When और aur “and” joins nouns, adjective agreement depends on where the adjective sits. An attributive adjective inside one conjunct agrees locally with that noun: बड़ा कमरा और छोटी रसोई. A predicate adjective describing the whole coordinated subject treats it as plural: कमरा और रसोई दोनों छोटे हैं. If the conjuncts have mixed gender, the canonical resolved form is masculine plural.
English hides this contrast because “large” has one shape in “a large room and kitchen” and “the room and kitchen are large.” Hindi requires you to separate morphological agreement from the intended scope of modification.
For the noun-phrase side of the system beyond adjectives, see coordinated nouns and agreement resolution.
The agreement forms available
Before coordination is resolved, each declinable adjective still draws on its ordinary paradigm.
| Features | Form of बड़ा | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular direct | बड़ा baṛā | बड़ा कमरा |
| masculine plural direct | बड़े baṛe | बड़े कमरे |
| masculine singular/plural oblique | बड़े baṛe | बड़े कमरे में / बड़े कमरों में |
| feminine, all numbers and cases | बड़ी baṛī | बड़ी रसोई / बड़ी रसोइयों में |
Coordination does not invent a new ending. It determines which existing plural form describes the set.
Predicate agreement with same-gender conjuncts
Two or more coordinated singular nouns form a plural subject. If all conjuncts are masculine, a declinable predicate takes masculine plural -ए.
कमरा और गलियारा दोनों लंबे हैं।
kamrā aur galiyārā donoṃ lambe haiṃ.
The room and the corridor are both long.
यह कोट और वह स्वेटर अब पुराने हैं।
yah koṭ aur vah sveṭar ab purāne haiṃ.
This coat and that sweater are old now.
If all conjuncts are feminine, the predicate takes feminine -ई, while the auxiliary is plural.
किताब और कॉपी दोनों पुरानी हैं।
kitāb aur kopī donoṃ purānī haiṃ.
The book and the notebook are both old.
चाय और दाल अभी गरम हैं, लेकिन रोटियाँ ठंडी हैं।
cāy aur dāl abhī garam haiṃ, lekin roṭiyā̃ ṭhaṇḍī haiṃ.
The tea and lentil curry are still hot, but the flatbreads are cold.
Invariant गरम has no feminine plural form, but plural हैं still identifies the coordinated subject. Declinable ठंडी shows feminine agreement with रोटियाँ.
Mixed gender resolves to masculine plural
In the canonical careful-spoken and written pattern, a coordinated set containing at least one masculine conjunct takes masculine plural agreement.
कमरा और रसोई दोनों छोटे हैं।
kamrā aur rasoī donoṃ choṭe haiṃ.
The room and the kitchen are both small.
मेरा फ़ोन और मेरी घड़ी दोनों नए हैं।
merā fon aur merī ghaṛī donoṃ nae haiṃ.
My phone and watch are both new.
The predicate छोटे/नए does not claim that the feminine conjunct has become masculine. Masculine plural is the language's resolution form for the mixed set. Semantic gender remains available inside each conjunct.
With human referents the same resolution appears:
रीना और उसका भाई दोनों लंबे हैं।
rīnā aur uskā bhāī donoṃ lambe haiṃ.
Reena and her brother are both tall.
All-feminine human coordination instead takes feminine -ई: रीना और मीना लंबी हैं. In informal speech, especially with inanimate conjuncts, speakers may sometimes match a nearby conjunct (informal; variable). For dependable Standard Hindi production, use resolved plural agreement or recast the sentence so each description is local.
Attributive adjectives agree locally
An adjective placed inside one conjunct agrees with the noun in that conjunct, not with the entire coordination.
बड़ा कमरा और छोटी रसोई दोनों खाली हैं।
baṛā kamrā aur choṭī rasoī donoṃ khālī haiṃ.
The large room and the small kitchen are both empty.
पुरानी मेज़ और नई कुर्सी कल बिक गईं।
purānī mez aur naī kursī kal bik gaīṃ.
The old table and the new chair were sold yesterday.
Each adjective has a separate controller. The predicate खाली is invariant, and बिक गईं treats the two feminine conjuncts as a plural set.
A single prenominal adjective before the first conjunct creates a scope problem. बड़ा कमरा और रसोई certainly marks कमरा as large; context may extend “large” to the kitchen, but morphology does not prove that broad reading. To make both descriptions explicit, repeat the adjective with local agreement:
बड़ा कमरा और बड़ी रसोई ऊपर हैं।
baṛā kamrā aur baṛī rasoī ūpar haiṃ.
The large room and the large kitchen are upstairs.
Shared modifiers with same-gender nouns
When coordinated nouns have the same gender, one attributive adjective can modify both, but scope may still depend on phrasing. पुरानी मेज़ और कुर्सी can mean “the old table and chair,” yet it can also be heard as “the old table and [a] chair.” Repeating the modifier removes that ambiguity.
साफ़ मेज़ और कुर्सी बैठक के लिए तैयार हैं।
sāf mez aur kursī baiṭhak ke lie taiyār haiṃ.
