Nouns, gender, number and case (લિંગ, વચન, વિભક્તિ)
Nouns, gender, number and case
This domain tests whether nouns, adjectives and postpositions are formed and matched correctly. Gujarati differs from Hindi and Marathi in having three genders, including neuter, so guessing from another language is the single commonest source of errors here.
Gender and number
- Masculine nouns in -ો drop it and take -ા: છોકરો → છોકરાઓ (with the stem ending shifting, e.g. રાજા → રાજાઓ).
- Feminine nouns in -ી take -ઓ: છોકરી → છોકરીઓ.
- Neuter nouns in -ું change to -ાં: જૂનું ઘર → જૂનાં ઘર; adjective forms નાનો (m), નાની (f), નાનું (n) show the pattern.
- Adjectives copy the gender, number and case of the noun they qualify: સારો છોકરો, સારી છોકરી, સારું ફળ, સારા છોકરાઓ, સારાં ફળ.
Case and postpositions
Gujarati marks case with postpositions placed after the noun, not prepositions before it: રામને (object/recipient), રામથી (by/from), રામમાં (in), રામ પર (on), રામ માટે (for), રામ સાથે (with), રામનું/નો/ની (of). The genitive નું/નો/ની is an adjective and agrees with the thing possessed, not the possessor.
Worked example
Fill in: રામ ___ બહેન આવી. The meaning is Ram's sister came. Sister is feminine singular, so the genitive takes feminine form: રામની બહેન આવી. If the possessed noun were neuter, as in રામનું પુસ્તક, the same possessor would take નું; for a masculine noun, રામનો ભાઈ.
Traps that cost marks
- Making the genitive agree with the possessor instead of the possessed noun.
- Using only two genders and assigning neuter nouns to masculine.
- Putting the postposition before the noun, following English word order.
- Forgetting that -એ is an ergative marker, not a plural or a vocative.