules are quite peculiar. However, once you learn to recognize the gender of nouns in the Hindi language, the rest of the grammar application will come naturally to you.

We’ve already shared above that there’s no neuter or common gender in Hindi. For this reason, the articles we use remain the same regardless of the noun’s gender.

You may experiment with this while going through a Hindi vocabulary list. Another great way to practice and get used to this is to follow or listen to any gender equality speech in Hindi and look for hints there!

When you do that, a unique pattern becomes visible. What is this pattern, you ask?

Well, basically, it’s the verb ending that you should be focusing on. From the ancient to the most modern gender words in Hindi, following the subtle thread of a verb ending qualifies as one of the golden Hindi gender rules for any learner.

If you find yourself a little lost, we have some quick and highly valuable tips to help you crack the code. Just follow us to the end of this lesson!

4. Characteristics of Masculine and Feminine Gender Nouns in Hindi

You must be wondering why we combined the two genders together in one sub-section? The thing is that most of the feminine words are derived from masculine words in Hindi. It’s just a minor change of adding some suffixes, and viola! You’ve got the feminine version of that masculine word.

Talk about distorted gender equality in the Hindi language!

Vaguely, the characteristic of masculine words in Hindi is that they mostly end with an –a sound, as in कमल (kamaL).

If we break it down:

• कमल = क् + अ + म् + अ + ल् + अ      “Lotus”

Similar words include मोर (mor) meaning “peacock” and बादल (baaDaL) meaning “clouds.”

So, basically, any word that usually ends with an -a sound is masculine. But it would be unfair to say that this is the only case. Exceptions prevail in every language, and we’ll be dealing with them later.

And what about the patterns in feminine gender nouns? Well, as they’re derived from masculine nouns, there are a handful of patterns that change sharply.

5. List of Masculine and Derived Feminine Gender Nouns in Hindi

• One important thing we would like to mention here is that we’ve shared the English meaning of only the masculine gender in the charts below. This has been done to keep things simple.
• However, we’ve used a variety of example sentences for both of them to give you an idea of the separate verb forms used for both genders.
• For now, you can simply skip the concept of verb forms as we’ll be dealing with this in a separate reading guide.

It’s best to start with our main list of nouns and see for yourself how Hindi grammar gender rules work.

1- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -ी (-ii) to the End

For beginners, jumping directly to the masculine-to-feminine conversion may be a bit confusing. So why don’t we warm up a bit with some simple examples?

Example sentences for singular nouns:

• एक आदमी पेड़ के नीचे बैठा है.
  ek aaDmii per ke Niice baithaa hai
  “A man is sitting under the tree.”
• एक औरत पेड़ के नीचे बैठी है.
  ek auraT per ke Niice baithii hai
  “A woman is sitting under the tree.”

As you can see, we’ve replaced the masculine noun with a feminine one. We can do the same with plural nouns as shown in the example sentences below.

Example sentences for plural nouns:

• दो आदमी पेड़ के नीचे बैठे हैं.
  Do aaDmii per ke Niice baithe hain
  “Two men are sitting under the tree.”
• दो औरतें पेड़ के नीचे बैठी हैं.
  Do auraTen per ke Niice baithii hain
  “Two women are sitting under the tree.”

2- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -ा (-aa) to the End

3- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -नी (-Nii) to the End

4- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -िन (-iN) to the End

5- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -िया (-iyaa) to the End

6- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -िका (-ikaa) to the End

7- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Adding -आनी (-aaNii) to the End

8- Changing Masculine to Feminine by Replacing -वान (-vaaN) with -वती (-vaTii) at the End

6. Exceptions to Gender Rules in Hindi

In some cases, the words for the masculine and feminine forms of nouns are completely unrelated and sound totally different. For words like this, there’s no regular pattern for prefixes or suffixes.

Let’s find out which words these are!

Whoa! That was a lot to take in, wasn’t it? Don’t worry. You don’t have to mug up everything at once. There are plenty of ways to study in a smart way, and this is what the next section is about.

