Modern Hindi Grammar - Indian Institute of Language Studies (IILS)

3. MORPHOLOGY

3.3.1. Inflected

These adjectives are inflected for gender and number.

Masculine Feminine
Sg Pl Sg / Pl
baD,a bara: baD,o bare baD,I bari: big
CaoTa chota: CaoTo chote CaoTI choti: small
laMbaa lamba: laMbao lambe laMbaI lambi: tall
kalaa ka:la: kalao kale kalaI ka:li: black
hra hara: hro hare hrI hari: green
AcCa accha: AcCo acche AcCI acchi: good

3.3.2. Uninflected

These adjectives are not inflected for number and gender.

sauMdr laD,ka/laD,kI sundar larka: /laṛki: beautiful boy/girl
duKI AadmaI /aAaOrt dukhi: admi:/ ørat sad man/woman

safod kpD,a /kmaIja, saphed kapra: /kami:z white cloth/shirt

3.3.3. Types of Adjectives

There are two broad types of adjectives: (i) those that describe a
quality or quantity, and (ii) those that distinguish one person or thing
from another.

(i) Quality is expressed either by a basic adjective or by an adjective
derived from a noun.

sauMdr laD,kI sundar larki: a beautiful girl
SamaI-laa laD,ka šarmi:la: larka: a bashful boy

The adjective SamaI-laa šarmi:la: is derived by adding the suffix - [--laa
i:la: to the noun stem. Negative qualities are expressed by a separate
set of adjectives and also by adding negative prefixes.

badsaUrt AaOrt bad-su:rat ørat an ugly woman

baoSama- laD,ka be-šarm larka: a shameless boy