A word is oblique if it comes right before a preposition/postposition (of, to, from, at, on, with etc.) and a word is direct if it does not.
ONLY masculine nouns have an oblique form. Feminine words do NOT change when coming before a postposition. The table below shows the ways in which a masculine word changes to oblique.
Nouns ending in ā | Direct | Oblique | |
Singular | Changed ending | -ā | -ē |
Examples | banddā, kamarā | banddē, kamarē | |
Plural | Changed ending | -ē | -iā(n) |
Examples | banddē, kamarē | banddiā(n), kamariā(n) | |
Nouns NOT ending in ā | Direct | Oblique | |
Singular | Changed ending | -a | -a |
Examples | shēr, pahāṛ, pancchhī | shēr, pahāṛ, pancchhī | |
Plural | Changed ending | -a | -ā(n) |
Examples | shēr, pahāṛ, pancchhī | shērā(n), pahāṛā(n), pancchhīā(n) | |
Consider these examples with a masculine noun ending in ā (the postpositions are highlighted)
mae(n) āpaṇā kamarā sāph rakhadā hā(n)
I keep my room clean
kamarā (room) is singular and does not come before a preposition so keeps its original form
navē(n) ghar dē panjj kamarē han
The new house has five rooms
kamarā (room) changes to kamarē (rooms) because it is plural, dē (of) has no effect since it does not come right after kamarē
mērē kamarē vicch do kurasīā(n) han
There are two chairs in my room
There is only one kamarā, but it is oblique because it comes before the postposition vicch (in)
sāriā(n) kamariā(n) vicch dēkh liā?
Did you take a look in all the rooms?
Here kamarā is both plural and comes before a postposition so instead of kamarē, becomes kamariā(n)
Here are some examples with a masculine noun NOT ending in ā (the postpositions are highlighted)
mae(n) janggal dē vicch shēr dēkhiā sī
I saw a lion in the jungle
shēr is singular and is not affected by dē vicch (in) because it does not come right after shēr
do shēr shikār karan jā rahē san
Two lions are going hunting
The plural of shēr (lion) stays shēr (lions) even though it is plural because it does not end in ā
is shēr dā nām kī hae?
What is this lion’s name?
shēr (lion) stays shēr even though it is oblique because it does not end in ā
shērā(n) nāl khēḍaṇā khataranāk hae
It is dangerous to play with lions
shēr (lion) becomes shērā(n) because it is both plural and oblique
There are rare exceptions to these rules. For example, despite ending in ā, the word bharā (brother) doesn’t change to bharē when it is oblique.