Adjectives bring colour and precision to language. In Marathi grammar, an adjective is called विशेषण, and it is a word that describes, qualifies, or limits a noun. Adjectives answer questions such as "which?", "what kind of?", and "how many?" about the noun they modify. A solid understanding of adjectives builds naturally on your knowledge of nouns and connects directly to the study of adverbs and gender in Marathi.
What makes Marathi adjectives particularly important — and different from English — is the concept of grammatical agreement. Most Marathi adjectives change their ending to match the gender, number, and sometimes case of the noun they modify. Getting this agreement right is the key to sounding natural and accurate in Marathi.
To test your understanding interactively, use the Grammar Quiz Generator for adjective exercises and the Vocabulary Builder to expand your adjective vocabulary systematically.
What Is an Adjective? — विशेषण म्हणजे काय?
The word विशेषण comes from विशेष (special / specific) + the suffix -ण, indicating a word that specifies or singles out. An adjective always accompanies a noun and gives additional information about it. In Marathi, adjectives generally precede the noun they modify, just as in English.
For example: मोठे घर (big house), गोड आंबा (sweet mango), हुशार मुलगी (clever girl). In each case, the adjective comes before the noun. Unlike verbs, adjectives in Marathi do not carry tense — they simply describe.
Types of Marathi Adjectives — विशेषणाचे प्रकार
Marathi grammar recognises four main types of adjectives:
- गुणवाचक विशेषण — Qualitative Adjectives (describe quality or nature)
- संख्यावाचक विशेषण — Quantitative / Numeral Adjectives (describe quantity or number)
- सार्वनामिक विशेषण — Pronominal Adjectives (derived from pronouns, pointing to nouns)
- विभागवाचक विशेषण — Distributive Adjectives (referring to each member of a group)
गुणवाचक विशेषण — Qualitative Adjectives
These are the most common adjectives. They describe the inherent quality, colour, shape, taste, size, or character of a noun. Examples: चांगला (good), वाईट (bad), मोठा (big), लहान (small), लाल (red), गोड (sweet), कडू (bitter), सुंदर (beautiful), बुद्धिमान (intelligent).
संख्यावाचक विशेषण — Numeral Adjectives
These adjectives indicate number or order. They fall into two sub-types:
- Cardinal numerals (गणनावाचक): एक, दोन, तीन, चार... (one, two, three, four...)
- Ordinal numerals (क्रमवाचक): पहिला, दुसरा, तिसरा... (first, second, third...)
सार्वनामिक विशेषण — Pronominal Adjectives
These are forms of demonstrative or other pronouns used attributively before a noun. For example: हा मुलगा (this boy), ती स्त्री (that woman), कोणती शाळा (which school). When a pronoun form directly modifies a noun, it functions as a pronominal adjective.
विभागवाचक विशेषण — Distributive Adjectives
These adjectives refer to each individual member of a group separately. Common examples are प्रत्येक (each / every), दोन्ही (both), सर्व (all). They do not change for gender: प्रत्येक मुलगा, प्रत्येक मुलगी, प्रत्येक घर.
Adjective Agreement — विशेषणाचा लिंग-वचन संबंध
This is the most critical topic in Marathi adjectives. Qualitative adjectives that end in -आ (-ā) in their masculine singular form change their ending according to the gender and number of the noun they modify. Adjectives that end in a consonant or certain other vowels are invariable — they do not change.
Variable Adjectives — रूपबदल होणारी विशेषणे
The classic example is चांगला (good). Its forms are:
| Gender / Number | Adjective form | Example with noun |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular (पुल्लिंग एकवचन) | चांगला | चांगला मुलगा |
| Masculine plural (पुल्लिंग अनेकवचन) | चांगले | चांगले मुलगे |
| Feminine singular (स्त्रीलिंग एकवचन) | चांगली | चांगली मुलगी |
| Feminine plural (स्त्रीलिंग अनेकवचन) | चांगल्या | चांगल्या मुली |
| Neuter singular (नपुंसकलिंग एकवचन) | चांगले | चांगले घर |
| Neuter plural (नपुंसकलिंग अनेकवचन) | चांगली | चांगली घरे |
Observe that the masculine singular ends in -ला, masculine plural and neuter singular both end in -ले, feminine singular ends in -ली, feminine plural ends in -ल्या, and neuter plural ends in -ली. This exact pattern applies to all variable adjectives such as मोठा, लहान सारखा, काळा, निळा, पिवळा, खोटा and many others.
