Gujarati Plurals: How Nouns Change From One to Many

How Gujarati forms plurals for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns, the -ઓ endings, nouns that stay the same, and the role of numbers.

Plurals in Gujarati follow the noun's gender ending, so learning the three patterns covers most nouns.

Masculine nouns in -ો

The -ો changes to -ા:

છોકરો (boy) → છોકરા (boys)
દીવો (lamp) → દીવા (lamps)
રસ્તો (road) → રસ્તા (roads)
ઘોડો (horse) → ઘોડા (horses)

Feminine nouns in -ી

The -ી adds -ઓ, becoming -ીઓ:

છોકરી (girl) → છોકરીઓ (girls)
નદી (river) → નદીઓ (rivers)
ગાડી (car) → ગાડીઓ (cars)

Other feminine nouns add -ો or -ઓ:

બહેન (sister) → બહેનો (sisters)
વાત (talk) → વાતો (talks)
સ્ત્રી (woman) → સ્ત્રીઓ (women)
રાત (night) → રાતો (nights)

Neuter nouns in -ું

The -ું changes to -ાં:

છોકરું (child) → છોકરાં (children)
બચ્ચું (baby animal) → બચ્ચાં (baby animals)
કપડું (cloth) → કપડાં (clothes)

Nouns that end in consonants

Many masculine and neuter nouns ending in a consonant have an unchanged plural, or take -ો/-ઓ:

ઘર (house) → ઘરો (houses)
પુસ્તક (book) → પુસ્તકો (books)
દિવસ (day) → દિવસો (days)
માણસ (man, person) → માણસો (people)
ફૂલ (flower) → ફૂલો (flowers)
શહેર (city) → શહેરો (cities)
મિત્ર (friend) → મિત્રો (friends)

Adjectives agree in the plural

Adjectives that end in -ો / -ી / -ું change to -ા / -ી / -ાં:

સારા છોકરા (good boys)
સારી છોકરીઓ (good girls)
સારાં બાળકો (good children)

After numbers

When a number is used, the plural is normal in writing (ત્રણ પુસ્તકો, three books), while everyday speech sometimes keeps the singular.

Uncountable nouns

Words such as પાણી (water), દૂધ (milk) and ચોખા (rice) have no separate plural. Use quantity words: થોડું પાણી (some water).

Respect plural

Gujarati uses the plural for respected individuals: પિતાજી આવ્યા (Father has come), શિક્ષક આવ્યા (the teacher has come). The verb takes the plural form -આ.

Plural of pronouns

હું → અમે / આપણે
તું → તમે
તે → તેઓ

Learning strategy

Learn the three main patterns (-ો → -ા, -ી → -ીઓ, -ું → -ાં).
Learn consonant-ending nouns with their plural forms.
Practise agreement with adjectives and verbs.
Use a dictionary for irregular forms.

Common beginner errors

Adding -ઓ to masculine nouns.
Forgetting to change the adjective.
Missing the respect plural.

Check plural forms with English Gujarati Dictionary →