Adjectives of Hindi

Adjectives, like nouns, also can be classified according to two main categories: marked and unmarked.

Marked Adjectives

Marked adjectives end in आ in their masculine singular form, ए in their masculine plural form, and ई in both their feminine singular and plural forms. These endings correspond to the most common endings of marked nouns of the respective gender and number.

Gender	Number	Ending	Example
Masculine	Singular	आ	अच्छा
Masculine	Plural	ए	अच्छे
Feminine	Singular	ई	अच्छी
Feminine	Plural	ई	अच्छी

Marked adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in both gender and number.

Gender	Number	Example
Masculine	Singular	अच्छा लड़का
Masculine	Plural	अच्छे लड़के
Feminine	Singular	अच्छी लड़की
Feminine	Plural	अच्छी लड़कियां

Unmarked Adjectives

Unmarked adjectives end with a consonant or a vowel other than आ in their masculine singular form. Unmarked adjectives do not inflect and thus have only one form.

Gender	Number	Phrase	Translation
Masculine	Singular	सुन्दर लड़का	beautiful boy
Masculine	Plural	सुन्दर लड़के	beautiful boys
Feminine	Singular	सुन्दर लड़की	beautiful girl
Feminine	Plural	सुन्दर लड़कियां	beautiful girls

Uses

Adjectives may be used attributively, predicatively, and substantially.

Attributive Adjectives

Attributive adjectives attribute a quality to a noun. For instance: अच्छा लड़का (“good boy”). The adjective अच्छा attributes an attribute (“good”) to a noun लड़का (“boy”). Attributive adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case.

Predicate Adjectives

Predicate adjectives predicate (assert) something about a noun. They are used with a copula verb (“linking verb”), such as होना (“to be”), or लगना (literally “to be attached”, but idiomatically has the sense “to seem”). For instance: यह लड़का अच्छा है (“this boy is good”), or यह लड़का अच्छा लगता है (“this boy seems good”). होना is the most common copula. Other copulas are typically verbs that express sensation or perception.

Substantive Adjectives

Substantive adjectives substitute for nouns. Consider the phrase “The meek shall inherit the Earth.” Meek is an adjective but is functions as a noun. Substantive adjectives, therefore, have “substance” – they imply a noun. In this example, the implied noun could be “people”, for instance: “The meek (people) shall inherit the Earth.” This situation is possible in Hindi also, although it is rare. हमें गरीबों की मदद करनी चाहिए (“We should help the poor”). In this sentence, the adjective गरीब is used as a substantive adjective: “the poor (people)”.

Adjective Case

Every part of a nominal phrase must be in the oblique case if the nominal is in the oblique case. Thus, for example, if a noun in the oblique case is modified by an adjective, the adjective too must be in the oblique case. Adjectives must match the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.

Inflection of Adjectives in the Oblique Case

In both the singular and plural numbers, the final आ of marked masculine adjectives is changed to ए. Oblique feminine adjectives inflect the same way as feminine adjectives in the direct case. Unmarked adjectives do not change in the oblique case.

Type	Gender	Number	Direct Phrase	Translation	Oblique Phrase	Translation
Marked	Masculine	Singular	अच्छा लड़का	Good boy	अच्छे लड़के का	of the good boy, the good boy’s …
Unmarked	Masculine	Singular	सुन्दर लड़का	Handsome boy	सुन्दर लड़के का	of the handsome boy, the handsome boy’s …
Marked	Feminine	Singular	अच्छी लड़की	Good boy	अच्छी लड़की का	of the good girl, the good girl’s …
Unmarked	Feminine	Singular	सुन्दर लड़की	Beautiful girl	सुन्दर लड़की का	of the beautiful girl, the beautiful girl’s …
Marked	Masculine	Plural	अच्छे लड़के	Good boys	अच्छे लड़कों का	of the good boys, the good boys’ …
Unmarked	Masculine	Plural	सुन्दर लड़के	Handsome boys	सुन्दर लड़कों का	of the handsome boys, the handsome boys’ …
Marked	Feminine	Plural	अच्छी लड़कियां	Good girls	अच्छी लड़कियों का	of the good girls, the good girls’ …
Unmarked	Feminine	Plural	सुन्दर लड़कियां	Beautiful girls	सुन्दर लड़कियों का	of the beautiful girls, the beautiful girls’ …

Syntax

It is important to observe several aspects of the syntax of Hindi adjectives.

Word Order

Adjectives generally precede the noun that they modify, just as in English.

More Than One Adjective with a Single Noun

Multiple adjectives may modify a single noun: सुन्दर नीली साडी (“beautiful blue sari”).

Adjectives With More Than One Noun

Impersonal Nouns

When an adjective modifies two or more impersonal objects, it agrees with the closest noun: ये अच्छी साड़ियाँ और जूते लीजिये (“please take these nice saris and shoes”). Note that the adjective is feminine because the closest the noun is feminine. Likewise, for predicate adjectives: ये साड़ियाँ और जूते अच्छे हैं (“these saris and shoes are nice”). Note that in this sentence, the adjective is masculine, although it is describing the same two objects as the previous sentence, because it is closer to the latter, masculine adjective.

Personal Nouns

However, when an adjective modifies two or more personal nouns, it is always masculine and plural: ये लड़के और लडकियाँ अच्छे हैं

Lexical Form of Adjectives

The lexical form of adjectives (“dictionary form”) is masculine gender, singular number, and direct case.

Invariant Adjectives Ending in आ

A few adjectives end in आ in their masculine singular form, yet do not ever change their form, such as ज्यादा (“more/too much”).

Adjective Suffixes

Some adjectives are formed by suffixing the vowel ई to a noun: हिंदुस्तान (“India”) can become हिन्दुस्तानी (“Indian”). This is most common with nouns referring to places.