Complete Arabic Grammar 2nd Ed

‫ﺜﺎﻨﻮﻴ‬‫ﺔ‬‫ﻨﻈﺭﻴ‬‫ﺔ‬‫ﻜﺎﻤﻠ‬‫ﺔ‬‫ﺒﺎﻠﻌﺭﺒﻴ‬‫ﺔ‬
A COMPLETE
ARABIC GRAMMAR
FOR ENGLISH-SPEAKING LEARNERS
OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE
SECOND EDITION
by
JACK KULES, PH.D.

Complete Arabic Grammar 2
Copyright  2014
ISBN
Printed in the United States oif America

Table of Contents
Page
I. Introduction 5
II. Arabic Alphabet 7
III. Roots 15
IV. Nouns 19
V. Adjectives 53
VI. Verbs 67
VII. Pronouns 127
VIII. Arabic Sentences 167
IX. Negation 203
X. Interrogative 231
XI. Survival Phrases 279
Appendix A – Glossary of Arabic Verbs 287
Arabic – English 289
English – Arabic 305
References 323

I. INTRODUCTION
Arabic is the most widespread of the living Semitic languages. Classified as South Central
Semitic, Arabic is related to Hebrew (spoken in Israel) and Amharic (spoke in Ethiopia) as well
as to the ancient Semitic languages. The earliest written inscriptions in Arabic were found on the
Arabian Peninsula and date from the early 4th
century AD. Many linguists consider Arabic to be
the most Semitic of the modern Semitic languages in terms of how completely it preserves the
features of Proto-Semitic – the common ancestor for all Semitic languages.
However, the preservation of those features of Proto-Semitic can mean, unfortunately, that
Arabic is not a very easy language to handle. The features include a set of sounds that can be hard
to pronounce by a non-native – fricatives, plosives and pharyngealized glottal stops (all the
Semitic guttural sounds produced far back in the mouth and throat). Old languages in general tend
to be very inflective – that is, a single word exhibits many changes in form to suit different tenses,
moods, genders, or numbers. This is another one of the preserved features of Proto-Semitic –
formal Arabic is very inflective and it has a large collection of declensions for different uses.
In fact, there are three spoken varieties of the Arabic language today. Classical or Koranic
Arabic is the form of Arabic which was used in the Koran (the Islamic holy book) as well as in
numerous literary texts from the 7th
to 9th
centuries. This form of Arabic is difficult to understand
by ordinary Arabs today. However, it is still used for reading and studying the Koran and for
other religious purposes. It is still the language of religious preaching.
Modern Standard Arabic is a modern version used in formal speaking, most television and
radio, and practically all written matter – including books, newspapers, magazines, documents of
every kind, and reading primers for small children. It differs minimally in morphology from
Classical Arabic, but it has significant differences in syntax and lexicon – reflecting the influence
of the modern spoken dialects and Western languages.
Colloquial or dialectal Arabic differs to the many regional varieties derived from old Arabic
dialects – spoken across North Africa and the Middle East – which constitute the everyday
spoken language. These dialects are not normally written, although a certain amount of literature
– particularly plays and poetry – exists in many of them. They are often used to varying degrees
in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows. Literary Arabic or formal Arabic
is the official language of all Arab countries and is the only form of Arabic taught in schools at all
stages.
Modern dialects differ from standard Arabic and from one another in pronunciation,
vocabulary and grammar. They are less complex and less inflective than classical Arabic, and
they are usually labeled according to major geographic areas – such as North African, Levantine,
Egyptian, and Gulf. Within these broad classifications the daily speech of urban, rural and
nomadic speakers is distinctively different.
The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the
linguistic phenomenon of diglossia – the normal use of two separate varieties of the same
language, usually in different social situations. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any
nationality can be assumed to speak both their local dialect and their school-taught literary Arabic
– to an equal or lesser degree.

This text will attempt to cover the fundamentals of formal Arabic – both the classical and
modern standard varieties. Those are the written form forms that are universally understood.

II. ARABIC ALPHABET
Semitic languages are written from right to left. Ancient Mesopotamians wrote on stones with
chisels, and since most transcirbers were right-handed it was easier and more natural to them to
write from right to left. The Arabic script – which is derived from Aramaic – is based on 18
distinct shapes. Using a combination of dots above and below eight of these shapes, the full
complement of 28 characters can be fully spelled out.
In the table below, the first column to the right shows the Arabic letters. The second column
shows their names in Arabic. The third column shows the Romanized version of the Arabic
letters, which will be used in this text when writing Arabic words in Roman letters. The last
column shows how the Arabic letters are pronounced. Some letters (the gutturals) can be hard to
pronounce by non-natives, so they should be tried to be pronounced in the closest possible way to
the original sounds.
Arabic Phonetization
Phonetization Romanized Name Letter
a as in ram aa ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬
b as in bat b baa’ ‫ﺐ‬
t as in tap t taa’ ‫ﺕ‬
th as in thumb th thaa’ ‫ﺙ‬
j as in jar j jeem ‫ﺝ‬
h as in harsh H Haa’ ‫ﺡ‬
ch as in Scottish loch kh khaa’ ‫ﺥ‬
d as in dark d daal ‫ﺩ‬
th as in this th thaal’ ‫ﺫ‬
r as in run r raa’ ‫ﺭ‬
z as in zoo z zayn ‫ﺯ‬
s as in sad s seen ‫ﺱ‬
sh as in she sh sheen ‫ﺵ‬
emphatic s as in salt S Saad ‫ﺹ‬
emphatic d as in dart D Daad ‫ﺽ‬
emphatic t as in tore T Taa’ ‫ﻁ‬
emphatic th as in those Z Zaa’ ‫ﻅ‬
emphatic a as in ago “ ‘ayn ‫ﻉ‬
guttural g as in Ghana gh ghayn ‫ﻍ‬
f as in fan f faa’ ‫ﻑ‬
emphatic q as in Qatar q qaaf ‫ﻕ‬

Phonetization Romanized Name Letter
k as in kite k kaaf ‫ﻚ‬
l as in leg l laam ‫ﻝ‬
m as in man m meem ‫ﻡ‬
n as in nose n noon ‫ﻥ‬
h as in hat h haa’ ‫ﻩ‬
w as in wool w waaw ‫ﻮ‬
y as in yes y yaa’ ‫ﻱ‬
The 28 Arabic letters are all consonants; however, there are six vowels in Arabic – three short
vowels and three long ones. Only the three long vowels are written using the alphabet. The three
short vowels have special marks which denote them. Therefore, the long vowels are letters or
consonants, but the short vowels are not letters.
The three long vowels are written using the three following letters: ‫,ﺍ‬ ‫,ﻱ‬ ‫.ﻮ‬ Because of this,
these letters are called “weak letters” – which will be discussed more fully in the section on
vowels.
The letter Daad ‫ﺽ‬ is characteristic of Arabic and does not exist in any other language. This is
why Arabs called their language lughat aD-DaaD (‫ﺽﺿﻟﺍ‬ ‫)ﺔﻌﻠ‬ “the language of Daad.”
Pronunciation of Consonants
In Arabic, as in any language, proper pronunciation is best learned by imitating a native
speaker. What follows is meant to give only a general idea of how the letters sound. By carefully
following the guidelines here, one can arrive at a good enough first approximation to serve until
one is able to listen to Arabic speakers. Except for the ones discussed below, the consonants are
pronounced pretty much as they are in English (see the Arabic Phonetization chart).
Consonant ‘alef hamza ‫ﺀ‬
The letter ‘alef has two forms – a form that denotes a long vowel ‫,ﺍ‬ and one that denotes a
consonant ‫.ﺀ‬ The consonant form ‫ﺀ‬ is called hamza. Phonetically, the hamza is a “glottal stop.” It
sounds like a little “catch” in the voice. Although there is no letter representing this sound in
English, the sound actually does exist. It is the catch that occurs between vowels in the
exclamation “uh-oh” – as though you are in trouble – or the separation of syllables, the second of
which begins with a vowel – as in the sequence “an aim” as opposed to “a name,” or in “grade A”
as opposed to “gray day.” Notice that little catch in the voice at the beginning of each syllable. If
done properly and forcefully, that little catch in the voice between the two syllables is a perfect
hamza. In Arabic the glottal stop is a full-fledged consonant and can appear in the strangest
places – at the end of a word, for example.

Emphatic Consonants
Four Arabic letters ‫ﺹ‬ , ‫ﺽ‬ , ‫ﻁ‬ , ‫ﻅ‬ are known as “emphatic consonants.” Although there is no
exact equivalent of them in English, they are not all that difficult to pronounce – it just takes a bit
of practice. The best way to do it is to start with their “unemphatic” equivalents. For example,
pronounce ‫ﺹ‬ S as ‫ﺱ‬ s. Now try to make the same sound, but as if your mouth was full of cotton
wool so that you have to say s with your tongue drawn back. Make the sound more forcefully and
shorter in duration than a normal s. The back of your tongue should be raised up toward the soft
palate and the sound produced should have a sort of “dark” quality. This the letter Saad ‫ﺹ‬ s.
There is a similar relationshiop between the following pairs—Daad ‫ﺽ‬ D and daad ‫ﺩ‬ d; Taa’ ‫ﻁ‬ T
and taa’ ‫ﺕ‬ t; Thaa’ ‫ﻅ‬ Z and thaa’ ‫ﺫ‬ th. If one listens to native speakers of Arabic, one thing they
will notice is that these “emphatic consonants” give a very distinctive sound to the language.
khaa’ ‫ﺥ‬ kh. The letter khaa’ is a voiceless velar fricative. It sounds like the ch in the Scottish
loch or like the ch in the German nacht – but it is slightly more guttural than its Scottish or
German counterparts. Do not pronounce it as an h or a k; it is better to exaggerate rather than
underemphasize the guttural aspect.
gayn’ ‫ﻍ‬ gh. This is the sound made when gargling a g.
qaaf’ ‫ﻕ‬ q. This sound usually gives Western speakers a hard time. It sounds a bit like k but it
is pronounced very far back in the throat. When saying the letter k, one touches the roof of the
mouth with more or less the middle of the tongue. When saying a qaaf, touch the very back of the
tongue to the soft palate in the back of the mouth. Most Westerners trying to learn Arabic have a
lot of trouble doing this and pronounce qaaf ‫ﻕ‬ as if it were a kaaf ‫.ﻚ‬ Arabs tend to be fairly
tolerant of this mistake and there are not very many words in which the difference between qaaf
and kaaf determines a different meaning. Still, it’s worth making the effort.
‘ayn’ ‫ﻉ‬ “. This is a unique sound that only exists in Semitic languages. It is usually very hard
for Westerners to make. Unfortunately, it is a very common letter, so it must be mastered.
However, learners of Arabic can make this sound pretty well after practicing for some time. The
best way to learn it is to listen to Arabs and to practice continually. This letter is a pharyngeal
voiced fricative – the sound is made by constricting the muscles of the larynx so that the flow of
air through the throat is partially choked off. The best way to pronounce this letter is to gag – feel
the throat muscles constrict the passage of air in just the right way. The sound is voiced – the
vocal cords vibrate when making it. It sounds like the bleating of a lamb, but smoother. With
enough practice, one should be able to produce the sound without choking.
Haa’ ‫ﺡ‬ H. The last of the emphatic consonants, this letter sounds much like a very emphatic
h. Imagine having swallowed a spoonful of the hottest chilis imaginable – that “haaa” sound that
results should be a good approximation of Haa’. Strictly speaking, Haa’ ‫ﺡ‬ is an unvoiced version
of ‘ayn ‫.ﻉ‬ In other words, it is made just like the ‘ayn—except that when you say ‘ayn your voal
cords vibrate, but when you say Haa’ they don’t.
Don’t worry too much if qaaf ‫ﻕ‬ , ‘ayn ‫ﻉ‬ and Haa’ ‫ﺡ‬ don’t come right away. Quite a few
learned Westerners have struggled for decades with them. As a first approximation, pronounce
qaaf ‫ﻕ‬ like kaaf ‫,ﻚ‬ ‘ayn ‫ﻉ‬ like hamza ‫,ﺀ‬ and Haa’ ‫ﺡ‬ like haa’ ‫.ﻩ‬ However, this should be only a
temporary measure – more or less equivalent to the Arab who say “blease” instead of “please”
(there is no letter p in Arabic).

