Nouns Before Endings

Level 1Sounds Like sāmān'yarūpa

The changed shape is called the oblique form: the shape a noun takes before an ending.

How It Works

Look at the last letters of the noun, then add the ending.

Type	Noun	With an ending
feminine -ा becomes -े	शाळा	शाळेत, शाळेला
masculine -ा becomes -्या	घोडा, रस्ता	घोड्यावर, रस्त्यावर
family words stay; मुलगा is usually मुलाला	मामा, मुलगा	मामाला, मुलाला
masculine or neuter consonant adds -ा	घर, टेबल	घरात, टेबलावर
feminine consonant usually adds -े	बँक, वेळ	बँकेत, वेळेला
a few feminine consonant words add -ी	बहीण, भिंत	बहिणीला, भिंतीवर
loanword stays the same	बस	बसमध्ये, बसला
-ई stays	खोली, गाडी	खोलीत, गाडीत

The ending joins the noun and is written as one word: घरात, शाळेत, टेबलावर.

The same changed shape appears before -ला, -चा, -ची and -चे. आजी becomes आजीला, and घर becomes घराचे.

When you learn a noun, learn its changed shape too. The shape before an ending is also the one you see before words like -समोर and -जवळ.

मुले शाळेत आहेत.
The children are at school.
शाळा changes to शाळे- before -त.
पुस्तक टेबलावर आहे.
The book is on the table.
टेबल adds -ा before -वर.
बस रस्त्यावर आहे.
The bus is on the road.
रस्ता changes to रस्त्या- before -वर.
आई खोलीत आहे.
Mother is in the room.
खोली ends in -ई, so it stays the same before -त.
आजी घरात आहेत.
Grandmother is at home.
घर adds -ा before -त. आहेत shows respect for आजी.

Adding -त to the plain noun शाळा.
मुले शाळात आहेत.
मुले शाळेत आहेत.
A feminine noun that ends in -ा changes to -े before an ending.
Keeping the long -ा of a masculine noun.
बस रस्तावर आहे.
बस रस्त्यावर आहे.
The masculine noun रस्ता becomes रस्त्या- before -वर.

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

Nouns Before EndingsLevel 1

Endings attach to a changed form of the noun, so learners need the basic grammar of cases.

Patterns that build on this one.

And 5 more in the full list.

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