Every Sanskrit noun carries two inherent grammatical features: gender (लिङ्ग, liṅga) and number (वचन, vacana). Together with case (विभक्ति, vibhakti) they determine the form a noun takes in any sentence.
The Three Genders
Sanskrit recognises three genders:
- Masculine — puṃliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग)
- Feminine — strīliṅga (स्त्रीलिङ्ग)
- Neuter — napuṃsakaliṅga (नपुंसकलिङ्ग)
Gender in Sanskrit is largely grammatical rather than natural. The word for "house," गृह (gṛha), is neuter; the word for "river," नदी (nadī), is feminine; the word for "mountain," पर्वत (parvata), is masculine. Some semantic patterns help: words for trees, rivers, and abstract qualities ending in -tā or -ti tend to be feminine, while abstract nouns in -tva are neuter. But many gender assignments are simply lexical and must be learned.
A few words have two genders depending on meaning or context. Mitra (मित्र), for example, is neuter when it means "friend" and masculine when it refers to the Vedic deity Mitra.
The Three Numbers
Sanskrit, unlike most modern Indian languages but like ancient Greek, distinguishes three numbers:
- Singular — eka-vacana (एकवचन)
- Dual — dvi-vacana (द्विवचन)
- Plural — bahu-vacana (बहुवचन)
The dual is used for any two entities. Some nouns are inherently dual: akṣiṇī (अक्षिणी, "the two eyes"), karṇau (कर्णौ, "the two ears"), mātāpitarau (मातापितरौ, "mother and father"). For all other pairs the dual is used freely: vṛkṣau (वृक्षौ, "two trees"), putrau (पुत्रौ, "two sons"). Anything from three upward is plural.
Agreement
Adjectives, demonstratives, and participles agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case. The verb agrees with its subject in person and number — including in the dual, which has its own verb forms.
Bālaḥ paṭhati (बालः पठति) — "the boy reads" (singular)
Bālau paṭhataḥ (बालौ पठतः) — "the two boys read" (dual)
Bālāḥ paṭhanti (बालाः पठन्ति) — "the boys read" (plural)
Stems and Their Endings
Sanskrit nouns are classified by the final sound of their stem. Some major classes:
- a-stems — masculine and neuter (rāma, vana)
- ā-stems — feminine (kanyā)
- i-stems — all three genders (hari, mati, vāri)
- ī-stems — feminine (nadī)
- u-stems — all three genders (guru, dhenu, madhu)
- ū-stems — feminine (vadhū)
- ṛ-stems — agent nouns and kinship terms (pitṛ, mātṛ, kartṛ)
- Consonant-final stems — vāc, rāj, ātman, and many others, often with stem alternations across the paradigm
Each class has its own pattern of suffixes for the eight cases in three numbers, totalling up to 24 forms per noun.
Why the System Matters
The richness of Sanskrit's nominal system frees word order. Because every noun is marked for its role and number, the writer is free to arrange words for rhythm, emphasis, or rhetorical effect. The poet Kālidāsa uses this freedom to extraordinary musical ends, separating an adjective from its noun by several lines yet leaving no doubt where it belongs because gender, number, and case all match.
For the learner, mastering gender and number is the foundation that supports everything else — once a noun's gender is known, its entire paradigm follows.