Words
In most languages, putting letters together next to each other simply creates a word. However,
in Arabic putting letters as they are in a row does not create a word. This is not a word— ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺡ‬ ‫.ﺏ‬
Ancient Arabs – or more precisely Arameans – saw that it made more sense to join the letters of
each work together. So, the previous “word” would look like ‫ﺭﺣﺒ‬ or ‫ﺭ‬ + ‫ﺡ‬ + ‫ﺐ‬ = ‫,ﺭﺣﺒ‬ which
means “sea.”
To write and read Arabic one has to – in addition to knowing the letters – to know how each
letter is joined when it is at the beginning, middle or end of the word. Example:
‫ﻢ‬ + ‫ﻮ‬ + ‫ﻱ‬ = ‫ﻢﻮﻴ‬ which means “day.” Notice here that one of the letters – waaw ‫ﻮ‬ – was joined
from the right but not from the left; this happens. Other examples: ‫ﺐ‬ + ‫ﺍ‬ + ‫ﺕ‬ + ‫ﻚ‬ = ‫ﺐﺎﺘﻜ‬ which
means ”book” and ‫ﺃ‬ + ‫ﺍ‬ + ‫ﺵ‬ + ‫ﻉ‬ = ‫ﺀﺎﺷﻉ‬ which means “supper.”
Table of Joining Figures
Figures of Joined Letters Letter
End Middle Beginning
see below ‫ﺍ‬
‫ﺐ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺒ‬ ‫ﺐ‬
‫ﺖ‬
‫ﺗ‬ ‫ﺘ‬ ‫ﺕ‬‫ﺓ‬
‫ﺚ‬ ‫ﺛ‬ ‫ﺜ‬ ‫ﺙ‬
‫ﺞ‬ ‫ﺟ‬ ‫ﺠ‬ ‫ﺝ‬
‫ﺢ‬ ‫ﺣ‬ ‫ﺤ‬ ‫ﺡ‬
‫ﺦ‬ ‫ﺧ‬ ‫ﺨ‬ ‫ﺥ‬
‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ ‫ﺪ‬
‫ﺬ‬ ‫ﺬ‬ ‫ﺬ‬ ‫ﺬ‬
‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺮ‬ ‫ﺮ‬
‫ﺰ‬ ‫ﺰ‬ ‫ﺰ‬ ‫ﺰ‬
‫ﺲ‬ ‫ﺳ‬ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﺱ‬
‫ﺶ‬ ‫ﺷ‬ ‫ﺸ‬ ‫ﺵ‬
‫ﺺ‬ ‫ﺻ‬ ‫ﺼ‬ ‫ﺹ‬
‫ﺾ‬ ‫ﺿ‬ ‫ﻀ‬ ‫ﺽ‬
‫ﻂ‬ ‫ﻃ‬ ‫ﻄ‬ ‫ﻁ‬
‫ﻆ‬ ‫ﻇ‬ ‫ﻈ‬ ‫ﻅ‬
‫ﻊ‬ ‫ﻌ‬ ‫ﻋ‬ ‫ﻉ‬
‫ﻎ‬ ‫ﻐ‬ ‫ﻏ‬ ‫ﻍ‬

Figures of Joined Letters Letter
End Middle Beginning
‫ﻒ‬ ‫ﻔ‬ ‫ﻓ‬ ‫ﻑ‬
‫ﻖ‬ ‫ﻘ‬ ‫ﻗ‬ ‫ﻕ‬
‫ﻚ‬ ‫ﻜ‬ ‫ﻛ‬ ‫ﻙ‬
‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﻠ‬ ‫ﻟ‬ ‫ﻝ‬
‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﻤ‬ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻡ‬
‫ﻦ‬ ‫ﻨ‬ ‫ﻧ‬ ‫ﻥ‬
‫ﻪ‬ ‫ﻬ‬ ‫ﻫ‬ ‫ﻩ‬
‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﻮ‬ ‫ﻭ‬
‫ﻲ‬ ‫ﻴ‬ ‫ﻳ‬ ‫ﻱ‬
‫ﺄ‬ ‫ﺄ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺀ‬
‫ﺅ‬ ‫ﺆ‬ ‫ﺇ‬
‫ﺊ‬ ‫ﺋ‬ ‫ﺃ‬
Special Figures
‫ﺍ‬ + ‫ﺃ‬ = ‫ﺃ‬
‫ﺃ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﻷ‬ or ‫ﻸ‬
‫ﺇ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﻹ‬ or ‫ﻸ‬
‫ﺍ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﻻ‬ or ‫ﻸ‬
Vowels
The 28 Arabic letters are all consonants; nonetheless, Arabic has six vowels – there are three
short vowels and three long vowels. Short vowels appear only in pronunciation – they do not
have letters that represent them in writing. In this text, the short vowels are Romanized as a, i and
u. Short vowels are sometimes denoted with special marks that appear above or below the
preceding letter. These marks are fatHa ( ) “a”, kasra ( ) “i “ and Dumma ( ) “u”. These
marks are rarely seen in real life, so don’t count much on them.
The three long vowels will be Romanized as aa, y and w. Long vowels are denoted in writing
with the letters ‘alef (‫)ﺍ‬ “aa”, yaa’ (‫)ﻱ‬ “y“and waaw (‫)ﻮ‬ “w”. These are already known as the
consonants equivalents. Therefore, these letters can denote both the consonants and the long
vowels – this is why they are called the “weak letters.”

Name of Vowel Romanization Vowel
short a or fatHa as in “accept,” “ascend” a
long A or ‘alef as in “man,” “can” aa ‫ﺍ‬
short i or kasra as in “sit,” “hit” i
long i or yaa’ as in “feel,” “deal” y ‫ﻱ‬
short u or Dumma as in “put,” “foot” u
long u or waaw as in “rule,” “roof” w ‫ﻭ‬
no vowel sound following
the letter is sukuun as in “stay,” “drag” ---
The three weak letters are joined when they denote long vowels, the same as when they
denote consonants. There is no way to determine between the two possibilities by just looking at
the word if one does not know which one is which. However, the exception is the weak ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ –
which it should be noted is missing the hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ The hamza is always a consonant. If the ‘alef is
not a hamza, then it must be a long vowel – except when it occurs as the first letter in the word. In
that case, the ‘alef is a hamza (consonant), but it is a special type of hamza that is pronounced
only when it is the first sound that comes out of the mouth – such as when one begins speaking by
pronouncing that hamza. This hamza is called the “connecting hamza.” The other outspoken
hamza at the beginning of a word is called the “disconnecting hamza,” which is always
pronounced.
A single ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ can never denote a long vowel when it is the first letter of a word – this one
will always be a hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ This is why the table of joining figures did not have a figure for long
vowel ‘alef at the beginning of the word. The hamza is not a “weak letter” – the weak ‘alef is
only that ‘alef which is not the first letter of a word and which doesn’t carry the sign of hamza.
The yaa’ ‫ﻱ‬ and waaw ‫ﻱ‬ have no such differentiating mark The yaa’ and waaw are always called
“weak letter” – whether they are consonants or long vowels.
Short vowels in Arabic are called “moves,” and long vowels are called “extensions.” A letter
that is followed by a “move” is called a “moving letter” and a letter that is not followed by any
vowel is called a “still letter.” The mark for stillness is sukuun . The three letters that indicate
long vowels (extended letters) are always still – never followed by any short vowel (move). The
letter that precedes any extended letter (long vowel) must be followed by theshort vowel that
corresponds to the long vowel.
Long Vowel Corresponding Short Vowel
aa ‫ﺍ‬ a
y ‫ﻱ‬ i
w ‫ﻮ‬ u
Thus, the extended letter is always a stll letter and is always preceded by the corresponding
short vowel – this is the definition of long vowel. Any weak letter that is still and preceded by the
corresponding short vowel must be a long vowel – or an extended letter. In this textl, a weak

letter in Arabic script which does not carry any “move” can be assumed to be a long vowel –
“still” and preceded by a corresponding “move.”
Here is the Romanization scheme for the hamza with the vowels:
Romanization of Letter ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬
‘a with a short a ‫ﺃ‬
‘u with a short i ‫ﺇ‬
‘i with a short u ‫ﺃ‬
‘aa with a long a ‫ﺁ‬
‘y with a long i ‫ﻱﺇ‬
‘w with a long u ‫ﻮﺃ‬
‘ with no vowel
Finally, there are some special transformations that involve the hamza.
‘a + ‘ = ‘a’ = aa ‫ﺁ‬ = ‫ﺃﺃ‬ = ‫ﺃ‬ + ‫ﺃ‬
‘i + ‘ = ‘i’ = y ‫ﺃ‬ + ‫ﺇ‬ = ‫ﺉﺃ‬ = ‫ﺈﻴ‬
‘u + ‘ = ‘u’ = w ‫ﺆﺃ‬ = ‫ﺃ‬ + ‫ﺃ‬ = ‫ﺅﺁ‬
These transformations are meant to facilitate pronunciation.
Reading Out
Formal Arabic does not have combined vowels or diphthongs – when two letters of the long
vowel letters appear next to each other in a word this means that one of them is not denoting a
vowel there. Therefore, one shouldn’t combine vowels together like ai in “main” or oa in “loan”
– pronounce each sound separately as if reading out in Latin.
Pronunciation Example
‘aw ‫ﻮﺃ‬
‘ay ‫ﻱﺃ‬
When the taa’ ‫ﺖ‬ t comes at the end of a word in this figure ‫ﺓ‬ or ‫ﺔ‬ it sounds –a rather than –t.
This kind of taa’ is called feminine taa’ or tied taa’ – taa’ marbuwTa. This will be covered in
more detail later. When extended ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ “aa” is the last letter in a word, it will often not get full
pronunciation, as it will have shorter duration than usual – often it will be pronounced closer to a
short a than a long aa. This is why it is called “shortened ‘alef” or ‘alef maqSuwra ‫ﻯ‬ when it is
the last letter of a word. The other long vowels (y and w) will also not be fully pronounced when
they are at the end of words, and they will often be pronounced closer to the short vowels (i, u),
too.