7. How to Memorize the Gender of a Word

Well, let’s be honest here. Even though certain rules and tricks that we discussed above can help us guess the gender of nouns in Hindi grammar, exceptions come as part and parcel anyway.

Although the best foolproof method to memorize the gender of a word is studying the vocabulary often and using the nouns abundantly in everyday life, one needs to understand that the nature of the Hindi language and its vocabulary is so comprehensive that it’s hard to chunk everything together into fixed groups.

Nonetheless, we’ve tried our best to collect some of the most commonly used nouns, the gender of which can be guessed based on their classification.

Let’s decode the above sentence with the help of these example categories. It’s important to mention here that these categories have been created loosely, just to ease the process for our readers.

1- Common Categories for the Masculine Gender in Hindi

1) Days’ Names

Without exception, all of the days’ names are masculine. “Day” in Hindi means दिन (DiN).

Example:

• सोमवार का दिन बहुत व्यस्त था। (Somavaar kaa DiN bahuT vyaST THaa.)
  “Monday was really busy.”
• पिछला शनिवार एकदम बेकार गया। (pichaLaa saNivaar ekaDam bekaar gayaa.)
  “Last Saturday was just terrible.”

In this way, you can replace the day’s name while following the same gender rules in the sentence.

Interested in learning the names of all the days? You’ll be delighted to check out our lesson on days and months of the year in Hindi.

2) Month Names

Just like days, all the calendar months also fall under the masculine gender. “Month” in Hindi is महीना (mahiiNaa) or माह (maah).

Below are some examples to give you a better idea.

• जनवरी साल का पहला महीना होता हैv (jaNavarii SaaL kaa pahaLaa mahiiNaa hoTaa hai.)
  “January is the first month of the year.”
• इस बार जून का महीना सबसे गरम थाv (iS baar juuN kaa mahiiNaa SabaSe garam THaa.)
  “This time June was the hottest month.”

Similarly, you can treat any month or day name as masculine and apply the rules accordingly.

3) Names of Mountains

Almost all the mountains are treated as masculine nouns in the Hindi language. “Mountains” in Hindi are called पहाड़ (pahaad) or पर्वत (parvaT).

Let’s check out some examples:

• माउंट एवरेस्ट धरती का सबसे ऊँचा पहाड़ है। (maaunt evareSt DHaraTii kaa SabaSe uuncaa pahaad hai.)
  “Mount Everest is the highest mountain on earth.”
• माउंट फुजी जापान का पवित्र पर्वत माना जाता हैv (maaunt fuujii jaapaaN kaa paviTra parvaT maaNaa jaaTaa hai.)
  “Mountain Fuji is considered a sacred mountain in Japan.”

Exception:

Take note here that we’re not talking about “mountain ranges” but only “mountains.” Mountain ranges are considered feminine in Hindi.

4) Names of Trees, Flowers, and Fruits

Another masculine noun category in this Hindi gender chart is that of trees, flowers, and fruits. All of the trees and flowers are always referred to as masculine nouns.

However, when it comes to fruits, the two exceptions are the litchi and pear. Both “litchi” लीची (Liicii) and “pear” नाशपाती (NaasapaaTii) are feminine nouns, while the rest of the fruit names are masculine.

“Tree” in Hindi is known as पेड़ (ped).

“Flower” in Hindi is known as फूल (phuuL).

“Fruit” in Hindi is known as फल (phaL).

Examples:

• यह बरगद का पेड़ लगभग सौ साल पुराना है। (yah baragaD kaa ped Lagabhag Sau SaaL puraaNaa hai.)
  “This banyan tree is almost a hundred years old.”
• सभी फूलों में लाल गुलाब सबसे ख़ास होता है। (Sabhii phuuLon men LaaL guLaab SabaSe khaaS hoTaa hai.)
  “Of all the flowers, the red rose is the most special one.”
• आम सभी फलों का राजा है। (aam Sabhii phaLon kaa raajaa hai.)
  “Mango is the king of all fruits.”

