स्त्रीलिंग (striiling)

noun A grammar term meaning 'feminine gender', built from स्त्री (strii, woman) + लिंग (ling, gender/sign). Mostly heard in classrooms and grammar discussions rather than everyday chat.
Sense 1 : feminine gender (grammatical)
noun, masculine
Frequency: low
Cultural Note: You will meet this word constantly in Hindi grammar books and school classrooms, always paired with its opposite, पुल्लिंग (pulling, masculine gender) -- Hindi nouns are sorted into exactly these two grammatical genders, unlike English which mostly ignores gender for objects. Knowing this term helps when a teacher or dictionary entry marks a noun (स्त्री (strii) or पुल्लिंग (pulling)) so you get its adjective and verb agreement right.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes confuse this with a word for 'woman' itself -- स्त्रीलिंग (striiling) is a grammar label, not a term for a female person; use स्त्री (strii) or औरत (aurat) for that. 2) It is used to describe a noun's grammatical category, e.g. saying किताब स्त्रीलिंग है (kitaab striiling hai, 'the book is feminine [gender]'), not to describe a person's identity or sex.
Sample Sentences:
हिंदी में हर संज्ञा या तो स्त्रीलिंग होती है या पुल्लिंग। In Hindi, every noun is either feminine gender or masculine.
(hindii men har sangyaa yaa to striiling hotii hai yaa pulling।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
किताब में यह शब्द स्त्रीलिंग है। In the dictionary, this word is marked feminine gender.
(kitaab men yah shabd striiling hai।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Indicative -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Active
अध्यापिका ने बताया कि 'किताब' स्त्रीलिंग है और 'कमरा' पुल्लिंग। The teacher explained that 'kitaab' is feminine gender and 'kamraa' is masculine.
(adhyaapikaa ne bataayaa ki 'kitaab' striiling hai aur 'kamraa' pulling।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Past -- Voice: Active
अगर संज्ञा स्त्रीलिंग हो, तो विशेषण भी उसी के अनुसार बदलेगा। If the noun is feminine gender, the adjective will change accordingly too.
(agar sangyaa striiling ho, to visheshan bhii usii ke anusaar badlegaa।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Subjunctive -- Tense: Future -- Voice: Active
कृपया बताइए कि यह शब्द स्त्रीलिंग है या पुल्लिंग। Please tell me whether this word is feminine gender or masculine.
(kripyaa bataaie ki yah shabd striiling hai yaa pulling।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Imperative -- Voice: Active
अगर यह शब्द स्त्रीलिंग होता, तो क्रिया 'गई' होती, न कि 'गया'। If this word were feminine gender, the verb would be 'gayii', not 'gayaa'.
(agar yah shabd striiling hotaa, to kriyaa 'gaii' hotii, n ki 'gayaa'।)
Register: Neutral -- Mood: Counterfactual -- Aspect: Habitual -- Voice: Active
व्याकरण की किताब में स्त्रीलिंग शब्दों की एक अलग सूची दी गई है। In the grammar book, a separate list of feminine-gender words has been given.
(vyaakran kii kitaab men striiling shabdon kii ek alag soochii dii gaii hai।)
Register: Formal -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Perfective -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
संस्कृत की तरह हिंदी में भी संज्ञाओं का स्त्रीलिंग और पुल्लिंग में वर्गीकरण होता है। As in Sanskrit, in Hindi too nouns are classified into feminine gender and masculine.
(sanskrit kii tarah hindii men bhii sangyaaon kaa striiling aur pulling men vargiikran hotaa hai।)
Register: Literary -- Mood: Indicative -- Aspect: Habitual -- Tense: Present -- Voice: Passive
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct): स्त्रीलिंग (striiling)
(sg.m.oblique): स्त्रीलिंग (striiling)
(pl.m.direct): स्त्रीलिंग (striiling)
(pl.m.oblique): स्त्रीलिंगों (striilingon)