-चा / -ची / -चे

Saying Whose It Is

Level 1Sounds Like cā / -cī / -cē

The ending follows what is owned, so the same owner takes three endings.

How It Works

Marathi has no 's. It adds -चा, -ची or -चे to the owner, and the ending matches the thing that belongs to the owner.

Thing ownedEndingExample
masculine-चासईचा भाऊ (Sai's brother)
feminine-चीसईची बहीण (Sai's sister)
neuter-चेसईचे घर (Sai's house)

Most nouns that end in -आ change before the ending (चहा and राजा do not): मुलगा becomes मुलाचा, शाळा becomes शाळेची. The ending is joined to the owner.

The owner's gender does not matter. Say सईचा भाऊ and रोहनची बहीण.

To say a thing belongs to the thing before it, use the same ending: घराचा दरवाजा (the door of the house). Ask whose something is with कोणाचा, कोणाची or कोणाचे.

Examples (5)

  1. सईचा भाऊ घरी आहे.

    Sai's brother is at home.

    भाऊ is masculine, so -चा.

  2. सईची बहीण शाळेत आहे.

    Sai's sister is at school.

    बहीण is feminine, so -ची.

  3. सईचे घर पुण्यात आहे.

    Sai's house is in Pune.

    घर is neuter, so -चे.

  4. आईचा फोन टेबलावर आहे.

    Mom's phone is on the table.

    फोन is masculine, so -चा.

  5. मुलाची बॅग मोठी आहे.

    The boy's bag is big.

    बॅग is feminine, so -ची, and मुलगा becomes मुला.

Common Mistakes

  • Making the ending match the owner.

    सईचा बहीण शाळेत आहे.
    सईची बहीण शाळेत आहे.

    The ending matches बहीण, which is feminine.

  • Using the Hindi word for of.

    सई का भाऊ घरी आहे.
    सईचा भाऊ घरी आहे.

    Marathi joins -चा to the owner.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-चा / -ची / -चेLevel 1Saying Whose It Is

Learn This First

The word for of changes to match the thing owned, and it attaches to the changed form of a noun.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.