The combination aa’ -‫ﺍﺀ‬ is an extended ‘alef “aa.” Followed by a consonant hamza ‫ﺀ‬ that is
still ’, a still hamza is one that has zero duration and does not leave the throat. A still hamza can
never occur as the first letter in an Arabic word. The hamza in the combination -‫ﺍﺀ‬ is often
neglected in modern spoken dialects – it may be pronounced as aa, but this does not work for all
words. Examples are maa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬ “water,” samaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬ “sky” and masaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﺴﻤ‬ “evening.”
Doubled Letters
One last thing remains about Arabic writing which is the mark shaddah which means
“stress.” It indicates double consonants with no vowel in between – the first consonant is “still.”
For example, ‫ﻢ‬ + ‫ﻢ‬ = ‫ﻢ‬ is mm; ‫ﺔﻤﺃ‬ is ‘umma or “nation;” ‫ﺔﻁﻗ‬ is qiTTa or “cat.”
Accent and Stress
Accent is just as important in Arabic as in English. In English, it is usually impossible to tell
which syllable of a word should be stressed, and English is especially complicated in this – since
the stress can fall on virtually any syllable – whereas in most languages there are restrictions on
where accents are allowed to fall. The best way of getting a sense of the stress patterns of any
language, of course, is to listen to native speakers and to build up an intuitive sense of rhythm for
the language. This is as true for Arabic as for any other language. But there are some clear
guidelines about stress for Arabic.
The first thing to note is that Arabic syllables are divided into two kinds – long and short. A
short syllable is simply a single consonant followed by a single short vowel. The word kataba
“read”, for instance is composed of three short syllables ka-ta-ba. Any syllable that is not short is
considered long. There are various ways a syllable can be long – a consonant plus a long vowel, a
consonant plus a diphthong, and consonant sollowed by a short vowel followed by another
consonant. For instance, kitaab ‫ﺐﺎﺘﻜ‬ “book” has two syllables, one short ki- and one long –taab;
maktaba ‫ﺔﺑﺘﻜﻤ‬ “library” has three syllables, one long mak-, the second short –ta- and the third
short –ba; or maktuwb ‫ﺏﻮﺘﻜﻤ‬ “letter”, two long syllables mak- and –tuwb.
The basic rule of Arabic stress is this – the accent falls on the long syllable nearest to the end
of the word. If the last syllable is long, then that syllable is stressed kitaab ‫ﺐﺎﺘﻜ‬ with the accent on
the last syllable. If the second-to-last syllable of a word is long and the last is short, then the
second-to-last syllable is stressed ‘abuwhu ‫ﻩﻮﺑﺃ‬ “his father” with the accent on the second-to-last
syllable –buw-. If there is no long syllable in the word – like kataba ‫ﺐﺘﻜ‬ – then the accent is on the
third-to-last syllable, ka-. This will be the case with the great majority of past tense verbs, since
these usually take the form of three consonants separated by short vowels (kataba ‫ﺐﺘﻜ‬ “write,”
darasa ‫ﺱﺭﺪ‬ “study,” taraka ‫ﻚﺭﺘ‬ “leave,” and so on) – all accented on the first syllable.
The accent is not allowed to fall any further back than the third syllable from the end. So, if
one has a word of four (or more) short syllables, the stress has to fall on the third syllable from
the end katabahu ‫ﻪﺒﺘﻜ‬ “he wrote it” has four short syllables and the stress will therefore fall on the
third syllable back –ta-. One thing should be noted: in Arabic every syllable – long or short –
should be clearly and disctinctly pronounced, given its due weight. Syllables do not disappear or
get slurred just because they are unstressed.

III. ROOTS
In Indo-European languages, such as English, the infinitive is uaually the basic form of the
verb from which the rest of the forms are derived. For example, the inifivitive “to talk” is the
source of many derived words – talking (present participle), talked (past participle), talk (present
simple), talked (past simple), and talk (noun). The main stem of the infinitive stays preserved,
while the inflection works by affixing parts to the stem – most of the time. Unfortunately in
Semitic languages things are a little bit more complex than that. In Arabic the basic source of all
the forms of a verb is called the “root” of the verb. The root is not a real word – rather it is usually
a set of three consonants that can be found in all the words that are related to it. Most roots are
composed of three consonants and very few are four or five consonants. The root can be easily
obtained from the 3rd
person singular masculine simple past form (the perfective) of the verb.
Look at these roots.
Meaning of Verb Root 3rd
Pers. Sing. Masc. Simple
Past Verb
(he) did f “ l ‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﻉ‬ ‫ﻑ‬ fa”ala ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
(he) wrote k t b ‫ﺐ‬ ‫ﺕ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ kataba ‫ﺐﺘﻛ‬
(he) studied d r s ‫ﺱ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ darasa ‫ﺱﺭﺪ‬
(he) drew (a picture) r s m ‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﺱ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ rasama ‫ﻢﺴﺭ‬
(he) ate ‘ k l ‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ ‫ﺃ‬ ‘akala ‫ﻞﻜﺃ‬
(he) became bigger k b r ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺐ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ kabura ‫ﺭﺑﻜ‬
(he) knew “ l m ‫ﻢ‬ ‫ﻞ‬ ‫ﻉ‬ “alima ‫ﻢﻠﻋ‬
(he) rolled (something) d H r j ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺡ‬ ‫ﺪ‬ daHraja ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺭﺤ‬ ‫ﺪ‬
Notice that the root is not a word – it is just a set of consonants. The consonants of the root
are separated by different vowels in different words. They can also be separated by other extra
consonants that do not belong to the root. The root is used to make all the forms of a verb. It is
used to make nouns as well. Each root pertains to a certain meaning – such as kataba ‫ﺐﺘﻛ‬ pertains
to ”writing.” The following is an example.
Meaning Words Derived from the Root ‫ﺐ‬ - ‫ﺕ‬ - ‫ﻚ‬
Verbs
wrote kataba ‫ﺐﺘﻛ‬
was written kutiba ‫ﺐﺘﻛ‬
wrote itself ‘inkataba ‫ﺐﺘﻛﻧﺇ‬
made to write / had to write ‘aktaba ‫ﺐﺘﻛﺇ‬
made to write kattaba ‫ﺐﺘﻛ‬
exchanged writing with kaataba ‫ﺐﺘﺎﻛ‬
exchanged writing with takaataba ‫ﺐﺘﺎﻛﺘ‬
underwrote ‘iktataba ‫ﺐﺘﺘﻛﺇ‬

Meaning Words Derived from the Root ‫ﺐ‬ - ‫ﺕ‬ - ‫ﻚ‬
Nouns
written / letter maktwub ‫ﺐﻮﺘﻛﻣ‬
book / dispatch kitaab ‫ﺐﺎﺘﻛ‬
writer kaatib ‫ﺐﺘﺎﻛ‬
writing kitaabat ‫ﺔﺒﺎﺘﻛ‬
desk / office maktab ‫ﺐﺘﻛﻤ‬
library / bookstore maktabat ‫ﺔﺒﺘﻛﻤ‬
phalanx katyibat ‫ﺔﺑﻴﺘﻛ‬
Basically all these words were created by taking the root kataba ‫ﺐ‬ ‫ﺕ‬ ‫ﻚ‬ and adding letters or
vowels to it. This is how Semitic languages work. Almost all Arabic words are structured on
roots.
Words in Arabic grammar belong to three categories:
Noun
‫ﻢﺴﺇ‬
‘ism
includes pronouns, adjectives and most adverbs
Verb
‫ﻝﻌﻓ‬
fa”ala
there are three verb structures in Arabic
Letter (particle)
‫ﻒﺮﺤ‬
Harafa
words that do not have roots
Small words that do not have known roots are not even qualified enough to carry the title of a
“word” in Arabic grammar. Most of these “letters” are prepositions. The three letters of the root
(or rarely four) are called the “original letters” of the word. The varying letters that appear
between the root letters are called the “additional letters.” The letters that can serve as additional
letters are ten— ‘alef hamza ‫,ﺃ‬ ‘alef ‫,ﺍ‬ taa’ ‫,ﺕ‬ seen ‫,ﺱ‬ laam ‫,ﻞ‬ meem ‫,ﻡ‬ noon ‫,ﻥ‬ haa’ ‫,ﻩ‬ waaw ‫,ﻮ‬
and yaa’ ‫.ﻱ‬ These letters are rounded up in the word sa’altmuwnyihaa ‫ﺎﻬﻳﻧﻮﻤﺘﻠﺄﺴ‬ “you asked me
for/about it.” There are standard patterns for adding those additional letters to the root. These
patterns are called ‘awuzaan ‫ﻦﺍﺯﻮﺃ‬ “measures” or ‘abnya ‫ﺔﻳﻧﺑﺃ‬ “structures.” For example:
‘infa”ala - did itself ‫ﻞﻌﻓﻧﺇ‬ fa”ala = did ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
‘inkasara = broke itself ‫ﺇﺮﺴﻜﻧ‬ kasara = broke ‫ﺮﺴﻜ‬
‘inSabba = poured itself ‫ﺐﺼﻧﺇ‬ Sabba = poured ‫ﺏﺼ‬
This structure ‘infa”ala has a specific sense that is different from the basic structure fa”ala.
Both are structures of active simple past (perfective) verbs. However, there is a difference
between the two that is reminiscent of the Latin or French difference between faire (do) and se
faire (be done). The ‘infa”ala structure is called a “reflexive” structure because it denotes a self-
directed action. These two structures will be standardized:

(he/it) did fa”ala ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
(he/it) did it himself/itself ‘infa”ala ‫ﻞﻌﻓﻧﺇ‬

IV. NOUNS
A noun in Arabic is a large concept that includes pronouns, adjectives, infinitives (verbal
nouns), and most of the adverbs. All nouns have two characteristics – gender and number. Every
noun in Arabic is either masculine or feminine – there are no neuter nouns in Arabic. Nouns are
four categories in Arabic:
 True masculine: words that refer to male humans or male animals
 Figurative masculine: masculine words that refer to objects
 True feminine: words that refer to female humans or female animals
 Figurative feminine: feminine weords that refer to objects
Unfortunatley there is no general rule to find out if a noun is masculine or feminine by just
looking at it. Although masculine nouns have no defining charcatertics, fortunately most – but not
all – of the feminine nouns can be easily identified by spotting feminine markers at their ends.
Feminine Markers
There are three feminine markers:
 Feminine taa’ = ‫ﺔ‬
 Extended ‘alef = ‫ﺀﺎ‬
 Shortened ‘alef = ‫ﻰ‬ / ‫ﺎ‬
1. Feminine taa’ ‫ﺔ‬
This important marker appears at the end of most feminine noun words. Nonetheless, it also
appears at the end of a few masculine proper names. If one sees a word that ends in this marker, it
will almost always be a feminine word.
male teacher mu”allim ‫ﻤﻢﻠﻌ‬
female teacher mu”allima(t) ‫ﺔﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
make cat QiTT ‫ﻁﻗ‬
female cat QiTTa(t) ‫ﺔﻁﻗ‬
man rajul ‫ﻞﺠﺭ‬
woman ‘imra’a ‫ﺓﺍﺭﻤﺃ‬
male child Tifl ‫ﻝﻔﻁ‬
female child Tifla(t) ‫ﺔﻟﻔﻁ‬
male American (adj.) ‘amryikiyy ‫ﻲﻜﻴﺭﻤﺃ‬
female American (adj.) ‘amryikiyya(t) ‫ﺔﻴﻜﻴﺭﻤﺃ‬
female proper name faaTima(t) ‫ﺔﻤﻁﺎﻓ‬
female proper name “aa’yisha(t) ‫ﺔﺷﻴﺄﻋ‬
tree (f.) shajara(t) ‫ﺓﺭﺠﺸ‬

