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Number, Case, and Types of Declension

Hindi nouns two numbers (singular and plural) and three cases (direct, oblique, and vocative). There are also several different types of noun declension.

Number

The formation of plural nouns directly depends on the morphological structure of the word. Hindi nouns can be divided in two groups based on structure:

  1. Nouns with an explicit grammatical meaning. The singular, direct case forms of these nouns have a grammatical ending.
  2. Nouns for which the grammatical meaning is not explicit. The singular, direct case forms of these nouns do not have grammatical endings.

The first group includes masculine nouns that have the ending आ aa or आँ aaN in their singular, direct case forms. These nouns change their endings to ए e / एँ eN respectively to indicate the plural number.

All the other nouns belong to the second group. When they are singular, they do not have a grammatical ending. Masculine nouns in this group do not have an ending when they are plural, either. Thus, their singular and plural forms are the same. Remember that sometimes आ 'aa' at the end of a masculine noun is not a grammatical ending, so there are some words with that ending which belong to this group instead of the first group. These words should be learned as exceptions. Most of them are kinship terms or borrowed words (ex: चाचा caacaa 'uncle' and राजा raajaa 'king').

For feminine nouns in the second group, the formation of the plural form depends on the phonetic characteristic of the end of the word. (See the tables under "Types of Declension" below.)

Case

There are three cases in Hindi: direct, oblique, and vocative. The direct case is usually used for a noun functioning as the subject of a sentence. This rule applies to all types of sentences, except those where the predicate is expressed by a transitive verb in one of the perfect tenses. In such sentences, the subject will be in the oblique case, and the direct object will very often be in the direct case.

The oblique case is always used for nouns which are followed by postpositions.

The vocative case is used when addressing somebody.

Types of declension

The declension type for a particular noun depends on its gender and ending. Thus, there are four basic types of declension in Hindi: two for masculine nouns and two for feminine nouns (one for the first group, and three for the second group).

  1. Masculine nouns that have the ending आ aa or आँ aaN endings in the singular, direct case form belong to the first declension type.

    See the table with the declension of the words कमरा kamraa 'room' and कुआँ kuaaN 'well'.

     

    Singular

    Plural

    Direct

    कमरा kamraa 'room'

    कुआँ kuaaN 'well'

    कमरे kamre 'rooms'

    कुएँ kueN 'wells'

    Oblique

    कमरे में kamre meN 'in the room'

    कुएँ में kueN meN 'in the well'

    कमरों में kamroN meN 'in the rooms'

    कुओं में kuoN meN 'in the wells'
  2. The second type of declension is used for masculine nouns that end in a consonant or in a vowel other than आ aa, along with those nouns for which आ aa is not a grammatical ending.

    The examples of this type are घर ghar 'house', डाकू Daakuu 'robber', आदमी aadmii 'man', and पिता pitaa 'father'.

     

    Singular

    Plural

    Direct

    घर ghar 'house'

    डाकू Daakuu 'robber'

    आदमी aadmii 'man'

    पिता pitaa 'father'

    घर ghar 'houses'

    डाकू Daakuu 'robbers'

    आदमी aadmii 'men'

    पिता pitaa 'fathers'

    Oblique

    घर में ghar meN 'in the house'

    डाकू के साथ Daakuu ke saath 'with the robber'

    आदमी के साथ aadmii ke saath 'with the man'

    पिता के साथ pitaa ke saath 'with father'

    घरों में gharoN meN 'in the houses'

    डाकुओं के साथ DaakuoN ke saath 'with the robbers'

    आदमियों के साथ aadmiyoN ke saath 'with the men'

    पिताओं के साथ pitaaoN ke saath 'with fathers'
  3. The third type of declension is used for feminine nouns that end in ई ii, इ i or इया iyaa in the direct case.

    See the table with the declension of the words बेटी beTii 'daughter', शक्ति śakti 'power', and बुढ़िया buRhiyaa 'old woman'.

     

    Singular

    Plural

    Direct

    बेटी beTii 'daughter'

    शक्ति śakti 'power'

    बुढ़िया buRhiyaa 'old woman'

    बेटियाँ beTiyaaN 'daughters'

    शक्तियाँ śaktiyaaN 'powers'

    बुढ़ियाँ buRhiyaaN 'old women'

    Oblique

    बेटी के साथ beTii ke saath 'with a daughter'

    शक्ति से śakti se 'with power'

    बुढ़िया के साथ buRhiyaa ke saath 'with the old woman'

    बेटियों के साथ beTiyoN ke saath 'with daughters'

    शक्तियों से śaktiyoN se 'with the powers'

    बुढ़ियों के साथ buRhiyoN ke saath 'with the old women'
  4. Other feminine nouns belong to the fourth declension.

    Examples of this type are मेज़ mez 'table', माता maataa 'mother', and बहू bahuu 'daughter-in-law'.

     

    Singular

    Plural

    Direct

    मेज़ mez 'table'

    माता maataa 'mother'

    बहू bahuu 'daughter-in-law'

    मेज़ें mezeN 'tables'

    माताएँ maataaeN 'mothers'

    बहुएँ bahueN 'daughters-in-law'*

    Oblique

    मेज़ पर mez par 'on the table'

    माता के साथ maataa ke saath 'with mother'

    बहू के साथ bahuu ke saath 'with the daughter-in-law'

    मेज़ों पर mezoN par 'on the tables'

    माताओं के साथ maataaoN ke saath 'with mothers'

    बहुओं के साथ bahuoN ke saath 'with the daughters-in-law'*

    Notice that nouns that end in ऊ 'uu' shorten their final vowel before the ending.

    The vocative case has the same form as the oblique case, except that in the plural the -ओ o is not nasalized. If there is a declinable adjective before the noun, it agrees with the noun.

    Ex: अरे मेरे बेटे! are mere beTe! 'Hey, my son!'

    मेरी बेटी! merii beTii 'My daughter!'

    अरे नेक लोगो! are nek logo! 'Hey, kind people!'

    लड़कियो! laRkiyo! 'Girls!'

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