Tip
A quick way to remember: masculine singular adjectives ending in -आ are the "dictionary form." Change -आ to -ए for masculine plural and neuter singular, to -ई for feminine singular and neuter plural, and to -या (with half consonant before the suffix) for feminine plural. Use the Grammar Quiz Generator to drill this pattern until it is automatic.
Invariable Adjectives — रूपबदल न होणारी विशेषणे
Many adjectives in Marathi do not change at all. These include adjectives ending in a consonant or in vowels other than -आ. Examples: सुंदर (beautiful), हुशार (clever), गोड (sweet), कडू (bitter), स्वच्छ (clean), खरे (true — this ends in -ए and is invariable as a predicate adjective).
For example: सुंदर मुलगा, सुंदर मुलगी, सुंदर घर — the word सुंदर does not change, regardless of the noun's gender or number.
| Adjective type | Example | Agreement | Other adjectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Variable (ends in -आ) | चांगला / चांगली / चांगले | Changes for gender and number | मोठा, काळा, छोटा, जड |
| Invariable (consonant-final) | सुंदर | Does not change | हुशार, स्वच्छ, गोड, कडू |
| Numeral (cardinal) | तीन | Does not change | एक, दहा, शंभर |
| Numeral (ordinal) | पहिला / पहिली / पहिले | Changes like variable adj. | दुसरा, तिसरा, चौथा |
Degrees of Comparison — तुलनात्मक विशेषण
Like English, Marathi adjectives have three degrees of comparison:
- Positive (साधावस्था): राम उंच आहे. (Ram is tall.)
- Comparative (अधिकतावस्था): राम श्यामपेक्षा उंच आहे. (Ram is taller than Shyam.) — The postposition पेक्षा (than) is added to the noun being compared against.
- Superlative (सर्वोच्चतावस्था): राम सर्वात उंच आहे. (Ram is the tallest.) — सर्वात (among all / most) precedes the adjective.
Notice that Marathi does not add a suffix to the adjective for comparison (unlike English -er, -est). Instead, it uses the postpositions पेक्षा and the adverb सर्वात. This is similar to how English uses "more" and "most" for longer adjectives.
Worked Examples
ही एक मोठी इमारत आहे.
This is a big building. (Adjective मोठी agrees with इमारत, which is feminine singular.)
त्याचे हात स्वच्छ आहेत.
His hands are clean. (Invariable adjective स्वच्छ does not change even though हात is plural.)
चांगल्या मुलांना बक्षीस मिळते.
Good children get a prize. (Adjective चांगल्या is in its masculine / mixed plural oblique form, agreeing with मुलांना.)
आंबा केळ्यापेक्षा महाग आहे.
Mango is more expensive than banana. (Comparative degree using पेक्षा.)
Practice Questions
Q1. Choose the correct form: ती _____ मुलगी आहे. (Options: चांगला / चांगली / चांगले)
Show answer
चांगली. The noun मुलगी is feminine singular, so the variable adjective must take the feminine singular form चांगली.
Q2. Is सुंदर a variable or invariable adjective? Write a sentence using it with a masculine noun and a feminine noun.
Show answer
सुंदर is invariable — it does not change for gender or number. Masculine: तो एक सुंदर मुलगा आहे. (He is a beautiful boy.) Feminine: ती एक सुंदर मुलगी आहे. (She is a beautiful girl.) The word सुंदर stays the same in both sentences.
Q3. Rewrite in the comparative degree: ही साडी महाग आहे. (Compare with ती साडी.)
Show answer
ही साडी त्या साडीपेक्षा महाग आहे. (This saree is more expensive than that saree.) The postposition पेक्षा is attached to the noun being compared against.
Q4. Fill in the correct form: त्यांनी _____ (काळा) कपडे घातले.
Show answer
काळे कपडे. कपडे is masculine plural. The variable adjective काळा takes the masculine plural form काळे.
Adjectives as Predicates and Attributes
In Marathi, adjectives can appear in two positions: attributive (before the noun, directly modifying it) and predicative (after the verb "to be", making a statement about the subject). Variable adjectives must agree with the noun in both positions.
Attributive Position
हुशार विद्यार्थी वर्गात बसला. — The clever student sat in the class. (हुशार is invariable, so no change.) मोठ्या इमारतीत दुकाने आहेत. — There are shops in the big building. (मोठ्या agrees with oblique feminine इमारती.)