hour (f,) saa”a(t) ‫ﺔﻋﺎﺴ‬
book (m.) kitaab ‫ﺐﺎﺘﻜ‬
pen (m.) qalam ‫ﻢﻠﻗ‬
male proper name ‘usamma(t) ‫ﺔﻤﺎﺴﺃ‬
The feminine taa’ marbuTa ‫ﺔ‬ can be pronounced both –a and –at. It will be pronounced –at
only if one keeps “speaking” after saying it. If one halts their voice right after pronouncing that
taa’, then one must turn it into –a or –ah. In other words, the t of –at cannot be the last thing you
pronounce. This is kind of similar to the rule of “Arabs don’t stop on the move.” It is also similar
to the French “liaison.” This marker is called”feminization taa’” or “tied taa’.”
2. Extended ‘alef ‫ﺀﺎ‬
This feminine marker is a long vowel ‘alef ‫ﺎ‬ that is followed by a consonant ‘alef or hamza ‫.ﺀ‬
Nouns that end with this combination are called “extended nouns.” The final hamza ‫ﺀ‬ is often
dropped in modern spoken dialects.
Being a “marker” means that the feminine ‫ﺀﺎ‬ will be composed of additional letters and not
any original letters – that is, letters that belong to the root of the word. In order for these two
letters to be additional and thus a marker, the ‘alef ‫ﺎ‬ must be the fourth letter or beyond in the
word – that is, the word has five letters or more. If the ‘alef ‫ﺎ‬ were the third letter, then one of the
two letters of ‫ﺀﺎ‬ (that is the hamza ‫)ﺀ‬ would have to be an original letter because true words must
have a minimum of three original letters.
This does not mean that if the ’alef ‫ﺎ‬ were the fourth letter or beyond, the ‫ﺀﺎ‬ would always be
an additional feminine marker. Adjectives would usually be feminine, whereas infinitives or
verbal nouns would usually be masculine, and the ‫ﺀﺎ‬ at their ends would not be additional – would
not be a feminine marker – even though it is the fourth letter or beyond.
a. Five Letters or More, Singular, Adjectives
Extended ‘alef as a Feminine Marker
gorgeous (adj.) Hasnaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻧﺴﺣ‬
blonde (adj.) shaqraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻗﺷ‬
red (adj.) ‘ahamra ‫ﺣﺃﺭﻤ‬
yellow (adj.) ‘aSafra ‫ﺭﻔﺼﺃ‬
desert ‘aXaHra ‫ﺭﺣﺼﺃ‬
green beans (sing.) FaaSuwlya’ ‫ﺀﺎﻴﻠﻮﺻﺎﻓ‬
The last two exmples are simple nouns and not adjectives; however, the first one of them is in
fact an adjective that is customarily used as a noun – because adjectives in Arabic are also nouns.
Another way to look at both of them is that since they are not verbal nouns they are probably
feminine.

b. Five Letters or More, Singular, Verbal Nouns
Extended ‘alef NOT a Feminine Marker
Finding the way (m. verbal noun) ‘ihtida ‫ﺪﺘﻫﺇ‬
Beginning (m. verbal noun) ‘ibtida ‫ﺩﺘﺒﺇ‬
Seeking highness (m. verbal noun) li’asti” ‫ﻊﺘﺴﻹ‬
c. Less Than Five Letters
If the ‫ﺀﺎ‬ were not a feminine marker – that is, in words with less then five letters – the word
will usually be masculine--especially verbal nouns. Very few of such words will be feminine.
Note that only singular nouns are being referred to here.
Extended ‘alef NOT a Feminine Marker
water maa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬
air huwaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﻮﻫ‬
medication duwaa’ ‫ﺪﺀﺍﻮ‬
heaven samaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬
calling (verbal noun) nidaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﻨ‬
calling upon, praying (verbal noun) Du”aa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻋﺩ‬
afflicting, affliction (verbal noun) balaa’ ‫ﺀﻼﺒ‬
Although verbal nouns ending with ‫ﺀﺎ‬ are masculine, it is common to see them used as female
proper names – rarely are they used as masculine proper names. The bottom line is ‫ﺀﺎ‬ is common
in female names.
female proper name sanaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻨﺴ‬
female proper name Du”aa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻋﺩ‬
female proper name hanaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻨﻫ‬
male proper name Diyaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻴﻀ‬
Gender of Singular Nouns Ending with Extended ‘alef
Five letters or more
Adjective: feminine
Verbal noun: masculine
Others: usually feminine
Less than five letters Masculine
Proper names Often used for females
Irregular plurals
According to the rules of plural
(usually feminine)

3. Shortened ‘alef ‫ﺀﺎ‬
The marker is simply a long vowel ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ aa. Nouns that end with this ‘alef are called
shortened nouns. This marker is the least specific to feminine words. Just like the extended ‘alef
marker, the long vowel ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ or ‫ﻯ‬ can be a feminine marker only when the ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ / ‫ﻯ‬ is the fourth
letter or beyond in the word – that is, the word has four letters or more. If the ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ / ‫ﻯ‬ were third
letter then it would be an original letter of the word and could not be a feminine marker. If the
‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ / ‫ﻯ‬ were an original letter and not a feminine marker, the word would usually be masculine
– with very few exceptions.
Shortened ‘alef NOT a Feminine Marker
young man fataa ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬
range madaa ‫ﻯﺪﻤ‬
approving, approval riDaa ‫ﻰﺿﺭ‬
stick, cane “aSaa ‫ﻰﺻﻋ‬
millstone raHaa ‫ﻰﺣﺭ‬
When the ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ / ‫ﻯ‬ is fourth letter or beyond, the ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ / ‫ﻯ‬ will be a feminine marker in
some – but not all – nouns. A rough rule is that derived nouns are masculine while the rest are
feminine. Derived nouns in Arabic include infinitives (verbal nouns), passive particles and nouns
of time and place.
Shortened ‘alef NOT a Feminine Marker
given (passive participle) mu”Taa ‫ﻰﻁﻌﻤ‬
purified (passive participle) munaqqaa ‫ﻰﻘﻧﻤ‬
chosen (passive participle) muSTafaa ‫ﻰﻔﻃﺻﻤ‬
(night) club (place noun) malhaa ‫ﻰﻬﻠﻣ‬
winter resort (place noun) mashtaa ‫ﻰﺘﺸﻤ‬
Adjectives of the comparative structure ‘af”al ‫ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬ are both masculine and feminine at the
same time – except when they are not being comparative adjectives, where they will be masculine
only.
Shortened ‘alef in ‘af”al ‫ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬ Adjectives
higher (m./f.) ‘a”laa ‫ﻰﻠﻋﺃ‬
nearer (m./f.) ‘adnaa ‫ﻰﻨﺪﺃ‬
stronger (m./f.) ‘aquwaa ‫ﻯﻮﻓﺃ‬
blind (m.) ‘a”maa ‫ﻰﻤﻋﺃ‬
The rest of the shortened nouns with four letters or more will usually be feminine – especially
adjectives of the feminine superlative structure fu”laa ‫.ﻰﻠﻌﻓ‬

Shortened ‘alef as a Feminine Marker
female proper name layilaa ‫ﻰﻠﻴﻠ‬
female proper name lubnaa ‫ﻰﻨﺑﻠ‬
female proper name majwaa ‫ﻯﻮﺠﻧ‬
highest (superlative adj.) “alayaa ‫ﺎﻳﻠﻋ‬
smallest (superlative adj.) Sughraa ‫ﻯﺭﻌﺼ‬
pregnant (superlative adj.) Hublaa ‫ﻰﻠﺑﺣ‬
snake (adj.) ‘af”aa ‫ﻰﻋﻓﺃ‬
music muwsyiqaa ‫ﻰﻘﻴﺴﻮﻤ‬
America ‘amriykaa ‫ﺎﻜﻳﺭﻤﺃ‬
Gender of Singular Nouns Ending with Shortened ‘alef
Four letters or more
Passive participle, place/time noun: masculine
‘af”al structure: masculine/feminine
Others: feminine
Less than four letters Masculine
Proper names Used for both males and females
Irregular plurals
According to the rules of plural
(usually feminine)
Feminine Without Markers
Although the feminine markers will be of great use in identifying feminine nouns, there will
still be few feminine nouns that do not have any of these markers. Those nouns that refer to
female persons that do not have feminine markers are covered here.
mother ‘umm ‫ﻢﺃ‬
daughter bint ‫ﺕﻧﺑ‬
sister ‘ukht ‫ﺕﺨﺃ‬
wife in classiscal Arabic zawuj ‫ﺝﻮﺯ‬
bride “aruws ‫ﺱﻮﺮﻋ‬

Some nouns that refer to female animals.
female scorpion (also m.) “aqrab ‫ﺕﺭﻘﻋ‬
female spider ‘ankabuwt ‫ﺕﻮﺒﻜﻧﻋ‬
female horse (also m.) faras ‫ﺱﺭﻓ‬
female donkey ‘ataan ‫ﻥﺎﺘﺃ‬
All country names are feminine except for some Arab countries that were named after
geographical feaures – such as mountains, seas, rivers, etc. Those masculine country names are
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Kuwait, and Morocco.
Egypt (f.) miSr ‫ﺭﺻﻤ‬
Palestine (f.) filisTiyn ‫ﻦﻳﻁﺴﻓ‬
India (f.) al-hind ‫ﺪﻧﻬﻠﺍ‬
China (f.) aS-Siyn ‫ﻦﻳﺼﻠﺍ‬
Iraq (m.) al-“iraaq ‫ﻕﺍﺭﻌﻠﺍ‬
Jordan (m.) al-‘urdun ‫ﻥﺪﺭﻷﺍ‬
For names of body parts that don’t have feminine markers, a general rule is that all the parts
of which there are more than one are feminine – the rest are masculine. In a more comprehensive
approach:
 In the head, all the parts are masculine except the eyes, ears and teeth
 In the trunk, all the parts are masculine
 In the limbs, all the parts are feminine except the elbow and the forearm
 All the internal parts are masculine except the liver
This is, of course, for parts that do not have feminine markers in their names.
eye (f.) ‘aiyn ‫ﻥﻳﻋ‬
hand (f.) yiad ‫ﺪﻴ‬
foot (f.) qadam ‫ﻢﺪﻗ‬
liver (f.) kabid ‫ﺪﺑﻜ‬
head (m.) raa’s ‫ﺭﺃﺱ‬
back (m.) Zahr ‫ﻬﻅﺭ‬
The following list contains nearly all the singular, feminine nouns that do not possess
feminine markers and which were not mentioned above.
sun (f.) shams ‫ﺱﻤﺸ‬
fire (f.) naar ‫ﺭﺎﻨ‬

