3.5: Grammar of Adjectives
Adjectives Video
Instructor Video: Adjectives
Adjectives qualify nouns and pronouns. In Hindi, adjectives can be classified in two categories: (a) Marked, and (b) Unmarked.
(a) Marked Adjectives end in -आ . Marked adjective changes its form according to number and gender of the noun that it qualifies.
-आ : -आ ending adjective is for masculine singular.
-ए : -आ changes in -ए for plural nouns, and masculine honorific.
-ई : -आ changes in -ई for feminine noun.
Examples:
अ च्छा लड़का ( m. ) “good boy,” अ च्छी लड़की ( f. ) “good girl,” अ च्छे बच्चे (plu.) “good children.”
ब ड़ा घर ( m. ) “big house,” ब ड़ी दीवार ( f. ) “big wall,” ब ड़े घर (plu.) “big houses.”
लं बा आदमी ( m. ) “tall man,” लं बी औरत ( f. ) “tall woman,” लं बे लोग (plu.) “tall people.”
Exception: There are a few adjectives like बढ़िया “good,” ज़िंदा “alive,” and मादा “female,” etc that end in -आ but do not change their forms according to number and gender of the nouns that these adjectives qualify. Most of these adjectives are Persian-Arabic loan words.
(b) Unmarked Adjectives are adjectives that do not end in -आ . Unmarked adjective does not change its form according to number and gender of the noun that it qualifies.
Examples:
तेज लड़का ( m. ) “smart boy,” तेज लड़की ( f. ) “smart girl,” तेज बच्चे (plu.) “smart children.”
मजबूत घर ( m. ) “strong house,” मजबूत दीवार ( f. ) “strong wall,” मजबूत घर (plu.) “strong houses.”
अमीर आदमी ( m. ) “ rich man,” अमीर औरत ( f. ) “ rich woman,” अमीर लोग (plu.) “rich people.”
Word order for adjectives: Adjectives can be used predicatively (following), and attributively (preceding).
For examples:
| Predicatively | Attributively |
|
यह
अच्छी किताब
है |
This is a good book. |
यह
किताब अच्छी
है|
This book is good. |
|
वे
अमीर लोग
हैं |
They are rich people. |
वे
लोग अमीर
हैं |
Those people are rich. |
|
यह
होशियार लड़का
है |
He is an intelligent boy. |
यह
लड़का होशियार
है|
This boy is intelligent. |
Use of -सा with adjectives
In Hindi, -सा is used with adjectives to add extra meaning.
(a) Adjective + सा: It adds “looking, seeming.”
For example:
- मोटा सा आदमी “fat looking man.”
- अच्छी सी चाय “seemingly good tea.”
- पागल से बच्चे “seemingly crazy children.”
(b) Quantitative Adjective + सा:
- बहुत सा “a great deal.”
- थोड़ा सा “just a little.”
Activities
रंगों के नाम “Names of Colors”
Please read the following adjectives and decide whether the adjective is marked or unmarked adjective.
| Hindi | English | Marked/Unmarked |
| काला | Black | |
| नीला | Blue | |
| भूरा | Brown | |
| धूसर | Gray | |
| हरा | Green | |
| नारंगी | Orange | |
| बैंगनी | Purple | |
| लाल | Red | |
| सफ़ेद | White | |
| पीला | Yellow |
Adjectives of Quality
Please read the following adjectives and decide whether the adjective is marked or unmarked adjective. Please also make a sentence with each adjective.
| Hindi | English | Marked/Unmarked | Sentence |
| अच्छा | Good | ||
| बुरा | Bad | ||
| हल्का | Lite | ||
| भारी | Heavy | ||
| अँधेरा | Dark | ||
| साफ़ | Clean | ||
| गंदा | Dirty | ||
| आसान | Easy | ||
| कठिन | Hard | ||
| सस्ता | Cheap | ||
| महँगा | Expensive | ||
| नया | New (thing) | ||
| पुराना | Old (thing) | ||
| सही | Right | ||
| ग़लत | Wrong | ||
| मजबूत | Strong | ||
| कमज़ोर | Weak | ||
| बूढ़ा | Old (person) | ||
| जवान | Young |
Record your sentences here and share with your friends/teacher
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/ll151/?p=835
Please choose the correct form of adjective of the following noun.
https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/ll151/?p=835
धन्यवाद !