महल पुराना है।

The palace is old.

Breakdown of महल पुराना है।

• होना: to be
• पुराना: old
• महल: palace

Questions & Answers about महल पुराना है।

Why is पुराना after महल here? I thought adjectives often come before nouns.

Good question. In महल पुराना है, पुराना is not directly attached to the noun as part of a noun phrase like old palace. It is a predicate adjective, so the structure is:

noun + adjective + है

So:

महल पुराना है = The palace is old

But if you want old palace, then the adjective usually comes before the noun:

पुराना महल = old palace

So both patterns exist, but they mean slightly different things grammatically.

Why is it पुराना and not पुरानी?

Because महल is a masculine singular noun, and the adjective पुराना agrees with it.

Many Hindi adjectives change form to match gender and number:

• पुराना = masculine singular
• पुरानी = feminine singular
• पुराने = masculine plural

So:

• महल पुराना है = The palace is old
• इमारत पुरानी है = The building is old
• महल पुराने हैं = The palaces are old

Is महल really masculine? It is an inanimate thing.

Yes. In Hindi, nouns have grammatical gender, and it does not depend on whether something is alive.

So even though a palace is inanimate, महल is treated as masculine. That is why the adjective is पुराना.

This is normal in Hindi. Learners often need to memorize the gender of nouns one by one.