Gender and ending

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Sanskrit nouns come in the three standard genders: masculine, neuter, and feminine. A noun's declension class depends on its gender and ending. Most nouns end in vowels, with some ending in consonants.

Feminine noun endings

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Feminine nouns may end in आ, इ, ई, उ, ऊ, or ऋ.

Masculine noun endings

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Masculine nouns may end in अ, इ, उ, or ऋ.

Number and Case

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In dictionaries, Sanskrit nouns are often listed in root-form (मूलरूप). Sanskrit nouns are highly inflected, and change form depending on the number (singular (एककवचन), dual (द्विवचन), and plural (बहुवचन)) and the case (nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative or vocative).

Masculine noun endings

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Masculine nouns may end in अ, इ, उ, or ऋ.

Case एक द्वि बहु
Nom कूपः कूपौ कूपाः Subject
Acc कूपम् कूपौ कूपान् Direct Object
Ins कूपेन कूपाभ्याम् कूपैः By; With; By Means of
Dat कूपाय कूपाभ्याम् कूपेभ्यः To; For
Abl कूपात् कूपाभ्याम् कूपेभ्यः From; Out of; Than
Gen कूपस्य कूपयोः कूपानाम् (Apostrophe) 's; Of; Belonging to
Loc कूपे कूपयोः कूपेषु In; On; At; Among
Voc भोः/ हे कूप भोः/ हे कूपौ भोः/ हे कूपाः Hello; Oh!; Hey!; Hey, you!