When a Hindi coordination contains both masculine and feminine nouns, the neutral standard resolution is masculine plural: भाई और बहन आए bhāī aur bahan āe “the brother and sister came.” The masculine plural is a grammatical default for mixed gender; it does not say that the feminine referent is less important.
This rule applies to participles, changeable adjectives, and future forms when the coordinated phrase controls agreement. Case and alignment remain independent: a postposition makes each conjunct oblique, while ने may prevent the subject from controlling the verb at all.
The default resolution pattern
| Coordination | Gender makeup | Resolved agreement |
|---|---|---|
| अमित और रोहन amit aur rohan | masculine + masculine | आए āe |
| रीना और सीमा rīnā aur sīmā | feminine + feminine | आईं āīṃ |
| अमित और रीना amit aur rīnā | masculine + feminine | आए āe |
| किताब और अख़बार kitāb aur axbār | feminine + masculine | नए nae |
अमित और रीना सुबह जल्दी आए।
amit aur rīnā subah jaldī āe.
Amit and Reena came early in the morning.
नई किताब और नया अख़बार मेज़ पर रखे हैं।
naī kitāb aur nayā axbār mez par rakhe haiṃ.
The new book and new newspaper are on the table.
Each attributive adjective first agrees locally—नई किताब, नया अख़बार—but predicate रखे हैं resolves the combined subject as masculine plural.
Order does not normally change the default
Putting the feminine noun last does not make a neutral preverbal coordinated subject feminine. Both अमित और रीना and रीना और अमित normally take masculine plural आए.
रीना और अमित दोनों तैयार थे।
rīnā aur amit donoṃ taiyār the.
Reena and Amit were both ready.
माँ और बेटा बाज़ार गए हैं।
mā̃ aur beṭā bāzār gae haiṃ.
The mother and son have gone to the market.
Proximity or nearest-conjunct agreement can occur in restricted presentational orders, formulaic language, and colloquial production. It is not the best default for planned neutral prose. When the coordinated subject precedes the predicate, masculine plural resolution is the stable learner rule.
Lexical pairs use the same resolution
Pairs such as माता-पिता mātā-pitā “parents,” भाई-बहन bhāī-bahan “brothers and sisters/siblings,” and स्त्री-पुरुष strī-puruṣ “women and men” conventionally refer to mixed groups and take plural agreement. Many are written with a hyphen when treated as a close lexical pair.
माता-पिता बच्चों का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं।
mātā-pitā baccoṃ kā intazār kar rahe haiṃ.
The parents are waiting for the children.
भाई-बहन छुट्टियों में घर आए हुए हैं।
bhāī-bahan chuṭṭiyoṃ meṃ ghar āe hue haiṃ.
The siblings are home for the holidays.
The masculine plural forms कर रहे and आए हुए reflect mixed-gender resolution. A context with only sisters would use a feminine expression and feminine agreement.
Case applies to each conjunct
A shared postposition after a mixed coordination governs all conjuncts. Masculine -ā nouns show the singular oblique change; feminine singulars usually do not.
| Direct | Oblique with shared marker |
|---|---|
| लड़का और लड़की laṛkā aur laṛkī | लड़के और लड़की को laṛke aur laṛkī ko |
| बेटा और बेटी beṭā aur beṭī | बेटे और बेटी से beṭe aur beṭī se |
| लड़के और लड़कियाँ laṛke aur laṛkiyā̃ | लड़कों और लड़कियों के लिए laṛkoṃ aur laṛkiyoṃ ke lie |
बेटा और बेटी घर पर हैं; मैंने बेटे और बेटी से अलग-अलग बात की।
beṭā aur beṭī ghar par haiṃ; maĩne beṭe aur beṭī se alag-alag bāt kī.
The son and daughter are at home; I spoke to each of them separately.
बेटा becomes बेटे before shared से. Agreement resolution and case formation operate on different layers.
ये लड़के और लड़कियाँ प्रतियोगिता में भाग लेंगे; आयोजक लड़कों और लड़कियों को नियम समझाएँगे।
ye laṛke aur laṛkiyā̃ pratiyogitā meṃ bhāg leṅge; āyojak laṛkoṃ aur laṛkiyoṃ ko niyam samjhāẽge.
These boys and girls will take part in the competition; the organizers will explain the rules to them.