The clean table and chair are ready for the meeting.
Because साफ़ is indeclinable, it gives no overt clue about how many nouns lie in its scope. Invariability removes a morphological signal; it does not settle the semantic attachment.
Coordination in an oblique phrase
A postposition can govern an entire coordinated phrase. Each attributive adjective still follows its local noun's gender and case.
बड़े कमरे और छोटी रसोई के बीच एक संकरा गलियारा है।
baṛe kamre aur choṭī rasoī ke bīc ek saṅkarā galiyārā hai.
There is a narrow corridor between the large room and the small kitchen.
Masculine बड़ा कमरा becomes oblique बड़े कमरे under के बीच. Feminine छोटी रसोई keeps adjective -ई. Direct versus oblique grammar operates inside the conjuncts before the coordinate phrase receives its full interpretation.
Degree and conventional meanings
Degree markers apply to the predicate without changing agreement resolution.
बरामदा और दोनों कमरे काफ़ी बड़े हैं।
barāmdā aur donoṃ kamre kāfī baṛe haiṃ.
The veranda and both rooms are quite large.
Conventional kinship meanings also require local agreement. बड़ा भाई means elder brother and बड़ी बहन elder sister; the adjective must be repeated if both relations are intended.
मेरा बड़ा भाई और मेरी बड़ी बहन दिल्ली में रहते हैं।
merā baṛā bhāī aur merī baṛī bahan dillī meṃ rahte haiṃ.
My elder brother and elder sister live in Delhi.
Coordination and a ने-marked agent
In a perfective transitive clause, the ने-marked agent is not the controller. With an unmarked coordinated object whose conjuncts are both feminine, careful Standard Hindi can show feminine plural agreement on the perfective.
रोहित ने नई कुर्सियाँ और नई मेज़ें ख़रीदीं।
rohit ne naī kursiyā̃ aur naī mezeṃ xarīdīṃ.
Rohit bought new chairs and new tables.
The locally repeated नई modifies each feminine noun. ख़रीदीं agrees with the unmarked feminine plural object set; masculine agent रोहित ने does not supply its features.
Common Mistakes
❌ बालकनी और कमरा दोनों छोटा है।
Incorrect—the coordinated subject is plural, and a mixed-gender set takes resolved masculine plural छोटे हैं.
✅ बालकनी और कमरा दोनों छोटे हैं।
bālkanī aur kamrā donoṃ choṭe haiṃ.
The balcony and the room are both small.
❌ किताब और कॉपी दोनों नए हैं।
Incorrect—both nouns are feminine, so the predicate is नई, with plural हैं.
✅ किताब और कॉपी दोनों नई हैं।
kitāb aur kopī donoṃ naī haiṃ.
The book and notebook are both new.
❌ नया कमरा और नया रसोई खाली हैं।
Incorrect—attributive agreement is local, and feminine रसोई requires नई.
✅ नया कमरा और नई रसोई खाली हैं।
nayā kamrā aur naī rasoī khālī haiṃ.
The new room and new kitchen are empty.
❌ कमरा और रसोई साफ़े हैं।
Incorrect—साफ़ is indeclinable; only the plural auxiliary marks the coordinated subject here.
✅ कमरा और रसोई साफ़ हैं।
kamrā aur rasoī sāf haiṃ.
The room and the kitchen are clean.
❌ अमित ने नई फ़ाइलें और नई तस्वीरें ख़रीदा।
Incorrect—the ने-marked agent does not control the perfective; the unmarked feminine plural object set licenses ख़रीदीं.
✅ अमित ने नई फ़ाइलें और नई तस्वीरें ख़रीदीं।
amit ne naī fāileṃ aur naī tasvīreṃ xarīdīṃ.
Amit bought new files and new photographs.
Key Takeaways
- An attributive adjective agrees locally with the noun inside its conjunct.
- A predicate describing a coordinated subject uses plural agreement.
- All-feminine sets take feminine -ई; mixed-gender sets canonically resolve to masculine plural -ए.
- Repeat a shared adjective when mixed gender or scope would otherwise make the intended reading unclear.
- Indeclinable adjectives stay fixed, but auxiliaries and other agreeing words still reveal plurality.
- A ने-marked agent does not override agreement with an eligible unmarked coordinated object.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Coordinated nouns and agreement resolutionB1 — Coordinate Hindi noun phrases with और while resolving plural agreement, case marking, and shared postpositions accurately.
- Mixed-gender coordinationB1 — Resolve agreement when masculine and feminine Hindi nouns are joined, while keeping case and perfective alignment separate.
- Declinable adjectives in -āA1 — Form the -ā, -e, and -ī agreement pattern of variable Hindi adjectives across gender, number, case, and predicate position.
- Indeclinable adjectivesA2 — Recognize Hindi adjectives that keep one form across gender, number, case, and attributive or predicative position.
- Coordination and shared argumentsB2 — Coordinate Hindi noun phrases and predicates while tracking shared subjects, objects, postpositions, agreement, and clause boundaries.