How to Say Orange in Hindi

Today we are going to learn how to say orange in Hindi. But are we referring to the fruit or the color? In English, we use the same word: orange. And we use context around “orange” to know whether we are discussing the fruit or the color.

But in Hindi these are two separate words:

Hindi is a precise as well as a poetic language so that there are separate words for the fruit vs. the color isn’t surprising. A precise and poetic language go hand-in-hand in some regards. A poetic language refers to words that go beyond simple meaning, but rather evoke emotion and/or imagery. And part of that is having a large lexicon of words…precision.

We see this precision in other cases. For example in Indian culture every relative has a unique title that communicates your relationship to that person i.e.

Chachaji = dad’s younger brother
Tauji = dad’s elder brother
Mamaji = mom’s brother

In English, all of the above would simply be “Uncle”. To decipher amongst them would require additional context.

Here’s another example: in English we have the word, “love”. To distinguish amongst different types of love we tack on adjectives whereas in Hindi there are unique words for different types of love.

What Is the Noun Gender For Orange, in Hindi?

Orange (the fruit) – santhara – is a male noun aka pul-ling. So if you want to say “big orange” in Hindi, you’d say, “bada santhara”. You would not say “badee santhara” because santhara is pul-ling which again, means it is a male noun.

In other words, the adjective communicates the gender of the noun.

Orange (the color) – naarangi – is an adjective, so it does not have a gender. Only nouns have a gender.

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 + Oranges. We talked about nouns, now let’s talk about adjectives. For example “green orange” would be “hara santhara”. It would not be “haree santhara” because, again, santhara 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 orange”.

If we changed from santhara 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. These are 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. They stay in their original form regardless of the gender of the noun.

If we wanted to say orange, orange = orange (color), orange (fruit) it would be: naarangi santhara. Naarangi does not inflect to “naaranga”. There is no such word in Hindi.

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

apple = sabe = pul-ling (male noun)
okra = bhindi = stri-ling (female noun)

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.

To learn more, check out my article, “How Nouns Impact Adjectives in Hindi.”

Possessive Pronouns + Apples. Now let’s add possessive pronouns to the mix. “My orange orange” would be “mera naarangi santhara” as opposed to “meree naarangi santhara”. Mera is the possessive pronoun “my”. It can inflect to “meree” as well as “meray” but would not in this case because again, santhara 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 orange 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 orange in Hindi. We reviewed how to say the fruit as well as the color and understood that these are two separate words as Hindi is a precise language. You also learned that orange – the fruit which is the noun is a pul-ling which means it is a male noun. We learned that adjectives do not have a gender and not all adjectives inflect in Hindi. We learned how to describe oranges using adjectives and created simple sentences.

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About Samta Aunty

Growing up in Orange County, California, I learned Hindi and Indian culture from my parents and the community. At one point, in addition to understanding Hindi, I developed an interest in speaking, and my parents encouraged me.

Friday night was date-night with my mom. We would eat parathas and watch Hindi movies together. I asked lots of questions and switched to speaking in Hindi at home.

That day, in high school, when my Chachi in Delhi said, “Tumhari Hindi bahut achi hain” is one of my favorite memories.

I started Virtual PreSkool to pay it forward. It’s fulfilling when a student comes to class and excitedly shares that they successfully connected with grandparents/relatives or when they were in India and knew how to ask for directions.

After completing undergrad at UC Irvine, I did my MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career.

When I’m not teaching and creating lessons, I’m usually exercising, cooking vegan meals, or traveling. I love writing about travel on my blog PassportPages.

Dhanyavaad!