How to Say Apple in Hindi

Today we are going to learn how to say apple in Hindi.

Sabe

Did you know there are than 7500 varieties of apples grown across the globe? 2500 different varieties are grown here in the United States. 15 varieties of apples are grown in India and as you would probably guess most are grown in north and northeastern regions of the country.

What Is the Noun Category For Apple, in Hindi?

Apple – Sabe – is a pul-ling. That means it is a male noun. So if you want to say “big apple” in Hindi, you’d say, “bada sabe”. You would not say “badee sabe” because sabe is pul-ling which means it is a male noun.

What Are Noun
Categories in Hindi?

In Hindi, every noun falls into 1 of 2 categories: pul-ling or stri-ling also known as male noun and female noun, respectively. Every noun goes into one and only one category. If you want to learn more in depth about noun categories in Hindi check out my article: Nouns Are The Naan of Hindi.

Adjectives + Apples. We talked about nouns, now let’s talk about adjectives. For example “green apple” would be “hara sabe”. It would not be “haree sabe” because, again, sabe is a pul-ling (a male noun).

Many – not all – but many adjectives inflect in Hindi. For example “hara” has 3 inflections:

• hara (singular pul-ling aka male nouns)
• haree (singular stri-ling aka female nouns AND plural all female nouns)
• haray (plural all pul-ling AND plural mixed gender nouns)

In this example since sabe is a singular, pul-ling (male noun) we use the root adjective, “hara” to say “green apple”.

But if we changed from apple to okra = bhindi, then that changes things. Because bhindi is a stri-ling — a female noun, therefore we need to use the inflected female adjectives and possessive pronouns around it. So green okra would be “haree bhindi”.

Important Note About Adjectives in Hindi. Not all adjectives inflect. Only the adjectives that end with an “a” sound such as “hara” inflect. This is called marked adjectives. Some other color adjectives which are not marked, such as “laal” (red), naarangi (orange), firozi (turquoise), gulabi (pink), bangani (purple), salati (gray) – do not inflect.

That means that regardless of the noun gender, unmarked adjectives not change – do not inflect. Just to drive the point home – “red apple” in Hindi is simply “laal sabe”. And red okra would be “laal bhindi”.

No matter how much you are tempted to say “laala sabe” and “laalee bhindi” — those are not a thing.

There’s no inflecting “laal” to “laala” nor “laalee” nor “laalay”.

(And thanks for sticking with me on the “red okra” example. I dunno know about you, but I’ve never seen red okra, I was just using it to make a point about adjective inflection).

If you’re interested in understanding more about the relationship between nouns and adjectives check out my article about how nouns impact adjectives in Hindi.

Possessive Pronouns + Apples. Now let’s add possessive pronouns to the mix. “My green apple” would be “mera hara sabe” as opposed to “meree haree sabe”. Mera is the possessive pronoun “my”. It can inflect to “meree” as well as “meray” but would not in this case because again, sabe is a singular, pul-ling — a singular, male noun.

This is an important point and a source of confusion for many Hindi beginners. Females often want to say “meree” and males “mera” as they align with themselves — understandable, but incorrect.

“My” aligns with the noun it modifies NOT with the speaker. Since apple is a singular, pul-ling (male noun) regardless of the speaker, “my” will always be “mera”.

The same goes for all other possessive pronouns:

• Mera (my)
• Aapka (your formal)
• Tumhara (your informal)
• Uska (his/hers)
• Humara (Our)
• Unka (Their)

And each of these possessive pronouns has 3 inflections. For example:

• Mera (singular pul-ling aka male nouns)
• Meree (singular stri-ling aka female nouns AND plural all female nouns)
• Meray (plural all pul-ling AND plural mixed gender nouns) + respectful form when referring to a male relative.

Simple Hindi Apple Sentences

Summary and Take Aways

In this article you learned how to say apple in Hindi. You also learned that it is a pul-ling which means it is a male noun. And you learned how to describe apples and create simple sentences.

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