When several adjectives appear together, Hindi does not assign one ending to the whole string. Each modifier has its own agreement target: usually the noun it directly describes. A declinable adjective displays that target's gender, number, and case; an indeclinable adjective remains unchanged even when it has exactly the same target.
One head, several agreeing modifiers
With one head noun, all declinable modifiers independently reflect the same features.
| Features of the head | Phrase |
|---|---|
| masculine singular direct | नया बड़ा कमरा |
| masculine plural direct | नए बड़े कमरे |
| masculine singular oblique | नए बड़े कमरे में |
| masculine plural oblique | नए बड़े कमरों में |
| feminine | नई बड़ी खिड़की / नई बड़ी खिड़कियों में |
हमें परिवार के लिए नया बड़ा कमरा चाहिए।
hameṃ parivār ke lie nayā baṛā kamrā cāhie.
We need a new, large room for the family.
नए बड़े कमरों में अभी पंखे नहीं लगे हैं।
nae baṛe kamroṃ meṃ abhī paṅkhe nahīṃ lage haiṃ.
Fans have not yet been installed in the new large rooms.
The direct singular नया बड़ा कमरा changes to oblique plural नए बड़े कमरों में. Both adjectives change because both target कमरा. This is morphological agreement, not a claim that newness or size is plural.
Mixed declinable and indeclinable adjectives
Words such as नया, बड़ा, छोटा, काला decline. Words such as सुंदर, साफ़, डिजिटल, सरकारी are normally invariant. Mixed strings therefore contain both changing and fixed forms.
उसने महँगी डिजिटल घड़ी ऑनलाइन मँगाई।
usne mahãgī ḍijiṭal ghaṛī onlāin mãgāī.
She ordered an expensive digital watch online.
सुंदर पुराने मकानों के बीच एक छोटा सरकारी दफ़्तर है।
sundar purāne makānoṃ ke bīc ek choṭā sarkārī daftar hai.
There is a small government office among the beautiful old houses.
In the first example, feminine महँगी agrees with घड़ी, while डिजिटल stays fixed. In the second, सुंदर remains unchanged but पुराने marks masculine plural oblique मकानों. The later छोटा targets singular दफ़्तर, not the earlier plural noun.
Local targets inside a complex noun phrase
A phrase may contain several nouns, so its modifiers need not share a controller.
पुराने घर की बड़ी खिड़कियाँ सड़क की ओर खुलती हैं।
purāne ghar kī baṛī khiṛkiyā̃ saṛak kī or khultī haiṃ.
The old house's large windows open toward the street.
Here पुराने modifies masculine oblique घर, की and बड़ी modify feminine plural खिड़कियाँ, and the later की belongs to the fixed expression की ओर with सड़क. The nearest noun is often a useful clue, but syntactic structure—not mere distance—decides the target.
Possessive phrases make this especially visible:
रीना की नई लाल साड़ी दरवाज़े के पीछे टँगी है।
rīnā kī naī lāl sāṛī darvāze ke pīche ṭãgī hai.
Reena's new red sari is hanging behind the door.
की and नई agree with feminine साड़ी; invariant लाल describes the same noun without an ending. Feminine Reena is the possessor, not the agreement target of की. See possessive का phrases for nested agreement chains.
Coordination creates separate or shared targets
When a coordinated phrase contains one overt noun, several adjectives can share it. When each conjunct has its own noun, each adjective agrees locally.
बैठक के लिए बड़ा और शांत कमरा बुक कर दीजिए।
baiṭhak ke lie baṛā aur śānt kamrā buk kar dījie.
Please book a large, quiet room for the meeting.
हमने बड़ा कमरा और छोटी रसोई दोनों देखे।
hamne baṛā kamrā aur choṭī rasoī donoṃ dekhe.
We looked at both the large room and the small kitchen.
In बड़ा और शांत कमरा, both adjectives share कमरा, though only बड़ा visibly declines. In बड़ा कमरा और छोटी रसोई, बड़ा and छोटी have different targets. A single ending cannot be propagated across the conjunction.
Predicative strings
Several adjectives may jointly predicate properties of one subject. Their lexical classes remain intact.
यह कमरा बड़ा, साफ़ और हवादार है।
yah kamrā baṛā, sāf aur havādār hai.
This room is large, clean, and airy.