Predicative Position
तो मुलगा हुशार आहे. — That boy is clever. ही इमारत मोठी आहे. — This building is big. (मोठी agrees with feminine इमारत in the predicative position too.)
Adjective Formation — विशेषण बनवण्याचे मार्ग
Marathi adjectives can be formed from other word classes using productive suffixes. Understanding these patterns dramatically expands your vocabulary.
| Suffix | Base word | Adjective formed | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ी | गाव (village) | गावची (गावचा / गावचे) | village-, of the village |
| -वान | बुद्धी (intelligence) | बुद्धिमान | intelligent |
| -दार | हिम्मत (courage) | हिम्मतदार | courageous |
| -पूर्ण | आनंद (joy) | आनंदपूर्ण | joyful |
| -शाली | गुण (quality) | गुणशाली | virtuous |
Most derived adjectives ending in a consonant (like बुद्धिमान, हिम्मतदार) are invariable. Derived adjectives ending in -आ follow the standard variable pattern.
Interrogative and Relative Adjectives
Marathi has special adjective forms used in questions and relative clauses:
- कोणता / कोणती / कोणते — which? (variable, agrees with noun)
- कसला / कसली / कसले — what kind of? (variable)
- किती — how many? how much? (invariable)
- कितवा / कितवी / कितवे — which number / which-th? (variable)
तुला कोणते पुस्तक हवे आहे?
Which book do you want? (कोणते agrees with neuter singular पुस्तक.)
तुझ्याकडे किती पैसे आहेत?
How much money do you have? (किती is invariable — it does not change for the noun.)
Adjectives and Gender — Connecting to the Bigger Picture
The agreement rules you have learned here are directly connected to the broader topic of gender in Marathi. Every noun in Marathi has a grammatical gender — masculine, feminine, or neuter — and that gender is the key to knowing which adjective form to use. When in doubt about a noun's gender, consult the Gender lesson or look it up in the Vocabulary Builder.
A few general gender patterns help predict adjective forms even for unfamiliar nouns: nouns ending in -आ (like मुलगा) are usually masculine; nouns ending in -ई or -ई (like मुलगी) are usually feminine; nouns ending in -ए (like घर or पुस्तक) are usually neuter. These are general patterns with exceptions, but they provide a useful first approximation for adjective agreement when you encounter an unfamiliar noun.
Common Mistakes
Common mistake
One of the most common errors is using the masculine singular form of a variable adjective with a feminine or neuter noun. For example, saying चांगला मुलगी instead of चांगली मुलगी. Always check the gender of the noun first. You can look up noun genders in the Gender lesson or verify using the Vocabulary Builder.
- Applying agreement rules to invariable adjectives — remember, consonant-ending adjectives like सुंदर, हुशार never change.
- Forgetting to change the adjective form when the noun is in an oblique case (e.g., चांगल्या मुलाला, not चांगला मुलाला).
- Confusing the superlative construction — Marathi uses सर्वात + adjective, not a suffix on the adjective.
Expert insight
When a variable adjective is used as a predicate (after the verb "to be") rather than attributively (directly before the noun), it still must agree with the subject. For example: ती मुलगी चांगली आहे. (That girl is good.) — चांगली agrees with मुलगी even though it follows the verb. This predicate agreement is sometimes missed by learners who are used to English, where predicate adjectives never inflect.
Compound Adjectives — सामासिक विशेषण
Marathi is a language with a strong tradition of compound words, and adjectives are no exception. Compound adjectives are formed by combining two (or more) words into a single modifier. Some common types:
- Noun + adjective: सोनेरी (golden, from सोने gold + -री), दगडी (stone, stony, from दगड)
- Adjective + adjective: लाल-पिवळा (red-and-yellow, hyphenated in Marathi)
- Noun + noun (relational): गावचा (of / belonging to the village, from गाव + possessive -चा/-ची/-चे)
Possessive-relational adjectives (गावचा / गावची / गावचे) are particularly important. They answer "whose?" or "of which?" and always change form like variable adjectives: गावचा मुलगा (boy from the village), गावची मुलगी (girl from the village), गावचे घर (house of the village).
Adjectives in the Oblique Case
When a noun takes a postposition (a case suffix), it appears in the oblique form. Variable adjectives modifying such a noun must also appear in their oblique form. This is called the सामान्यरूप of the adjective.
