Three Genders in Marathi and How Verbs Follow

Hindi has two genders. Marathi has three: पुल्लिंगी (masculine), स्त्रीलिंगी (feminine) and नपुंसकलिंगी (neuter). Gender affects adjectives and verbs.

Common endings

Gender	Typical endings	Examples
Masculine	-आ, consonant	मुलगा (boy), घोडा (horse), देव (god)
Feminine	-ई, -आ, consonant	मुलगी (girl), भाषा (language), वेळ (time)
Neuter	-ए, consonant	मूल (child), घर (house), पुस्तक (book)

Endings are guides, not laws, so learn each noun with its gender.

Adjectives agree

Adjectives ending in -आ change:

Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
मोठा मुलगा (big boy)	मोठी मुलगी (big girl)	मोठे घर (big house)
चांगला मुलगा (good boy)	चांगली मुलगी (good girl)	चांगले पुस्तक (good book)

The pattern: -आ (masculine), -ई (feminine), -ए (neuter).

Verbs agree

The verb also changes with the subject's gender:

• तो जातो. — He goes.
• ती जाते. — She goes.
• मूल जाते. — The child goes. (neuter)

In the past tense:

• तो आला. — He came.
• ती आली. — She came.
• मूल आले. — The child came. (neuter)

Speaker's gender

A speaker's own gender shows in verbs, too:

• मी जातो. — I go. (male speaker)
• मी जाते. — I go. (female speaker)

Plurals

Singular	Plural
मुलगा	मुलगे
मुलगी	मुली
घर	घरे
पुस्तक	पुस्तके

Translating to English

English has no such distinction, so the gender simply disappears: मोठे घर = "a big house".

Tips

1. Learn nouns with their gender.
2. Learn the -आ / -ई / -ए adjective pattern.
3. Use the dictionary to check gender.

Look up any word with English Marathi Dictionary →