Lesson 16

Masculine Nouns and Their Declensions + Canonical Examples

Welcome to another bite-sized Pali lesson! Today, we're diving into the world of masculine nouns—those ending in -a, -i, -ī, -u, and -ū—and learning how to decline them. To make this come alive, we’ll also look at some real sentences from the Canon and explore their meaning and structure together.

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🔹 1. Real Pali Examples from the Canon

Let’s start by looking at some Pali lines from various suttas and verses. These will be our anchors for understanding how masculine nouns function in actual context.

Velāmo brāhmaṇo dānaṃ adāsi mahādānaṃ.
The brahmin Velāma gave a great gift.

• brāhmaṇo: a-masculine noun, nominative singular (subject of the sentence)

• dānaṃ / mahādānaṃ: neuter noun in accusative case (object of the verb adāsi - gave)

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Sā devatā imaṃ gāthaṃ abhāsi.
That deity spoke this verse.

Sambahulā bhikkhū pubbaṇhasamayaṃ Sāvatthiṃ piṇḍāya pavisiṃsu.
Several monks entered Sāvatthī in the morning for alms.

Atha kho Bhagavā imaṃ udānaṃ udānesi.
Then the Blessed One uttered this inspired utterance.

Notice in these examples:

• bhikkhū: nominative plural of bhikkhu (monk)

• devatā: feminine noun, nominative singular

• Bhagavā: a special irregular masculine noun (the Blessed One)

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Ahaṃ, bhante, pāpakammaṃ akāsiṃ.
Venerable sir, I did a bad deed.

Vihāradānaṃ adāsimha.
We gave a gift of a monastery.

Bhūtapubbāhaṃ, bhante, Sirī nāma rājā ahosiṃ.
In a past life, venerable sir, I was a king named Siri.

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🔹 2. Declension of Masculine Nouns Ending in -u: Bhikkhu

Here’s a full declension table for the noun bhikkhu (monk), which ends in -u.