The oblique form of चांगला is चांगल्या — used before all postpositions regardless of gender or number:
- चांगल्या मुलाला (to the good boy) — masculine dative
- चांगल्या मुलीला (to the good girl) — feminine dative
- चांगल्या घरात (in the good house) — neuter locative
- चांगल्या मुलांनी (by the good children) — plural instrumental
In other words, the oblique form of variable adjectives is universally -ल्या (for -ला type adjectives). This single form works before any postposition, for any gender or number. This rule, once learned, simplifies adjective usage enormously.
Worked Examples: Agreement in Natural Sentences
त्या मोठ्या झाडाखाली सावली होती.
There was shade under that big tree. (मोठ्या is the oblique form of मोठा, agreeing with oblique masculine झाडाखाली.)
लहान मुलांना गोड आवडते.
Small children like sweet things. (लहान is invariable; गोड is also invariable — neither needs to change.)
Tips for Mastery
- Always learn a new adjective together with example nouns in all three genders. This builds the agreement reflex.
- Remember the mnemonic: M-sg: -ला, M-pl: -ले, F-sg: -ली, F-pl: -ल्या, N-sg: -ले, N-pl: -ली — applicable to all variable adjectives of the चांगला type.
- Pair your adjective study with the Gender lesson to know which nouns are masculine, feminine, or neuter.
- Use the Grammar Quiz Generator to practice adjective agreement with random noun-adjective combinations.
Adjectives in Competitive Exams — What to Know
Maharashtra state-board examinations (Class 5 through Class 10) and competitive examinations such as MPSC and TET regularly test adjective agreement, identification, and transformation. Here are the most commonly tested areas:
- Agreement identification: Given a sentence, identify the adjective and the noun it agrees with, and state the gender and number. Example: In सुंदर मुलगी हसते, सुंदर is an invariable qualitative adjective modifying feminine singular मुलगी.
- Adjective type classification: Classify a given adjective as गुणवाचक, संख्यावाचक, सार्वनामिक, or विभागवाचक.
- Gender transformation: Change the noun from masculine to feminine (or vice versa) and adjust the adjective accordingly. Example: चांगला मुलगा → चांगली मुलगी.
- Degree transformation: Convert a positive degree sentence to comparative or superlative.
Use the Grammar Quiz Generator to practise all these question types with automatic feedback, and check your adjective vocabulary with the Vocabulary Builder.
Key Adjective Lists by Semantic Field
Expanding your adjective vocabulary by semantic field is more efficient than learning adjectives in isolation. Here are essential adjectives grouped by topic:
- Size: मोठा (big), लहान / छोटा (small), उंच (tall), बुटका (short), रुंद (wide), अरुंद (narrow)
- Quality: चांगला (good), वाईट (bad), खरा (true), खोटा (false), कठीण (difficult), सोपा (easy)
- Colour: लाल (red), निळा (blue), पिवळा (yellow), हिरवा (green), काळा (black), पांढरा (white)
- Emotion / character: आनंदी (happy), दुःखी (sad), रागीट (angry), शांत (calm), हुशार (clever), मूर्ख (foolish)
- Taste / sensation: गोड (sweet), कडू (bitter), आंबट (sour), तिखट (spicy), थंड (cold), गरम (hot)
For all colour adjectives ending in -आ (लाल is invariable, but निळा, पिवळा, काळा, पांढरा, हिरवा are variable), remember to apply the agreement rules: masculine plural → -े, feminine singular → -ी, feminine plural → -्या. For example: निळा पेन → निळी वही → निळे आकाश → निळ्या डोळ्यांनी.
Summary
Marathi adjectives (विशेषण) describe nouns and come in four main types: qualitative (गुणवाचक), numeral (संख्यावाचक), pronominal (सार्वनामिक), and distributive (विभागवाचक). The most important skill is agreement: variable adjectives (ending in -आ in the masculine singular) change to -ली, -ले, -ल्या etc. to match the noun's gender and number. Invariable adjectives do not change. Comparison uses पेक्षा and सर्वात.
Next, explore Adverbs to see how words modify verbs and adjectives rather than nouns, and revisit Nouns to anchor your agreement rules to a complete picture of Marathi nominal grammar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Put this lesson into practice
Reinforce what you just learned with interactive tools and quizzes — it’s the fastest way to remember.
Try a related tool Practice exercises