Language/Bengali/Grammar/Nouns
Hi Bengali learners! đ
In this lesson, we will learn about one of the most fundamental parts of speech - Nouns. Nouns are words that represent people, places, animals, things, feelings or ideas. They can be singular or plural, and depending upon their gender (masculine/feminine/neuter) can take different forms.
Consider exploring these related pages after completing this lesson: Pronouns, Plurals, Verbs & Subordinating Conjunctions.
What are Nouns?[edit | edit source]
Nouns are the most common part of speech that we come across during our day to day conversation. They are words that name something. For example, "table", "book" and "computer" are all examples of nouns. In Bengali, "Badaami" (āĻŦāĻžāĻĻāĻžāĻŽā§) means "almond", "Bepar" (āĻŦā§āĻĒāĻžāĻ°) means "business" and "Chashma" (āĻāĻļāĻŽāĻž) means "glasses".
Bengali Nouns[edit | edit source]
In Bengali, generally, nouns do not have any genders. Instead, the gender is defined by some specific words such as "Nar" (āĻ¨āĻ°) for male and "Meye" (āĻŽā§āĻ¯āĻŧā§) for female.
Additionally, Bengali nouns do not have any article, such as "a", "an" or "the". For example, "āĻŽāĻŋāĻˇā§āĻāĻŋ āĻāĻžāĻŦā§āĻ¨?" (Do you want to eat sweets?) would be a correct sentence. If we say "āĻāĻŽāĻ°āĻž āĻŽāĻŋāĻˇā§āĻāĻŋ āĻāĻžāĻŦ" (We will eat the sweets), we can see that there is no added article before the word "āĻŽāĻŋāĻˇā§āĻāĻŋ" (sweets).
There are some exceptions, where the article is used while representing the nouns in some specific contexts, such as "āĻāĻāĻāĻŋ āĻā§āĻ āĻŽā§āĻ¯āĻŧā§" (a small girl), where the article "āĻāĻāĻāĻŋ" (a) is used to represent the noun "āĻŽā§āĻ¯āĻŧā§" (girl).
Here are some examples of Bengali Nouns:
Bengali | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
āĻĻā§āĻāĻžāĻ¨ | Dokan | Shop |
āĻ°āĻžāĻ¤ā§āĻ°āĻŋ | Ratri | Night |
āĻā§āĻāĻŦā§āĻ˛āĻž | Chotbela | Childhood |
āĻ˛āĻžāĻ˛āĻāĻŽāĻŋāĻ¨ | Lalmajin | Red carpet |
Let's see some examples where we use these nouns in Bengali conversation:
- Person 1: āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻāĻāĻžāĻ˛ āĻ°āĻžāĻ¤ā§ āĻā§āĻŽ āĻāĻžāĻ˛ā§āĻ āĻĒāĻžāĻā§āĻāĻŋ (Ami ajkal rate ghoom bhaloi pachhi) (I am sleeping well at night these days)
- Person 2: āĻ¸ā§ āĻāĻāĻāĻ¨ āĻā§āĻāĻŦā§āĻ˛āĻžāĻ° āĻĨā§āĻā§āĻ āĻ¸āĻĻāĻž āĻāĻžāĻ˛ā§ āĻ˛āĻā§āĻˇāĻŖ āĻĻā§āĻāĻžāĻā§āĻā§ (Se ekjon chotbelar thekei shada bhalo lokkho dekhachhe) (He is showing good signs right from his childhood)
Countable and Uncountable Nouns[edit | edit source]
During the study of Bengali nouns, we come across two types - countable and uncountable nouns.
Countable Nouns are the nouns that can be counted and take a singular and plural form. For example, "one shirt", "two shirts"; "a pen" and "two pens" are examples of countable nouns.
Uncountable Nouns, on the other hand, cannot be counted, as they represent a general idea or an entire category. They are always used in the singular form. For example, "sugar", "water" and "coffee" are uncountable nouns, as they represent an idea in general.
Here are some examples of countable and uncountable nouns:
Bengali | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
āĻāĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋ | Chini | Sugar (uncountable) |
āĻāĻā§āĻ° | Angur | Grapes (countable) |
āĻ¤āĻžāĻ˛ | Tal | Palm Tree (countable) |
Let's see how countable and uncountable nouns are used in Bengali conversation:
- Person 1: āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻ¤āĻāĻž āĻāĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻā§āĻ¤ā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§? (Tumi koto ta chini khete paro?) (How much sugar can you eat?)
- Person 2: āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻāĻāĻž āĻāĻā§āĻ° āĻĻāĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽ āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžāĻā§ (Ami ekta angur dilam tomakay) (I gave you a grape)
Possessive Nouns[edit | edit source]
A Possessive Noun is a noun that shows ownership or possession of something. In Bengali, Possessive Nouns are created by adding a suffix "er" (for two letter nouns), and "ar" (for three-letter nouns) at the end of the noun.
Here are some examples of Possessive Nouns in Bengali:
Bengali | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
āĻāĻ° | Ghor | House |
āĻŦāĻžāĻŦāĻž | Baba | Father |
āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻžāĻ° | Khamar | Barn |
āĻŽā§āĻ | Mez | Table |
To create Possessive Nouns in Bengali, we can add suffix "er" or "ar" to these nouns as follows:
Bengali | Possessive Noun |
---|---|
āĻāĻ° | āĻāĻ°ā§āĻ° (Ghorer) |
āĻŦāĻžāĻŦāĻž | āĻŦāĻžāĻŦāĻžāĻ° (Babar) |
āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻžāĻ° | āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻžāĻ°ā§āĻ° (Khamarer) |
āĻŽā§āĻ | āĻŽā§āĻā§āĻ° (Mezer) |
Let's see how possessive nouns are used in Bengali conversation:
- Person 1: āĻāĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻŦāĻžāĻŦāĻžāĻ° āĻ¨āĻžāĻŽ āĻ āĻļā§āĻ (Amar Babar nam Ashok) (My father's name is Ashok)
- Person 2: āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻžāĻŽāĻžāĻ°ā§āĻ° āĻŽāĻžāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ (Ami Khamarer Malik) (I am the owner of the barn)
Conclusion[edit | edit source]
In this lesson, we learned about different types of Bengali nouns, their use in sentences, and how to create Possessive Nouns in Bengali. Now, you can practice and apply these concepts to improve your Bengali Grammar. To improve your Bengali Grammar further, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!
So, that's all for this lesson. Hope you enjoyed learning about Bengali Nouns. We will see you in the next one!
⥠If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
⥠Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. đ
Sources[edit | edit source]
Congratulations on finishing this lesson! Explore these related pages to keep learning: Bengali Grammar â Adverbs â Adverbial Phrases, Future Tense & Types of Adjectives.
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Negation
- How to Use Be
- Adjectives
- Conditional Mood
- Pronouns
- Give your Opinion
- How to Use Have
- Plurals
- Future Tense