The feminine form of a declinable -आ -ā adjective ends in -ई -ī: अच्छी, बड़ी, छोटी, नई, पुरानी. Unlike masculine adjectives, it does not visibly distinguish singular from plural or direct from oblique. नई लड़की, नई लड़कियाँ, नई लड़की को, and नई लड़कियों को all contain the same adjective नई.
The noun, verb, demonstrative, or surrounding context must therefore carry distinctions that the adjective ending leaves unexpressed. This is another case of syncretism: one form fills several cells of the paradigm.
The complete feminine pattern
| Number and case | Adjective | Noun phrase |
|---|---|---|
| singular direct | नई naī | नई लड़की naī laṛkī |
| plural direct | नई naī | नई लड़कियाँ naī laṛkiyā̃ |
| singular oblique | नई naī | नई लड़की को naī laṛkī ko |
| plural oblique | नई naī | नई लड़कियों को naī laṛkiyoṃ ko |
The contrast with masculine is compact:
| Gender | Direct singular | Direct plural | Oblique |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | नया | नए | नए |
| feminine | नई | नई | नई |
नई बस बाहर खड़ी है।
naī bas bāhar khaṛī hai.
The new bus is parked outside.
नई बसें हर दस मिनट में आती हैं।
naī baseṃ har das minaṭ meṃ ātī haiṃ.
New buses come every ten minutes.
नई बसों में फ़ोन चार्ज करने की सुविधा है।
naī basoṃ meṃ fon cārj karne kī suvidhā hai.
The new buses have facilities for charging phones.
Forming feminine -ई
For a regular declinable adjective, replace masculine citation-form -आ with -ई:
| Masculine singular | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| अच्छा acchā | अच्छी acchī | good |
| बड़ा baṛā | बड़ी baṛī | big; elder |
| ठंडा ṭhaṇḍā | ठंडी ṭhaṇḍī | cold |
| काला kālā | काली kālī | black |
| नया nayā | नई naī | new |
नया → नई loses the written य in the standard form used throughout this guide. This spelling should be learned with the paradigm rather than derived by deleting only the final vowel sign.
आज ठंडी हवा चल रही है।
āj ṭhaṇḍī havā cal rahī hai.
A cold wind is blowing today.
मेरी नई चाबी कहाँ है?
merī naī cābī kahā̃ hai?
Where is my new key?
Direct and oblique: the noun changes, not the adjective
A postposition makes its complement oblique, but feminine adjective -ई stays the same. Compare the noun endings in the following pair.
पुरानी तस्वीर दीवार पर लगी है।
purānī tasvīr dīvār par lagī hai.
The old photograph is hanging on the wall.
पुरानी तस्वीरों के नीचे नाम लिखे हैं।
purānī tasvīroṃ ke nīce nām likhe haiṃ.
Names are written beneath the old photographs.
In पुरानी तस्वीर, the noun is singular direct. In पुरानी तस्वीरों के नीचे, it is plural oblique. The adjective is पुरानी in both. See feminine plural and oblique noun forms for the noun endings.
छोटी दुकान से ताज़ी सब्ज़ियाँ ले आना।
choṭī dukān se tāzī sabziyā̃ le ānā.
Bring fresh vegetables from the small shop. (informal)
Here छोटी modifies the singular oblique complement of से, while ताज़ी modifies a plural direct object. Both surface as -ई.
Attributive and predicative agreement
Before a feminine noun, a declinable adjective takes -ई. As a predicate, it still agrees with a feminine subject.
यह लंबी सड़क रात में सुनसान रहती है।
yah lambī saṛak rāt meṃ sunsān rahtī hai.
This long road remains deserted at night.
ये सड़कें बहुत लंबी हैं।
ye saṛkeṃ bahut lambī haiṃ.
These roads are very long.
The second लंबी is feminine plural in meaning, even though its ending is identical to feminine singular. Plural हैं and ये सड़कें make number overt.
With a feminine respectful title or name, grammatical gender remains visible on a declinable adjective, while the finite auxiliary may show honorific plural agreement.
डॉक्टर साहिबा आज बहुत व्यस्त हैं, लेकिन नई नर्स तैयार है।
ḍokṭar sāhibā āj bahut vyast haiṃ, lekin naī nars taiyār hai.
The lady doctor is very busy today, but the new nurse is ready.
Invariant व्यस्त/तैयार do not display gender; declinable नई does.