Direct plurals become oblique plurals before को. The noun endings mark plural oblique case; the postposition supplies the relation—the layered case design explained in oblique plural formation.
Genitive agreement follows the possessed noun
A coordinated possessor does not determine the form of का/के/की. The genitive agrees with what is possessed: रीना और अमित का घर but रीना और अमित की गाड़ी.
रीना और अमित की नई गाड़ी नीचे खड़ी है।
rīnā aur amit kī naī gāṛī nīce khaṛī hai.
Reena and Amit's new car is parked downstairs.
The owners form a mixed plural coordination, but feminine singular गाड़ी selects की. English possessive form gives no comparable agreement cue.
ने can remove the subject from agreement
In a perfective transitive clause, a coordinated subject marked by ने does not control the verb. An unmarked object controls agreement; a marked object yields default masculine singular.
रीना और अमित ने नई गाड़ी ख़रीदी।
rīnā aur amit ne naī gāṛī xarīdī.
Reena and Amit bought a new car.
Feminine singular ख़रीदी agrees with गाड़ी, not with the mixed-gender subject. Compare the intransitive sentence रीना और अमित आए, where the subject does control masculine plural agreement.
रीना और अमित ने बच्चों को बुलाया।
rīnā aur amit ne baccoṃ ko bulāyā.
Reena and Amit called the children.
Both subject and object are marked, so बुलाया is default masculine singular—not mixed-subject agreement.
Vocatives avoid gender resolution problems
Coordinated direct address often uses an imperative, which marks person and honorificity rather than gender.
रीना और अमित, आप दोनों अंदर आइए।
rīnā aur amit, āp donoṃ andar āie.
Reena and Amit, please both come inside. (respectful)
The names are vocatives; आप दोनों and आइए express respectful plural address.
A natural exchange
नेहा और उसका भाई कब लौटेंगे? — दोनों शाम तक आ जाएँगे; मैंने उनसे बात की है।
nehā aur uskā bhāī kab lauṭeṅge? — donoṃ śām tak ā jāẽge; maĩne unse bāt kī hai.
When will Neha and her brother return? — They'll both be back by evening; I've spoken to them.
The mixed pair triggers masculine plural futures लौटेंगे/आ जाएँगे. Oblique plural pronoun उनसे refers back to both.
Common Mistakes
1. Agreeing only with the nearest feminine noun
❌ अमित और रीना आईं।
Incorrect in neutral resolved agreement: the mixed subject takes masculine plural आए.
✅ अमित और रीना आए।
amit aur rīnā āe.
Amit and Reena came.
2. Ignoring local gender inside a conjunct
❌ नया किताब और नया अख़बार रखे हैं।
Incorrect: the adjective inside the feminine conjunct must be नई.
✅ नई किताब और नया अख़बार रखे हैं।
naī kitāb aur nayā axbār rakhe haiṃ.
The new book and new newspaper have been put down.
3. Leaving masculine -ā direct before a shared postposition
❌ लड़का और लड़की से बात करो।
Incorrect when से governs both: लड़का becomes oblique लड़के.
✅ लड़के और लड़की से बात करो।
laṛke aur laṛkī se bāt karo.
Talk to the boy and the girl.
4. Forcing masculine plural agreement through ने
❌ रीना और अमित ने गाड़ी ख़रीदे।
Incorrect: the unmarked feminine object गाड़ी controls ख़रीदी.
✅ रीना और अमित ने गाड़ी ख़रीदी।
rīnā aur amit ne gāṛī xarīdī.
Reena and Amit bought a car.
Key Takeaways
- A mixed-gender coordination normally resolves as masculine plural.
- Conjunct order does not change that neutral preverbal default.
- Modifiers inside each conjunct agree locally with their own noun.
- Shared postpositions make every conjunct oblique.
- In perfective ने clauses, object/default agreement outranks mixed-subject resolution.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
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- Honorific plural agreement with singular peopleB1 — Use plural verb and agreement forms respectfully for one person while keeping gender, case, and perfective alignment accurate.
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- Coordination and shared argumentsB2 — Coordinate Hindi noun phrases and predicates while tracking shared subjects, objects, postpositions, agreement, and clause boundaries.
- Perfective object agreementA2 — Make a transitive perfective agree with an eligible unmarked direct object after ने, including gender-number and auxiliary-bearing forms.