Language/Urdu/Grammar/Plurals-and-Gender

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Urdu → Grammar → Plurals and Gender

As a seasoned Urdu language teacher, I have noticed that many beginners struggle with forming correct plurals and using gender correctly in Urdu. In this lesson, we will focus on these complex grammar structures and help you avoid common mistakes. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to confidently form plurals and use gender correctly in your Urdu sentences.


Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Future Tense & Question Words.

Plurals

In Urdu, the formation of plurals is not as simple as adding an "s" to a noun like in English. There are some rules that you need to learn to form plurals correctly. Let's take a look at some of the most common ones:

Regular Plurals

The regular plural form of a noun in Urdu is formed by adding " -وں" to the singular noun. For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
کتاب‎ kitāb book
کتابیں‎ kitābay̰ books

Note: The plural ending " -وں" is added after removing the last vowel of the singular form. If the last vowel is " ی" then it is replaced by " ا" before adding " -وں".

Plurals Ending with "ات"

Some nouns have a plural ending with "ات". The plural ending "ات" is added to the singular form after removing the last vowel. For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
بیٹا‎ béta son
بیٹے‎ bété sons

In some cases, the singular form of the noun may change before adding the plural ending "ات". For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
لڑکی‎ larkī girl
لڑکیاں‎ larkiyā̃ girls

Plurals Ending with "یں"

Some nouns have a plural ending with "یں". The plural ending "یں" is added after removing the last vowel of the singular form. For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
دوست‎ dost friend
دوستیں‎ dostiyā̃ friends

Now that you know the basics of forming plurals in Urdu, it's time to practice! Take a list of nouns and try forming their plurals using the rules we just learned.

Gender

In Urdu, like in many languages, gender plays an important role in sentence structure. It’s important to know the gender of words in order to describe things in a more nuanced way. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to master gender in Urdu.

Nouns with Natural Gender

Many nouns in Urdu have natural gender. In other words, they are either masculine or feminine. For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
لڑکے‎ larké boy
لڑکی‎ larkī girl

As you can see from the example above, the word for "boy" is masculine while the word for "girl" is feminine. This is the natural gender of these words.

Nouns with Grammatical Gender

Some nouns in Urdu are masculine or feminine based only on the grammatical structure of the sentence. For example:

Urdu Pronunciation English
کتاب‎ kitāb book
کتب‎ kutub books

In the example above, the word for "book" is feminine and the plural for "books" is also feminine. This is because the word for "books" is grammatically feminine, even though the word for "book" is not specifically masculine or feminine.

Avoiding Common Gender Mistakes

One common mistake that beginners make is using the wrong gender for a noun. It's important to pay attention to the grammatical gender of the sentence, even if the word itself may not have a natural gender. Here are some examples of common gender mistakes:

  • Using the masculine gender pronoun "وہ" (woh) for feminine nouns.
  • Using the feminine gender pronoun "وہ" (woh) for masculine nouns.
  • Using the masculine gender adjective "خوبصورت" (khubsurat) for feminine nouns.
  • Using the feminine gender adjective "خوبصورت" (khubsurat) for masculine nouns.

To avoid these common mistakes, make sure to pay attention to the gender of the whole sentence, not just the individual words. With enough practice, you'll master gender in Urdu in no time!

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to correctly form plurals in Urdu and how to use gender correctly in Urdu sentences. Remember to practice, practice, practice in order to master these complex grammar structures!

Sources


With this lesson finished, you may want to explore these additional pages: Conditional Mood & Negation.

Videos

How to make Singular to Plural in Urdu - YouTube

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