Gender in Nepali
Nepali nouns have no grammatical gender, and gender shows only for people and animals.
How It Works
If you have learned Hindi, Spanish or French, you can relax: a Nepali noun for an object has no gender. किताब (book), टेबुल (table) and घर (house) all take the same words around them: मेरो घर, राम्रो किताब.
In writing, gender shows up in three places, and only when the person is female. Speaking to a woman as तिमी adds a fourth place: तिमी जान्छ्यौ.
- Possessive: मेरो भाइ (my younger brother) but मेरी बहिनी (my younger sister).
- Adjective: राम्रो केटा (a good boy) but राम्री केटी (a good girl).
- Verb: उनी जान्छन् (he goes) but उनी जान्छिन् (she goes), and ऊ जान्छ (he) but ऊ जान्छे (she).
Some pronouns, such as उनी and ऊ, say nothing about gender, so the verb is the only clue. People in everyday speech also say मेरो आमा and राम्रो केटी, so the -ी ending is clearest in writing. In the present, the first-person verb does not show gender: a man and a woman both say म जान्छु.
Examples (5)
- मेरो भाइ बजार जान्छ।
My younger brother goes to the market.
मेरो and जान्छ are the plain forms.
- मेरी बहिनी बजार जान्छे।
My younger sister goes to the market.
The feminine मेरी and जान्छे show that the person is female.
- यो किताब राम्रो छ।
This book is good.
A book takes the ordinary form राम्रो.
- मेरी आमा घरमा हुनुहुन्छ।
My mother is at home.
मेरी fits a woman, and हुनुहुन्छ shows respect.
- उनी जान्छिन्।
She goes.
The ending -छिन् is the only sign that उनी is a woman here.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- मेरो / हाम्रोMy and Our
The possessive words, including the feminine मेरी.
Level 1 - राम्रो / राम्रा / राम्रीChanging Adjectives
How adjectives change for a girl or a woman.
Level 1 - -छे / -छिन् / -छ्यौPresent Verbs for a Woman
The feminine verb endings.
Level 1 - How Verbs Agree
How the verb follows the doer.
Foundations
Practice Gender in Nepali in Bubblegum
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