-ए / -एँ (Singular / Plural)
Hindi nouns, adjectives, and verbs change form for singular (one) vs plural (more than one)
Example
लड़का खेलता है, लड़के खेलते हैं
The boy plays, the boys play
Usage Notes
Masculine -आ nouns change to -ए in plural: लड़का → लड़के, कमरा → कमरे. Feminine -ई nouns change to -इयाँ: लड़की → लड़कियाँ. Feminine -आ nouns add -एँ: किताब → किताबें.
The plural form of a masculine noun looks the same as its oblique singular — लड़के can mean "boys" or "(to the) boy." Context usually makes the meaning clear.
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Related — Foundational Grammar
Hindi nouns and adjectives are either masculine or feminine, which affects verb endings, adjective forms, and postpositions
Nouns change form before postpositions — direct case for subjects, oblique case before को, में, से, etc.
The base form of a verb — remove -ना from the infinitive to get the stem used in all verb forms
Verb forms used as adjectives — habitual (V-ता हुआ = 'doing') or perfective (V-आ हुआ = 'done')
Comparative (-तर) and superlative (-तम) suffixes, or ज़्यादा (more) and सबसे (most) in everyday Hindi