residence (f.) daar ‫ﺭﺍﺪ‬
route, way (m.) Tariyq ‫ﻖﻴﺭﻂ‬
market (m.) suwq ‫ﻖﻮﺴ‬
wine (f.) khamr ‫ﺭﻤﺧ‬
well (f.) bi’r ‫ﺭﺋﺒ‬
war (f.) Harb ‫ﺐﺭﺣ‬
axe (f.) fa’s ‫ﺱﺄﻓ‬
knife (m.) sikkiyn ‫ﻦﻴﻜﺴ‬
pot (m.) qidr ‫ﺭﺪﻗ‬
cup (f.) ka’s ‫ﻗﺄﻜ‬
wind (f.) riyH ‫ﺡﻴﺭ‬
soul, spirit (f.) ruwH ‫ﺡﻮﺭ‬
soul, being (f.) nafs ‫ﺲﻔﻧ‬
state (m.) Haal ‫ﻞﺎﺣ‬
hell (m.) jahannam ‫ﻢﻧﻬﺠ‬
ship, ark (f.) fulk ‫ﻚﻠﻓ‬
Number
Nouns in Arabic are either singular, dual or plural.
1. Dual Nouns
A dual noun is a noun that refers to two things or persons.
Dual Endings
-aan(i) Subject ‫-ﻦﺎ‬
-ayin(i) Object ‫-ﻦﻴ‬
For most words one needs just to attach these endings to the noun.
Stem Word: mu”allim = teacher ‫ﻢﻠﻌﻤ‬
one male teacher mu”allim ‫ﻢﻠﻌﻤ‬
one female teacher mu”allima(t) ‫ﺔﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
two male teachers (subject) mu”allimaan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
two male teachers (object) mu”allimayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬

two females teachers (subject) mu”allimataan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
two female teachers (object) mu”allimatayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
One can see how the feminine taa’ marbuwTa ‫-ﺓ‬ ought to be pronounced –at in the dual –
since it is no longer at the end of the word there is no possibility that one stops speaking right
after it. The dual ending shows obvious inflection with different grammatical cases – one should
pay attention to this.
Nominative (Subject)
The two teachers (m.) are here.
mu”allimaan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
The two teachers (f.) are here mu”allimtann(i)) ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Accusative (Direct Object)
I saw the two teachers (m.).
mu”allimayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
I saw the two teachers (f.). mu”allimatayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Ablative (Indirect Object)
I gave it to the two teachers (m.).
mu”allimayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
I gave it to the two teachers (f.). mu”allimatayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
2. Shortened Nouns
Shortened nouns are nouns that end with a shortened ‘alef ‫ﻯ‬ / ‫.ﺎ‬ The shortened ‘alef must be
changed to either waaw ‫ﻮ‬ or yaa’ ‫ﻱ‬ when attaching the dual ending. The newly placed letter will
still be preceded by a short vowel a as was the ‘alef.
Original Form
(not used)
Shortened Form
‫ﻮﺼﻋ‬ ‘aSaa = stick (f.) ‫ﺎﺻﻋ‬
‫ﻲﺘﻓ‬ fataa = boy (m.) ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬
‫ﻲﻬﻔﻤ‬ maqhaa = café (m.) ‫ﻰﻬﻔﻤ‬
‫ﻲﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬ mustashfaa = hospital (m.) ‫ﻰﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬
The Dual
Object Case Subject Case
“aSawuayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﻮﺻﻋ‬ “aSawuaan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﻮﺻﻋ‬
fatayiayin(i) ‫ﻦﻳﻴﺘﻓ‬ fatayiaan(i) ‫ﻦﺎﻴﺘﻓ‬
mustashfaeayin(i) ‫ﻦﻴﻴﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬ mustashfaeaan(i) ‫ﻦﺎﻴﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬
maqhayiayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﻴﻬﻔﻤ‬ maqhayiaan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﻴﻬﻔﻤ‬

3. Extended Nouns
Extended nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel ‘alef ‫ﺎ‬ aa that is followed by a
consonant ‘alef hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ There are two cases when attaching the dual ending to extended nouns:
a. Case 1: Extended Nouns with Five Letters or More
In extended nouns with five letters or more, the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will be a fifth letter or more. When
the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ is the fifth letter or more, there is a chance that it will be an additional letter – that is,
the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ is a feminine marker. When the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ is an additional or a feminine marker, the hamza
‫ﺀ‬ must be turned unto waaw ‫ﻮ‬ when attaching the dual ending.
Extended Nouns (Feminine)
desert SaHraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﺣﺼ‬
desert (literary) baiydaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﻴﺑ‬
brunette (adj.) samraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻤﺴ‬
green (adj.) khaDraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻀﺧ‬
The Dual
SaHraawuayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻮﺍﺭﺣﺼ‬ SaHraawuaan(i) ‫ﻦﺍﻮﺍﺭﺣﺼ‬
baiydaawuayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻮﺍﺪﻴﺑ‬ baiydaawuaan(i) ‫ﻦﺍﻮﺍﺪﻴﺑ‬
samraawuayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻮﺍﺭﻤﺴ‬ samraawuaan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﻮﺍﺭﻤﺴ‬
khaDraawuayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﻮﺍﺭﻀﺧ‬ khaDraawuaan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﻮﺍﺭﻀﺧ‬
If the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ was not an additional letter – the word was not feminine – then the dual ending
would be attached normally and without any changes.
Extended Nouns (Masculine)
constructing, construction ‘inshaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﺸﻧﺇ‬
beginning ‘ibtidaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﺘﺑﺇ‬
satiety of water ‘irtiwaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﻮﺘﺮﺇ‬
The Dual
‘inshaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻦﻴﺀﺎﺸﻧﺇ‬ ‘inshaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺍﺸﻧﺇ‬
‘ibtidaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻦﻴﺀﺍﺪﺘﺑﺇ‬ ‘ibtidaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺍﺪﺘﺑﺇ‬
‘irtiwaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻦﻴﺀﺍﻮﺘﺮﺇ‬ ‘irtiwaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺍﻮﺘﺮﺇ‬

b. Case 2: Extended Nouns with Four Letters or Fewer
In extended nouns with four letters or fewer the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will be the fourth letter or less.
When the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ is the fourth letter or less, there is no chance that it will be an additional letter.
Therefore, the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ will never be a feminine marker in nouns with fewer than five letters – this
does not mean that there are no feminine extended nouns with fewer than five letters. Since there
are no feminine markers here, the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will remain intact and one would just attach the dual
ending.
Extended Nouns
building binaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻧﺒ‬
heaven (f.) samaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬
shoe (m.) Hidhaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﺤ‬
medication (m.) dawaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﻮﺪ‬
The Dual
binaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺀﺎﻧﺒ‬ binaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺎﻧﺒ‬
samaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬ samaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬
Hidhaa’ayin(i) ‫ﻥﻴﺀﺍﺪﺤ‬ Hidhaa’aan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺀﺍﺪﺤ‬
It is possible also in the last case to change the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ back to its origin if it was an original
letter – but since this is not always the easy way to know and the variation is not obligatory, it is
better to heep the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ without change.
Defective Nouns
Defective nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel –y ‫-ﻱ‬ which belongs to the root.
Defective nouns take the dual ending just as regular nouns.
Annexed Duals
There are five dual nouns in Arabic of which there are no singulars. These are called the
“annexed duals.”

Annexed Duals
Meaning Object Case Subject Case
Two (m.) ‘thnayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﻧﺛﺇ‬ ‘thnaan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﻧﺛﺇ‬
Two (f.) ‘ithnatayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﺘﻧﺛﺇ‬ ‘ithnataan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻧﺛﺇ‬
Two (f.) thintayin(i) ‫ﻥﻳﺘﻧﺛ‬ thintaan(i) ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻧﺛ‬
Both of (m.) kilaiy ‫ﻲﻠﻜ‬ kilaa ‫ﻼﻜ‬
Both of (f.) kiltaiy ‫ﻲﺘﻠﻜ‬ kiltaa ‫ﺎﺘﻠﻜ‬
The last two words lack their final noons because they are only used in genitive
constructions. Dual nouns in genitive constructions must loose the noon at their ends (which will
be covered later).
Plural Nouns
Plural nouns are nouns that refer to more than two things or persons. There are three types of
plural nouns in Arabic.
 Masculine plural
 Feminine plural
 Irregular plural
Masculine plural nouns have masculine singular nouns only. Feminine plural nouns and
irregular plural nouns can have both masculine and feminine singular nouns. The gender of an
irregular plural noun will not necessarily match that of its singular. An important thing to know is
that for many nouns in Arabic the same irregular noun may have multiple plural words of more
than one type.
1. Masculine Plural
Masculine plural is used for nouns that refer to definite male persons.
Masculine Plural Endings
-wun(a) Subject ‫-ﻦﻮ‬
-yin(a) Object ‫-ﻦﻴ‬
For most words one needs just to attach these endings to the noun.
more than two male teachers (subject) mu”allimuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
more than two male teachers (object) mu”allimyin(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬

This ending cannot be added to a feminine noun. The choice between the two different
endings of the masculine plural depends on the grammatical case.
Nominative (Subject)
The teachers (m.) are here.
mu”allimuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Accusative (Direct Object)
I saw the teachers (m.).
mu”allimyin(a) ‫ﻥﻳﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Ablative (Indirect Object)
I gave it to the teachers (m.).
mu”allimyin(a) ‫ﻥﻳﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Shortened Nouns
Shortened nouns are nouns that end with a shortened ‘alef ‫ﻯ‬ or ‫.ﺎ‬ When attaching the
masculine plural ending to a shortened noun, the shortened ‘alef ‫ﻯ‬ or ‫ﺎ‬ will be deleted and the
stem of the noun will end with a short vowel a instead of the long aa.
riDaa ‫ﺎﺿﺭ‬
riDaawun(a) ‫ﻦﻮﺎﺿﺭ‬
riDawun(a) ‫ﻦﻮﺿﺭ‬
Since we know that a long vowel cannot be so if it is not preoceded by the corresponding
short vowel, it is understandable why the w of the declension becomes a consonant waaw ‫.ﻮ‬ The
reason behind the deletion of the shortened ‘alef is that in Arabic it is forbidden that two still
consonants – “still” means not followed by a short vowel – follow each other without separation.
This is a general rule and an important one in Arabic.
Shortened Noun (m.)
higher (adj.) ‘a”laa ‫ﻰﻠﻋﺃ‬
chosen (adj.) mujtabaa ‫ﻰﺑﺘﺠﻤ‬
proper name = chosen (adj.) muSTafaa ‫ﻰﻓﻁﺼﻤ‬
.
The Masculine Plural
Subject Case
‘a”lawun(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻠﻋﺃ‬
mujtabawun(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻠﺑﺘﺠﻤ‬
muSTafawun(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻠﻓﻁﺼﻤ‬

The same is true for the object declension.
riDaa ‫ﺎﺿﺭ‬
riDaayin(a) ‫ﻦﻳﺎﺿﺭ‬
riDayin(a) ‫ﻦﻳﺿﺭ‬
Object Case
‘a”layin(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻠﻋﺃ‬
mujtabayin(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺑﺘﺠﻤ‬
muSTafayin(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻠﻓﻁﺼﻤ‬
Extended Nouns
consonant ‘alef hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ When attaching the masculine plural ending to extended nouns, the
hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will remain inact because feminine nouns do not take this ending – except for some rare
male proper names that have the feminine marker.
Extended Noun (m.)
builder bannaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻧﺒ‬
runner “addaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﻋ‬
.
binnaa’yin(a) * ‫ﻦﻴﺌﺎﻧﺒ‬ binnaa’uwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﯝﺎﻧﺒ‬
“adda’yin(a) * ‫ﻦﻴﺌﺍﺪﻋ‬ “adda’uwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﯝﺍﺪﻋ‬
* These figures – ‫ﺌ‬ and ‫ﯝ‬ – are just alternative joining figures for the ‘alef hamza ‫.ﺃ‬
Defective Nouns
Defective nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel –y ‫ﻱ‬ which belongs to the root. When
attaching the masculine plural ending to defective nouns, the y ‫ﻱ‬ must be deleted.
Defective Nouns (m.)
judge qaaDiy ‫ﻲﺿﺎﻗ‬
sponsor raa”iy ‫ﻲﻋﺍﺭ‬
attorney muHamiy ‫ﻲﻤﺎﺤﻤ‬
.

qaaDiyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺿﺎﻗ‬ qaaDuwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﺿﺎﻗ‬
raa”iyn(a) ‫ﻋﺍﺭﻥﻴ‬ raa”uwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﻋﺍﺭ‬
muHamiyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻤﺎﺤﻤ‬ muHamuwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﻤﺎﺤﻤ‬
Annexed Masculine Plurals
Annexed masculine pluirals are either masculine plurals to which there are no singulars or
masculine plurals whose singulars do not refer to definite male persons – which is the condition
of a true masculine plural. There are several of these in classical Arabic.
sons banuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻨﺒ‬ ‘ibn ‫ﻥﻴﺇ‬
years sinuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻧﺴ‬ sana(t) ‫ﺔﻧﺴ‬
households ‘hluwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﻠﻫﺃ‬ ‘ahl ‫ﻞﻫﺃ‬
worlds “aalamuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻣﻠﺎﻋ‬ “aalam ‫ﻢﻠﺎﻋ‬
earths ‘arDuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻀﺮﺃ‬ ’arD ‫ﺾﺮﺃ‬
households “illiyyuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻴﻠﻋ‬ --- ---
worlds mi’uwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﺌﻤ‬ mi’a(t) ‫ﺔﺌﻤ‬
earths ‘uluw ‫ﻮﻠﻮﺃ‬ --- ---
Object Case
baniyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻨﺒ‬
siniyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻧﺴ‬
‘ahliynn(a) ‫ﻦﻴﻠﻫﺃ‬
‘a”layin(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻣﻠﺎﻋ‬
‘arDiyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻀﺮﺃ‬
‘lliyyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻴﻠﻋ‬
mi’iyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺌﻤ‬
‘uliy ‫ﻲﻠﻮﺃ‬

The last word ‘uluw ‫ﻮﻠﻮﺃ‬ lacks the final noon – this is because it is only used in genitive
constructions. Maculine plural nouns in genitive constructions must loose the noon at their ends
(again, this will be covered later).
Probably the most important annexed masculine nouns are the “decade words.”
“Decade Words”
twenty “ishriyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺮﺸﻋ‬ “ishruwn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺮﺸﻋ‬
thirty thalaathiyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺜﻼﺜ‬ thalaathuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﺜﻼﺜ‬
forty ‘arba”iyn(a) ‫ﻦﻴﻌﺑﺭﺃ‬ ‘arba”uwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﻌﺑﺭﺃ‬
fifty khamsiyn(a) ‫ﺧﻥﻳﺴﻤ‬ khamsuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﺴﻤﺧ‬
sixty sittiyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﺘﺴ‬ sittuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﺘﺴ‬
seventy sab”ayi(a) ‫ﻥﻳﻌﺒﺴ‬ sab”awu(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻌﺒﺴ‬
eighty thamaaniyn(a) ‫ﻥﻴﻧﺎﻤﺜ‬ thamaanuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻧﺎﻤﺜ‬
ninety tis”iyn(a) ‫ﻦﻳﻌﺴﺘ‬ tis”uwn(a) ‫ﻦﻮﻌﺴﺘ‬
2. Feminine Plural
Feminine plural is used for:
 Nouns and adjectives that refer to definite female persons
 Nouns and adjectives that end with feminine markers
 Arbitrary for some nouns and adjectives that refer to feminine and masculine
Objects – especially to verbal nouns or infinitives
This ending can be attached to everything except nouns and adjectives that refer to male
persons and which do not end with a feminine marker – -aat ‫.ﺕﺎ‬ When adding the feminine plural
ending to a word that ends with a feminine taa’ marbuwTa ‫,ﺓ‬ the ‫-ﺔ‬ must be deleted.
one female teacher mu”allima(t) ‫ﺔﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
more than two female teachers mu”allimaat ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
one advertising, advertisement (m.) ‘i”laan ‫ﻦﻼﻋﺇ‬
more than two advertisements (f.) ‘i”laanaat ‫ﺕﺎﻧﻼﻋﺇ‬

Shortened Nouns
Shortened nouns are nouns that end with a shortened ‘alef ‫ﻰ‬ or ‫.ﺎ‬ The shortened ‘alef must be
changed to either waaw ‫ﻮ‬ or yaa’ ‫ﻱ‬ when attaching the feminine plural ending. This ‘alef ‫ﺎ‬ will be
changed to waaw ‫ﻮ‬ and this ‘alef ‫ﻰ‬ will be changed to yaa’ ‫.ﻱ‬ The newly placed letter will still be
preceded by a short vowel a as was the ‘alef.
Shortened Nouns
female proper name shadhaa ‫ﺍﺫﺸ‬
female proper name hudaa ‫ﻯﺪﻫ‬
reminiscence (f.) dhikraa ‫ﻯﺭﻜﺫ‬
hospital (m.) mustashfaa ‫ﻰﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬
.
The Feminine Plural
shadhawuaat ‫ﺖﺍﻮﺫﺸ‬
hudayaat ‫ﺖﺎﻴﺪﻫ‬
dhikrayat ‫ﺖﺎﻴﺭﻜﺫ‬
mustashfayaat ‫ﺖﺎﻴﻔﺷﺘﺴﻤ‬
Extended Nouns
consonant ‘alef hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ There are two cases when attaching the feminine plural ending to
extended nouns.
a. Case 1: Extended Nouns with Five Letters or More
In extended nouns with five letters or more, the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will be a fifth letter or more. When
the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ is the fifth letter or more, there is a chance that it will be an additional letter – that is,
the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ is a feminine marker. When the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ is an additional or a feminine marker, the hamza
‫ﺀ‬ must be turned unto waaw ‫ﻮ‬ when attaching the feminine plural ending.
Extended Nouns (Feminine)
female proper noun najaa’ ‫ﺀﻼﺠﻧ‬
desert SaHraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﺣﺼ‬
blonde (adj.) ssaqraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻘﺸ‬
green (adj.) khaDraa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻀﺧ‬
The Feminine Plural
najaawuaat ‫ﺖﺍﻮﻼﺠﻧ‬
SaHraawuaat ‫ﺖﺍﻮﺭﺣﺼ‬

ssaqraawuaat ‫ﺖﺍﻮﺭﻘﺸ‬
khaDraawuaat ‫ﺖﺍﻮﺭﻀﺧ‬
If the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ was not an additional letter – the aa’ ‫ﺖﺍﻮ‬ were not a feminine marker – then the
feminine plural ending would be attached normally and without any changes.
Extended Nouns (Masculine)
constructing, construction ‘inshaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﺸﻧﺇ‬
dictating ‘imlaa’ ‫ﺀﻼﻤﺇ‬
gifting ‘ihdaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺩﻫﺇ‬
The Feminine Plural
‘inshaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﺎﺸﻧﺇ‬
‘imlaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﻼﻤﺇ‬
‘ihdaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﺍﺩﻫﺇ‬
b. Case 2: Extended Nouns with Four Letters or Fewer
In extended nouns with four letters or fewer the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will be the fourth letter or less.
When the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ is the fourth letter or less, there is no chance that it will be an additional letter.
Therefore, the aa’ ‫ﺀﺎ‬ will never be a feminine marker in nouns with fewer than five letters—this
does not mean that there are no feminine extended nouns with fewer than five letters. Since there
are no feminine markers here, the hamza ‫ﺀ‬ will remain intact and one would just attach the dual
ending.
Extended Nouns
female proper name wafaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻓﻮ‬
heaven (f.) samaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬
calling (m.) nidaa’ ‫ﺀﺍﺪﻧ‬
The Feminine Plural
wafaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﺎﻓﻮ‬
samaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﺎﻤﺴ‬
nidaa’aat ‫ﺖﺍﺀﺍﺪﻧ‬
Defective Nouns
Defective nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel –y ‫-ﻱ‬ which belongs to the root.
Defective nouns take the feminine plural ending just as regular nouns.

3. Irregular Plural
Turning a singular noun into a masculine or feminine plural is done by adding suffixes while
the main stem of the noun is preserved. Irregular plurals work in another way. Suffixes are not
added and the main stem of the noun will not be preserved. Instead, the root letters are applied
into a new, different pattern or structure to form the plural. Therefore, the name of this plural in
Arabic is the “breaking plural,” because it involves breaking the stem of the singular noun.
Plural Noun Singular Noun
rijaal
‫ﻞﺎﺠﺭ‬
rajul
‫ﻞﺟﺭ‬
men (m.) man (m.)
tujjaar
‫ﺭﺎﺠﺘ‬
taajir
‫ﺮﺠﺎﺘ‬
merchants (m.) merchant (m.)
Haruwb
‫ﺐﻮﺭﺣ‬
Harb
‫ﺐﺭﺣ‬
wars (f.) war (f.)
‘ashjaar
‫ﺎﺠﺷﺃﺭ‬
shajara(t)
‫ﺓﺭﺠﺸ‬
trees (f.) tree (f.)
‘ayiaam
‫ﻢﺎﻴﺃ‬
yiwum
‫ﻢﻮﻳ‬
days (f.) day (f.)
Haqaa’iq
‫ﻖﺌﺎﻘﺤ‬
Haqiyqa(t)
‫ﺔﻘﻴﻘﺣ‬
facts (f.) fact (f.)
In ancient times, Semitic people used only two ways for pluralizing nouns – the masculine
plural suffix and the feminine plural suffix. All Semites used only these two ways for pluralizing
every noun – or at least most of the nouns – whether they were referring to persons, animals or
objects. However, Semitic peoples slowly started to develop a tendency towards “breaking” the
nouns to pluralize them instead of suffixing them in the usually way. This phenomenon had not
yet been very extensive when Akkadians – or Mesopotamians – started writing their language.
There were few nouns in the Akkadian language – which is the oldest Semitic language – that
were pluralized by “breaking” the noun instead of suffixing it. Even Hebrew shows minimal
appearance of this phenomenon in comparison to Arabic.
It appears that Arabs enjoyed this kind of pluralization so much that they kept doing it until –
by the time of Muhammad and classical Arabic – the masculine plural declension was no longer
used for nouns referring to objects or animals. Rather, this declension became used only for
nouns referring to male persons. However, there were few remnants in classical Arabic of nouns
referring to masculine objects which were pluralized by suffixing the masculine plural ending to
them. Such words that were used in the Koran included “aalamuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻣﻠﺎﻋ‬ plural of “aalam
‫ﻢﻠﺎﻋ‬ “world” and sinuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﺴ‬ plural of sana(t) ‫ﺔﻧﺴ‬ “year.” These words are called in Arabic
grammar the “annexed masculine plurals” because they go against the rule of keeping the
masculine plural declension only for male persons. However, since the time of the Koran it has
only gotten worse. The tendency has been to keep going on in this course, and more and more
words are now irregularly pluralized in modern standard Arabic.

