Nouns: gender, number and case
Masculine, feminine and neuter, singular and plural, and how a noun changes before ને, નું and માં: છોકરો, છોકરાઓ, છોકરાને.
Learn
Nouns: gender, number and case, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Learn every noun with its gender
Gujarati has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Gender shows in the words around a noun, such as my: મારો ભાઈ my brother, મારી બહેન my sister, મારું ઘર my house. So learn ઘર as a neuter noun, not just as house.
Use the ending as a guide to gender
A noun ending in -ો is usually masculine (છોકરો, ઓરડો), one in -ી often feminine (છોકરી, બારી) and one in -ું neuter (છોકરું, કેળું). Many nouns give no clue: ઘર is neuter, દિવસ masculine, વાત feminine and પાણી neuter.
Make nouns plural
-ો becomes -ા (છોકરો, છોકરા) and -ું becomes -ાં (કેળું, કેળાં). Other nouns add -ઓ: છોકરી, છોકરીઓ; ઘર, ઘરો. After a number the plural is often left as it is: ત્રણ ઘર three houses.
Change -ો and -ું to -ા before a postposition
Before ને, નું, માં and the other postpositions, a noun ending in -ો or -ું takes -ા: છોકરાને to the boy, રસ્તામાં on the way, કેળાનો રંગ the colour of the banana. Other nouns stay as they are: ઘરમાં, શાળામાં.
Write the short postpositions joined to the noun
ને to, નું of, માં in and થી from or by are written as part of the word: શાળામાં at school, ભારતથી from India, મમ્મીને to Mum.
Make નું agree with what is owned
નું works like an adjective, matching the thing owned, not the owner: રાજનો ભાઈ Raj's brother, રાજની બહેન Raj's sister, રાજનું ઘર Raj's house, રાજના મિત્રો Raj's friends.
Say the and a without articles
Gujarati has no word for the: છોકરો આવ્યો the boy came. Where English needs a, Gujarati may use એક, one: એક છોકરો આવ્યો a boy came. આ this and તે that point to something definite.
Nouns: gender, number and case key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Gender
- Whether a noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. It decides the endings of the words that go with it.
- Neuter
- The third gender, for many things and some living beings: ઘર, પુસ્તક, છોકરું.
- Plural
- More than one: છોકરા, કેળાં, છોકરીઓ.
- Oblique form
- The form a noun takes before a postposition: છોકરો becomes છોકરા in છોકરાને.
- Postposition
- A word placed after a noun where English puts a preposition before it: ઘરમાં in the house.
- નું
- Of, or 's. It agrees with the thing owned: નો, ની, નું, ના, નાં.
Common mistakes in Nouns: gender, number and case
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Matching my to the speaker, as in મારો ઘર.
It matches the noun. ઘર is neuter, so મારું ઘર.
Keeping -ો before a postposition, as in છોકરોને.
Before a postposition, a noun ending in -ો changes it to -ા: છોકરાને, ઓરડામાં.
Matching નું to the owner, as in સીતાની ભાઈ.
It matches the thing owned. ભાઈ is masculine, so સીતાનો ભાઈ.
Practice
Try a Nouns: gender, number and case question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which completes the sentence? અમે દિવાળી મારા ___ ઊજવીએ છીએ. (We celebrate Diwali at my uncle's house.)
- કાકાનું ઘરે
- કાકાના ઘરે
- કાકાનો ઘરે
- કાકાની ઘરે
Show the answer and the working
Answer: કાકાના ઘરે
ઘરે, at the house, is ઘર with the -એ of place, and before it કાકાનું changes to કાકાના: કાકાના ઘરે, at my uncle's house.
- ઘરે means at the house: ઘર with -એ.
- When the noun has a postposition, નું changes to ના.
- So કાકાના ઘરે: at my uncle's house.