दोनों खिड़कियाँ नई, चौड़ी और मज़बूत हैं।
donoṃ khiṛkiyā̃ naī, cauṛī aur mazbūt haiṃ.
Both windows are new, wide, and sturdy.
Feminine plural खिड़कियाँ triggers नई and चौड़ी; invariant मज़बूत remains fixed. Predicative position does not erase agreement. The copula follows the number and honorific interpretation of the subject, a separate relation from adjective morphology.
Order, scope, and conventional units
Hindi adjective order is guided by scope and information structure, not by a single rigid English-style sequence. Evaluative and size adjectives often precede color or material/type descriptions: सुंदर बड़ा लाल बक्सा, पुराना लकड़ी का बक्सा. A tightly conventional unit tends to stay near the noun: बड़ा सरकारी अधिकारी normally means “a senior government official,” whereas changing the order can shift the focus or sound marked.
बहुत पुराना लाल लकड़ी का बक्सा अब भी मज़बूत है।
bahut purānā lāl lakṛī kā baksā ab bhī mazbūt hai.
The very old red wooden box is still sturdy.
बहुत takes scope over पुराना, not automatically over every later modifier. लाल is invariant; लकड़ी का agrees with masculine बक्सा through का. English speakers should not assume that a memorized English adjective order determines Hindi morphology. For discourse effects, see adjective order in noun phrases.
Multiple adjectives in a ने-clause
Ergative ने on the agent does not make that agent the controller of adjectives inside the object phrase.
रीना ने लंबे काले परदे ख़रीदे।
rīnā ne lambe kāle parde xarīde.
Reena bought long black curtains.
Both लंबे and काले target masculine plural परदे. Because the object is not marked by को, perfective ख़रीदे can agree with it too. These are parallel agreement relations with the object, not agreement transmitted from adjective to adjective. Agreement with ergative subjects treats the verb pattern in detail.
Common Mistakes
❌ दो नया बड़े डिब्बे बाहर रख दो।
Incorrect—both declinable adjectives target masculine plural डिब्बे.
✅ दो नए बड़े डिब्बे बाहर रख दो।
do nae baṛe ḍibbe bāhar rakh do.
Put two new large boxes outside. (informal)
❌ पुरानी सुंदरें तस्वीरें किसकी हैं?
Incorrect—सुंदर is invariant; it never takes the feminine plural noun ending -ें.
✅ पुरानी सुंदर तस्वीरें किसकी हैं?
purānī sundar tasvīreṃ kiskī haiṃ?
Whose beautiful old photographs are these?
❌ हमने बड़े कमरे और बड़ी गलियारा देखे।
Incorrect—each conjunct has its own target; masculine गलियारा requires बड़ा.
✅ हमने बड़ा कमरा और बड़ा गलियारा देखे।
hamne baṛā kamrā aur baṛā galiyārā dekhe.
We saw a large room and a large corridor.
❌ मीना ने लंबा नीली साड़ियाँ ख़रीदीं।
Incorrect—both adjectives describe feminine साड़ियाँ, despite the masculine-looking agent name.
✅ मीना ने लंबी नीली साड़ियाँ ख़रीदीं।
mīnā ne lambī nīlī sāṛiyā̃ xarīdīṃ.
Meena bought long blue saris.
Key Takeaways
- Every modifier has its own syntactic target and its own lexical agreement class.
- Shared heads produce parallel agreement; coordinated or nested heads create local agreement domains.
- Invariant adjectives stay fixed beside agreeing adjectives.
- Word order changes scope and focus, but it does not replace gender-number-case agreement.
- A ने-marked agent does not control adjectives inside an object noun phrase.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Adjective order in noun phrasesA2 — Arrange determiners, quantities, degree phrases, descriptive adjectives, classifying modifiers, and the head noun in natural Hindi order.
- Adjective agreement with coordinated nounsA2 — Resolve adjective agreement across noun phrases joined by और, while keeping attributive agreement local and predicate agreement plural.
- Possessive का phrases as adjectival modifiersB2 — Treat का/के/की possession phrases as agreeing modifiers whose ending follows the possessed head noun.
- Indeclinable adjectivesA2 — Recognize Hindi adjectives that keep one form across gender, number, case, and attributive or predicative position.
- Agreement with ergative subjectsA2 — Track Hindi agreement when a perfective transitive subject bears ने, distinguishing syntactic subjecthood from agreement control.