Many of the nouns referring to male persons – and which were regularly pluralized in
classical Arabic – are now irregularly pluralized. In classical Arabic, the breaking plural was
generally used for simple nouns but not for adjectives – now it is used for both without any
differentiation. It is important to know that nouns can be irregularly pluralized by more than one
way – that is by using more than one structure or pattern. Moreover, many nouns can be regularly
and irregularly pluralized at the same time.
Plural Singular
‫ﺭﻮﻬﺸ‬ ‫ﺭﻬﺸﺃ‬ ‫ﺭﻬﺸ‬
shuhuwr ‘ashhur shahr
months (f.) months (f.) month (m.)
‫ﺔﻠﺘﻗ‬ ‫ﻥﻮﻠﺘﺎﻗ‬ ‫ﻞﺘﺎﻗ‬
qatala(t) qaatiluwn(a) qaatil
killers (m.) killers (m.) killer (m.)
Note that irregular plural words are always feminine, regardless of their singulars – unless
they were referring to male persons. Irregular nouns can assume many structures; however, not all
the structures are equally important. Some of the structures are used much more than others.In
lLearning Arabic, one eventually gets used to the irregular plural strauctures and it becomes
easier to handle.
I. Fewness Structures
These structures are supposed to be used for plurals that refer to no more than ten units – but
this is not mandatory.
‘af”ul ‫ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬
‘af”ila(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓﺃ‬
‘af”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓﺃ‬
fi”la(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓ‬
In order to be able to use these structures one will need to know the root of the irregular noun.
The truth is that there are no real solid rules for when to use each of these structures; however,
there are some general guidelines that can be used.

‘af”ul ‫ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬ – This structure is generally used for the singular nouns that are of the following
structures:
1—fa”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
Plural Singular
‘anhur
‫ﺭﻬﻧﺃ‬
nahr
‫ﺭﻬﻧ‬
rivers (f.) river (m.)
‘abHur
‫ﺭﺤﺑﺃ‬
baHr
‫ﺭﺤﺑ‬
seas (f.) sea (m.)
‘ashhur
‫ﺃﺭﻬﺷ‬
shahr
‫ﺭﻬﺷ‬
months (f.) month (m.)
‘awjuh
‫ﻪﺠﻮﺃ‬
wajh
‫ﻪﺠﻮ‬
faces, aspects (f.) face, aspect (m.)
However, there are many irregularities to this rule
Plural Singular
quluwb
‫ﺐﻮﻠﻗ‬
qalb
‫ﺐﻠﻗ‬
hearts (f.) heart (m.)
Huruwb
‫ﺐﻮﺭﺤ‬
Harb
‫ﺐﺭﺣ‬
wars (f.) war (m.)
shuhuwr
‫ﺭﻮﻬﺷ‬
shahr
‫ﺭﻬﺷ‬
months (f.) month (m.)
wujuwh
‫ﻩﻮﺠﻮ‬
wajh
‫ﻪﺠﻮ‬
faces, aspects (f.) face, aspect (m.)
‘anhaar
‫ﺭﺎﻬﻧﺃ‬
nahr
‫ﺭﻬﻧ‬
rivers (f.) river (m.)
biHaar
‫ﺭﺎﺣﺑ‬
baHr
‫ﺭﺣﺒ‬
seas (f.) sea (m.)
kilaab
‫ﺐﻼﻜ‬
kalb
‫ﺐﻠﻜ‬
dogs (f.) dog (m.)
 Most of the fa”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬ nouns that have weak middle letters in their trilateral roots don’t
follow this rule.
 Most of the fa”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬ nouns that have waaw ‫ﻮ‬ as the first letter of their trilateral
roots don’t follow this rule.

1—f”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬ / f”iyl ‫ﻞﻴﻌﻓ‬ / f”uwl ‫ﻞﻮﻌﻓ‬ – Figurative feminine quadrilateral nouns that have a
long vowel as third letter will be pluralized as ‘af”ul ‫.ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬
Plural Singular
‘adhru”
‫ﻉﺭﺩﺃ‬
dhiraa”
‫ﻉﺍﺭﺪ‬
arms (f.) arm (m.)
‘aiymun
‫ﻥﻣﻴﺃ‬
yiamiyn
‫ﻥﻴﻤﻴ‬
right hands (f.) right hand (m.)
‘af”ila(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓﺃ‬ – This structure is generally used for the following singular nouns.
1—f”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬ / f”iyl ‫ﻞﻳﻌﻓ‬ / f”uwl ‫ﻞﻮﻌﻓ‬
Plural Singular
‘aT”ima(t)
‫ﺔﻤﻌﻁﺃ‬
Ta”aam
‫ﻢﺎﻌﻂ‬
foods (f.) food (m.)
‘a”mida(t)
‫ﺓﺪﻤﻋﺃ‬
“amuwd
‫ﺪﻮﻤﻋ‬
poles (f.) pole, pillar (m.)
There are irregularities.
2—fa”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬ / fi”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬ – Provided that the second and the third root letters are the same,
any noun of these structures will be pluralized as ‘af”ila(t) ‫.ﺔﻠﻌﻓﺃ‬
Plural Singular
‘abniya(t)
‫ﻧﺒﺃﺔﻳ‬
binaa’
‫ﺄﻧﺒ‬
buildings (f.) building (m.)
‘arghifa(t)
‫ﺔﻔﺭﻏﺃ‬
raghiyf
‫ﻒﻴﻏﺭ‬
loafs (f.) loaf (m.)
There are irregularities.
‘af”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓﺃ‬ – This structure is generally used for all the trilateral nouns that do not take the
first structure of ‘af”ul ‫.ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬ This includes:
 fa”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬ nouns that have a weak middle letter in their trilateral roots.
 fa”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬ nouns that have waaw ‫ﻮ‬ as the first letter of their trilateral roots don’t follow
this rule.
 Every trilateral noun that is not of the structure fa”l ‫.ﻞﻌﻓ‬

Plural Singular
‘abuwaab
‫ﺐﺍﻮﺒﺃ‬
baab
‫ﺐﺎﺑ‬
doors (f.) door (m.)
‘awuqaat
‫ﺕﺎﻗﻮﺃ‬
waqt
‫ﺕﻗﻮ‬
times (f.) time (m.)
‘ajdaad
‫ﺩﺍﺩﺠﺃ‬
jadd
‫ﺩﺠ‬
grandfathers (f.) grandfather (m.)
‘aqlaam
‫ﻢﻼﻗﺃ‬
qalam
‫ﻢﻠﻗ‬
pens (f.) pen (m.)
‘akbaad
‫ﺪﺎﺑﻜﺃ‬
kabid
‫ﺪﺒﻜ‬
livers (f.) liver (f.)
‘a”Daad
‫ﺩﺎﻀﻋﺃ‬
“aDud
‫ﺪﻀﻋ‬
upper arms (f.) upper arm (m.)
‘asmaa’
‫ﺀﺎﻤﺴﺃ‬
‘ism
‫ﻢﺴﺇ‬
names (f.) name (m.)
‘a”naab
* ‫ﺐﺎﻧﻋﺃ‬
“inab
* ‫ﺐﻧﻋ‬
grapes (f.) grapes (m.)
‘aabaaT
‫ﻃﺎﺒﺃ‬
‘ibiT
‫ﻃﺒﺇ‬
armpits (f.) armpit (m.)
‘aqfaal
‫ﺎﻔﻗﺃﻞ‬
qufl
‫ﻞﻔﻗ‬
locks (f.) lock (m.)
‘arTaab
* ‫ﺐﺎﻂﺭﺃ‬
ruTab
* ‫ﺐﻂﺭ‬
unripe dates (f.) unripe dates (m.)
‘aHlaam
‫ﻢﻼﺤﺃ‬
Hulum
‫ﻡﻠﺤ‬
dreams (f.) dream (m.)
* Both the singular and plural nouns refer to plural fruits.
fi”la(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓ‬ – This is a rare structure that is used with few nouns.
Plural Singular
fitiya(t)
‫ﺔﻳﺘﻓ‬
fataa
‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬
boys (m.) boy (m.)
Sibiya(t)
‫ﺔﻳﺒﺼ‬
Sabiyy
‫ﻲﺑﺼ‬
boys (m.) boy (m.)

II. Plentyful Structures
These structures are used for plurals without regard of their numbers. They also enjoy a large
deal of irregularity in usage – just like the previous ones.
fu”l ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
fu”ul ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
fu”al ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
fi”al ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
fu”ala(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓ‬
fa”ala(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓ‬
fi”ala(t) ‫ﺔﻠﻌﻓ‬
fu””al ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
fa”laa ‫ﻰﻠﻌﻓ‬
fu””aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬
fi”aal ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬
fu”uwl ‫ﻞﻮﻌﻓ‬
fi”laan ‫ﻦﻼﻌﻓ‬
fu”laan ‫ﻦﻼﻌﻓ‬
fu”alaa’ ‫ﺀﻼﻌﻓ‬
‘af”ilaa’ ‫ﺀﻼﻌﻓﺃ‬
fawuaa”il ‫ﻞﻌﺍﻮﻓ‬
fa”aa’il ‫ﻝﺋﺎﻌﻓ‬
fa”aaliy ‫ﻲﻠﺎﻌﻓ‬
fa”aalaa ‫ﻰﻠﺎﻌﻓ‬
fa”aaliyy ‫ﻲﻠﺎﻌﻓ‬
fa”aalil ‫ﻞﻠﺎﻌﻓ‬
mafaa”il ‫ﻞﻋﺎﻓﻣ‬
yiafaa”il ‫ﻞﻋﺎﻓﻴ‬
fiyaa”il ‫ﻞﻋﺎﻴﻓ‬
‘afaa”il ‫ﺃﻞﻋﺎﻓ‬
‘afaa”iyl ‫ﻞﻋﺎﻓﺃ‬
yiafaa”iyl ‫ﻞﻴﻋﺎﻓﻴ‬
fa”aaliyl ‫ﻞﻴﻠﺎﻌﻓ‬
fayiaa”iyl ‫ﻞﻴﻋﺎﻴﻓ‬
mafaa”iyl ‫ﻞﻴﻋﺎﻔﻤ‬
tafaa”iyl ‫ﻞﻴﻋﺎﻔﺘ‬

More information about these structures will be covered later.
Gender of Plural Nouns
 Masculine Plurals – Nouns that end with a masculine plural ending are always
masculine words.
 Feminine Plurals – Nouns that end with a feminine plural ending are always feminine
words.
 Irregular Plurals – The gender of an irregular noun will not always match the
gender of its singular
Classically, all irregular plurals were considered and treated as singular feminine nouns—no
matter what the gender of the referents were. For example, one would say “this men” or “this
dishes” instead of “these men” or “these dishes” if “men” and “dishes” were irregular plurals.
Also one would say “the men does what she promises” instead of “the men do what they
promise.” However, irregular plurals of nouns referring to persons (like men and women) had
another possibility – such plurals could be treated as regular plural nouns alongside the general
rule of treating them as singular feminines.
In the modern language, irregular plurals referring to persons are usually treated as regular
plural nouns in terms of grammar – except for case declension where they will declined as
singulars. This will be covered in more detail later.
Grammatical Treatment of Irregular Plurals
Reference Gender Number
to persons matches the gender of the referents plural
to persons (classical) feminine singular
to objects or animals feminine singular
Note: In regard to case inflection, irregular plurals are always treated as singulars.
Examples on the gender of irregular plurals.
Plural Singular
rijaal
‫ﻞﺎﺠﺭ‬
rajul
‫ﻞﺠﺭ‬
men (m.) man (m.)
banaat
‫ﺕﺎﻧﺒ‬
bint
‫ﺕﻧﺒ‬
girls, daughters (f.) girl, daughter (f.)
‘awuraaq
‫ﻕﺍﺭﻮﺃ‬
wuaraqa(t)
‫ﺔﻗﺭﻮ‬
papers (m.) paper (f.)
‘aqlaam
‫ﻢﻼﻗﺃ‬
qalam
‫ﻢﻠﻗ‬
pens (f.) pen (m.)