Morphological class versus meaning
Not every adjective beside a feminine noun ends in -ई. सुंदर लड़की, साफ़ सड़क, भारी मेज़, and ज़रूरी बातें contain indeclinable adjectives. Some indeclinable adjectives already end in long -ई, but that vowel is part of the lexical form rather than a feminine ending.
भारी अलमारी बहुत पुरानी है।
bhārī almārī bahut purānī hai.
The heavy wardrobe is very old.
भारी stays भारी with masculine and feminine nouns; पुराना belongs to the declinable class and becomes पुरानी. Both adjectives modify the wardrobe semantically, but only one shows productive agreement.
Degree and conventional meanings
Degree markers such as बहुत, काफ़ी, कम, and सबसे do not block feminine agreement.
यह इस मोहल्ले की सबसे चौड़ी गली है।
yah is mohalle kī sabse cauṛī galī hai.
This is the widest lane in this neighborhood.
आज वाली बैठक पिछली बैठक से थोड़ी छोटी होगी।
āj vālī baiṭhak pichlī baiṭhak se thoṛī choṭī hogī.
Today's meeting will be a little shorter than the previous one.
Conventional meanings retain the same morphology. बड़ी बहन means elder sister; छोटी बात can mean a minor matter rather than a physically small thing.
इतनी छोटी बात पर बहस मत कीजिए।
itnī choṭī bāt par bahas mat kījie.
Please don't argue over such a minor matter. (respectful)
Agreement in a perfective ने-clause
With a ने-marked agent, the adjective still agrees with its noun. When an unmarked feminine object controls perfective agreement, the verb also appears in the feminine.
अजय ने नीली साइकिल ख़रीदी।
ajay ne nīlī sāikil xarīdī.
Ajay bought a blue bicycle.
Masculine अजय is not the agreement controller. नीली and ख़रीदी match feminine, unmarked साइकिल.
Common Mistakes
❌ मुझे नया किताब चाहिए।
Incorrect—feminine किताब requires नई.
✅ मुझे नई किताब चाहिए।
mujhe naī kitāb cāhie.
I need a new book.
❌ अच्छी लड़कियों को बुलाया, पर अच्छी लड़कों को नहीं।
Incorrect—feminine अच्छी cannot modify masculine oblique plural लड़कों.
✅ अच्छी लड़कियों को बुलाया, पर अच्छे लड़कों को नहीं।
acchī laṛkiyoṃ ko bulāyā, par acche laṛkoṃ ko nahīṃ.
The well-behaved girls were invited, but the well-behaved boys were not.
❌ रीना ने काला चादर ख़रीदा।
Incorrect—चादर is feminine, so both adjective and agreeing perfective must be feminine.
✅ रीना ने काली चादर ख़रीदी।
rīnā ne kālī cādar xarīdī.
Reena bought a black sheet.
❌ ये गलियाँ बहुत संकरीं हैं।
Incorrect—the feminine adjective is संकरी in both singular and plural; it does not take the noun ending -ीं.
✅ ये गलियाँ बहुत संकरी हैं।
ye galiyā̃ bahut saṅkarī haiṃ.
These lanes are very narrow.
Key Takeaways
- Declinable adjectives use -ई with every feminine noun phrase: singular or plural, direct or oblique.
- Noun endings, demonstratives, and auxiliaries reveal distinctions that feminine adjective -ई does not.
- Attributive and predicative adjectives both agree with a feminine controller.
- An adjective ending in -ई may instead be lexically indeclinable; compare it across genders.
- A ने-marked agent does not override agreement with the noun an adjective modifies.
Related Topics
- Declinable adjectives in -āA1 — Form the -ā, -e, and -ī agreement pattern of variable Hindi adjectives across gender, number, case, and predicate position.
- Masculine singular direct -āA1 — Use adjective -आ with a masculine singular noun in direct case, and distinguish it from masculine -ए, feminine -ई, and invariant adjectives.
- Masculine plural and oblique -eA1 — Use adjective -ए for masculine plurals and for masculine noun phrases made oblique by a postposition.
- Indeclinable adjectivesA2 — Recognize Hindi adjectives that keep one form across gender, number, case, and attributive or predicative position.
- Feminine plural -eṃ and oblique -oṃB1 — Form direct, oblique, and vocative plurals across Hindi feminine noun classes while keeping agreement and nasal spelling distinct.