Exception:

However, if we wish to talk about a litchi or pear, the sentence would be in the feminine gender.

Such as:

• लीची काफ़ी मीठी है। (Liicii kaafii miithii hai.)
  “Litchi is quite sweet.”

5) Names of Countries and Continents

This is the last category of nouns which you can be sure are masculine. In Hindi, the names of all the countries and continents are used as masculine nouns.

“Country” is called देश (Des) in Hindi, whereas “continent” is known as महाद्वीप (mahaaDviip).

Examples:

• भारत देश बहुत बड़ा है। (bhaaraT Des bahuT badaa hai.)
  “India is a huge country.”
• ऑस्ट्रेलिया दुनिया का सबसे छोटा महाद्वीप है। (auStreLiyaa DuNiyaa kaa SabaSe chotaa mahaaDviip hai.)
  “Australia is the smallest continent in the world.”

6) Names of All the Metals

By now, you’re familiar with the concept that there’s no common gender in Hindi. Henceforth, browsing through any Hindi gender list will present words in either masculine or feminine gender.

Continuing with our sub-category of metals in Hindi, all the metal names are in masculine forms.

Here are some sentences to help you understand better:

• आजकल सोना बहुत महँगा चल रहा है। (aajakaL SoNaa bahuT mahangaa caL rahaa hai.)
  “Nowadays, gold is really expensive.”
  Or
  “Nowadays, gold prices are soaring high.”
• लोहा पीतल से मज़बूत होता है। (Lohaa piiTaL Se mazabuuT hoTaa hai.)
  “Iron is stronger than bronze.”

Exception:

You must remember that “silver” चाँदी (caanDii) is an exception here. It’s the only metal that’s considered a feminine noun.

• चाँदी पायल बनाने में इस्तेमाल की जाती है। (caanDii paayaL baNaaNe men iSTemaaL kii jaaTii hai.)
  “Silver is used in making anklets.”

7) Names of All the Planets

Most of the planet names are treated as masculine nouns. “Planets” are known as ग्रह (grah) in Hindi.

• बृहस्पति सबसे बड़ा ग्रह है। (brihaSpaTi SabaSe badaa grah hai.)
  “Jupiter is the largest planet.”

Exception:

Our planet, “Earth,” is the one and only exception in the list of planets. Culturally, “earth” in India is worshipped as “mother,” without which the origin of life wouldn’t have been possible. Thus, planet Earth is a feminine noun in Hindi.

• पृथ्वी सूरज के चारों ओर चक्कर लगाती है. (priTHavii Suuraj ke caaron or cakkar LagaaTii hai.)
  “The earth revolves around the sun.”

With this, we come to the end of all possible major categories which contain the masculine nouns. Now, let’s explore the feminine nouns.

2- Common Categories for the Feminine Gender in Hindi

The names of rivers, languages, scripts, and dates, are mostly feminine. So, if you hear the words from the categories below, more often than not, they’re feminine words.

1) Dates

The most popular word for “dates” in Hindi is तारीख़ (Taariikh). However, it can also be translated as तिथि (TiTHii). The important point is that both words should be treated as feminine.

Let’s see how we can use them in our daily conversations.

• क्या इस काम के लिए कल की तारीख़ ठीक रहेगी? (kyaa iS kaam ke Liye kaL kii Taariikh thiik rahegi?)
  “Would tomorrow’s date be okay for this task?”
• हमारी शादी की तिथि शुभ होनी चाहिए। (hamaarii saaDii kii TiTHii subh hoNii caahiye.)
  “The date of our wedding should be auspicious.”

2) Names of Rivers

It’s interesting to notice that all the rivers in India, and all over the world, fall into the category of feminine nouns. The same rule applies to “lakes.”

“River” in Hindi is called नदी (NaDii) and “lake” is known as झील (jhiiL).

• भारत में गंगा नदी बहुत पवित्र मानी जाती है। (bhaaraT men gangaa NaDii bahuT paviTra maaNii jaaTii hai.)
  “Ganga is considered the most sacred river in India.”
• नाइल नदी अफ़्रीका की सबसे लंबी नदी है। (NaaiL NaDii afriikaa kii SabaSe Lambii NaDii hai.)
  “The Nile is the longest river in Africa.”

3) Names of Languages and Scripts

This is the last sub-category of feminine words in Hindi. Another great tip you should save for yourself is that all languages and scripts are treated as feminine in Hindi.

Here are some examples.

• हिंदी भाषा भारत के कई हिस्सों में बोली जाती है। (hiNDii bhaasaa bhaaraT ke kaii hiSSon men boLii jaaTii hai.)
  “Hindi is spoken in many parts of India.”
• तुम्हारी अंग्रेज़ी वाक़ई बहुत अच्छी है। (Tumhaarii angrezii vaaqaii bahuT acchii hai.)
  “Your English is really impressive.”

4) Names with Certain Suffixes

If you find words that end with the following suffixes—-आहट (aahat), -आवट (aavat), -इया (iyaa), -आस (aaS)—they’re most likely feminine nouns in Hindi. But do be careful and allow the possibility for some exceptions, too.

Here are some of the feminine words that contain the suffixes we just mentioned:

Looking at such a short list of feminine categories, when compared to the endless masculine gender categories, easily gives an idea of the disbalance in gender equality in the Hindi language.

8. Gender Variations for Verbs and Adjectives

The gender variations for adjectives and verbs is such a vast topic that it deserves to be addressed as an article of its own, rather than being reduced to just a teeny-tiny sub-section here.

That’s why we’ve decided to explain it in a thorough and comprehensive way just for you! Shortly, we’ll present you with a brand-new article on conjugation. All you need to do is brace yourself and stay tuned!

But don’t be disappointed! For a sneak peak, check out some essential and handy tips for you from HindiPod101.

To summarize meaningfully, here are the two golden rules we can swear by when it comes to gender variations for verbs and adjectives.

For masculine gender, the verbs and adjectives end with:

• -aa (ा ) sound or diacritic for singular nouns, and with -e (े) for plural nouns.

For the feminine gender in Hindi, the verbs and adjectives end with:

• -ii ( ी) sound or diacritic for singular nouns, and with -iin (ीं) for plural nouns.

9. Quiz

Even the most thorough study habits yield fruit only when they’re put to test. In this Hindi grammar gender guide, we’ve shared so many popular Hindi words and their gender with you. However, it’s inevitable to miss out on some.

So, we came up with this wonderful idea. Why don’t we throw some lesser-known words at you, and based on the concepts (such as word endings) explained in the earlier sections of this lesson, you have to guess the gender of these words! Sound fun?

Here are the less-common Hindi words with their English meaning:

• क्षण (ksan) “Moment”
• चारपाई (caarapaaii) “Cot”
• कुटिया (kutiyaa) “A small cottage or hut”
• वन (vaN) “Jungle”
• समृद्धि (SamriDDHii) “Prosperity”
• उजाला (ujaaLaa) “Light”
• ख़ामोशी (khaamosii) “Silence”

Well, give us your best shot. We’d love to hear you out in the comment box below!

10. Takeaway from HindiPod101.com

This was all from our side on the topic of gender words in Hindi. We hope you’re feeling far more confident in using the correct gender forms in your day-to-day conversations. But be sure to let us know in the comments section if you have any questions!

As always, practice is the ultimate key to your success. So, as much as possible, try to listen to various talks about gender’s role in Hindi, go through a gender equality speech in Hindi, use an app, or find some other good listening media like the podcasts and videos on our website.

With the help of your native friends, make it a habit to practice and guess the gender of a range of new words. You can also use our free online dictionary and expand your Hindi vocabulary.

We also have a bunch of lessons on Hindi pronunciation if that’s what’s keeping you behind. You’ll be surprised to see the mindblowing command you’ll be able to gain over your Hindi language skills. Nonetheless, if you wish to be an unstoppable achiever in this Hindi course, sign up on HindiPod101.com!