Type of Plural Use Gender of the
Plural Word
Masculine Plural  For nouns that refer to definite male persons Masculine
Feminine Plural
 For nouns that refer to female persons
 For nouns that end with feminine markers
 For some nouns that refer to feminine or masculine
objects
Feminine
Irregular Plural
 For nouns that refer to persons Masculine /
Feminine
 For nouns that refer to masculine or feminine
objects
Feminine
The Definite Article
In English the indefinite articles are “a” and “an” and the definite article is “the.” In Arabic,
there is no indefinite article like in English; there is instead a declension that indicates
“indefiniteness” – this is called “nunation.” In order to comprehend this declension, one needs to
first understand about case inflection. There is one definite article that does not change in
whatever case. This article is al- ‫ﻟﺍ‬ “the.”
Nouns in the Definite State
the male teacher al-mu”allim ‫ﻢﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
the female teacher al-mu”allima(t) ‫ﺔﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
the two male teachers al-mu”allimaan(i) ‫ﻦﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
the two female teachers al-mu”allimatann(i) ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
the male teachers al-mu”allimwun(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
the female teachers al-mu”allimaat ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
The al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬ will always be joined to the noun after it and they will form a cingle word that is in
the definite state.
Pronounciation of the Definite Article
The definite article al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬ is comprised of two letters, the first one of which is a consonant
hamza ‫ﺀ‬ ‘. However, this hamza is of the type that is called the “hamza of connection.”
Connection hamza is pronounced only when it is the first sound that comes out of the mouth –
such as when one begins speaking by pronouncing that hamza. The other type of hamza at the
beginning of a word is the “hamza of disconnection” – that hamza is always pronounced.
Differentiating between the two types is easy when one can see the word, depending on the
presence or absence of this sign ‫ﺀ‬ over or under the ‫ﺍ‬ such as ‫ﺃ‬ or ‫.ﺇ‬

Solar and Lunar laam ‫ﻞ‬
The following rule is a special one for the second letter of the definite article – the laam ‫.ﻞ‬
This rule will apply only to the laam of the definite article but not to any other laam – or laam
alef. This specific laam can also be omitted in speech – depending on the letter that follows it.
The laam which will be omitted is called the “solar laam;” the laam which will not be omitted is
called the “lunar laam.”
The solar laam is the laam of any al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬ that is followed by one of the following letters – taa’
‫,ﺕ‬ thaa’‫,ﺚ‬ daal ‫,ﺩ‬ thaal ‫,ﺬ‬ seen ‫,ﺱ‬ sheen ‫,ﺵ‬ Saad ‫,ﺺ‬ Daad ‫,ﺽ‬ Taa’ ‫,ﻁ‬ Zaa’ ‫,ﻅ‬ laam ‫,ﻞ‬ and noon
‫.ﻥ‬ The lunar laam is the laam of any al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬ that is followed by one of the following letters – ‘alef ‫,ﺍ‬
baa’ ‫,ﺐ‬ jeem ‫,ﺕ‬ Haa’ ‫,ﺚ‬ khaa’ ‫,ﺥ‬ ‘ayn ‫,ﻉ‬ ghayn ‫,ﻍ‬ faa’ ‫,ﻒ‬ qaaf’ ‫,ﻕ‬ kaaf’ ‫,ﻚ‬ laam ‫,ﻞ‬ meem ‫,ﻢ‬ haa’
‫,ﻩ‬ waaw ‫,ﻮ‬ and yaa’ ‫.ﻱ‬ The solar laam will be omitted in speech and replaced by a shaddah
“double letter” on the following letter – that is, the following letter will be doubled.
Solar al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬
the sun (f.) al-shams = ash-shams ‫ﺱﻤﺸﻠﺍ‬
the man (m.) al-rajul = ar-rajul ‫ﻞﺠﺭﻠﺍ‬
the night (m.) al-layil = al-layil ‫ﻞﻳﻠﻠﺍ‬
It should be noted that the shaddah (doubling of the letter or heavy stress) never appears on
the first letter of any word unless it was preceded by a solar al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬ – solar laam. The lunar laam
will be left without any change in pronunciation.
Lunar al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬
the moon (m.) al-qamar ‫ﺮﻤﻘﻠﺍ‬
the woman (mf al-mar’a(t) ‫ﺓﺍﺭﻤﻠﺍ‬
the evening (m.) al-masaa’ ‫ﺀﺎﺴﻤﺍ‬
Solar al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬ Lunar al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬
Before
taa’ ‫,ﺕ‬ thaa’‫,ﺚ‬ daal ‫,ﺩ‬ thaal ‫,ﺬ‬ seen ‫,ﺱ‬
sheen ‫,ﺵ‬ Saad ‫,ﺺ‬ Daad ‫,ﺽ‬ Taa’ ‫,ﻁ‬ Zaa’
‫,ﻅ‬ laam ‫,ﻞ‬ and noon ‫ﻥ‬
Before
‘alef ‫,ﺍ‬ baa’ ‫,ﺐ‬ jeem ‫,ﺕ‬ Haa’ ‫,ﺚ‬ khaa’ ‫,ﺥ‬
‘ayn ‫,ﻉ‬ ghayn ‫,ﻍ‬ faa’ ‫,ﻒ‬ qaaf’ ‫,ﻕ‬ kaaf’
‫,ﻚ‬ laam ‫,ﻞ‬ meem ‫,ﻢ‬ haa’ ‫,ﻩ‬ waaw ‫,ﻮ‬ and
yaa’ ‫ﻱ‬
The laam is changed to the following letter
al-s… = as-s…
The laam is kept intact
al-m… = al-m…

Special Writing Conditions for al- ‫ﻟﺃ‬
The connecting hamza is not omitted in writing, except in the following two cases:
1. la- + al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬ + ‫.ﻻ‬ When the emphatic particle la ‫ﻻ‬ – certainly, indeed – precedes a word
beginning with the definite article al- ‫,ﻠﺍ‬ the hamza of the al- will be deleted in writing
as well as in pronunciation.
‫ﺭﻤﻗﻠﺍ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﺭﻤﻗﻠﻻ‬
la- + al-qamar = la-l-qamar
certainly + the moon = certainly the moon
‫ﺱﻤﺸﻠﺍ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﺱﻤﺸﻠﻻ‬
la- + al-shams = la-sh-shams
certainly + sun = certainly the sun
2. li- + al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬ + ‫.ﻠ‬ When the preposition li ‫ﻠ‬ – for, to, in order to – precedes a word
beginning with the definite article al- ‫,ﻠﺍ‬ the hamza of the al- will be deleted in writing
as well as in pronunciation.
‫ﺭﻤﻗﻠﺍ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﺭﻤﻗﻠﻻ‬
li- + al-qamar = li-l-qamar
for/to + the moon = for/to the moon
‫ﺱﻤﺸﻠﺍ‬ + ‫ﻞ‬ = ‫ﺱﻤﺸﻠﻻ‬
li- + al-shams = li-sh-shams
for/to + sun = for/to the sun
Definite Nouns in Arabic
The definite nouns in Arabic are:
 Proper nouns – names of people, place, etc.
 Pronouns and demonstratives
 Nouns preceded by the definite article al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬
 Nouns forming the first part of a genitive construction
 Nouns in the vocative case
All of these things will be covered later.

Case Inflection
Unlike the other living Semitic languages, such as Hebrew, formal Arabic is a language that
exhibits vigorous case and mood inflection. Case inflection means that a noun – which includes in
Arabic adjectives – has multiple declensions or endings for different grammatical cases. For
example, the noun al-wualad ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬ “the child” is not written completely this way – one has to
complete the noun by adding the appropriate case-ending for the grammatical case. There are
three grammatical cases in Arabic, so this word can have three different case-endings.
Case Declension of a Regular Singular Noun
Case Noun
Nominative al-wualad(u) ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬
Accusative al-wualad(a) ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬
Genitive al-wualad(i) ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬
These designations of the cases are the ones traditionally used to refer to the three Arabic/
Semitic cases. However, these designations do not adequately express the mupltiple usages of
each case. The accusative case, for example, is used for about ten cases other than the actual
accusative – the direct object case.
Names of Arabic/Semitic Grammatical Cases
Western Name Arabic Name
Nominative al-raf”(u) ‫ﻊﻓﺭﻠﺍ‬
= the rising
Accusative an-naSb(u) ‫ﺐﺼﻧﻠﺍ‬
= the erecting
Genitive al-jarr(u) ‫ﺭﺠﻠﺍ‬
= the dragging
Case-Inflected and Non-Case-Inflected Words
Not every Arabic word goes under case or model inflection – case inflection is for nouns
)including adjectives), and mood-inflected is for verbs. There are Arabic words that do not show
any changes with regard to grammatical case or model. Each Arabic word belongs to either one
of two categories:
 Built words – words that do not exhibit case of mood inflection
 Arabized words – words that do exhibit case or mood inflection
The built words are generally the pronouns, the perfective (past) and imperative verbs, and all
the participles.

Case inflection is called in Arabic ‘i”raab ‫ﺐﺍﺭﻋﺇ‬ “Arabization.” This speaks of the mentality
of ancient Arabs who held eloquence in their language very precious. However, most regular
speakers of Arabic are – and were – not very talented in Arabizing their speech. This is why case
inflection is no longer present in the modern spoken dialects of Arabic. It is still taught at schools,
but there are really not many regular speakers who are good enough at it.
For most words the case- and mood-inflected endings will be nothing but different short
vowels. Some words, however, show variations in letters – like the case inflection of the dual and
masculine plural endings already mentioned. Thus, most of the case- and mood-inflected endings
do not appear in writing because short vowels are not usually written.
Case inflection in Arabic is difficult and it is important for a beginning learner to spend much
time on it. In this text, the case-inflected parts of words will be called the “case-signs.” This
designation is inspired from the Arabic one and it is better than case-endings because the cse-
inflected parts are not always the “endings” of words.
Arabs Don’t Stop on What Is Moving
Remember, in Arabic letters that are followed by short vowels are called “moving letters;”
letters that are not followed by short vowels are called “still letters.” Some words end with still
letters, others end with moving letters. While speaking proper Arabic, one cannot finish talking
by pronouncing the last letter as a moving letter – that is, one must ignore the final short vowel (if
there were one), thus making the final letter “still.” This is the old saying: “Arabs do not stop on a
moving.” For example, jaa’ al-wualad ‘ilaa al-madrasat al-yiwum ‫ﻢﻮﻴﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺔﺴﺭﺪﻣﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻰﻠﺇ‬ ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺀﺎﺠ‬ “The
boy came to school today.”
Actual Pronunciation Romanized Version Arabic Words
jaa’ jaa’(a) ‫ﺀﺎﺠ‬
jaa’a l-wualad jaa’(a) (a)l-wualad(u) ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺀﺎﺠ‬
jaa’a l-waladu ‘ilaa l-madrasa
jaa’(a) (a) l-walad(u) ‘ilaa
(a)l-madrasa(ti) ‫ﺔﺴﺭﺪﻣﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻰﻠﺇ‬ ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺀﺎﺠ‬
jaa’a l-waladu ‘ilaa l-
madrasati l-yiwum
jaa’(a) (a) l-walad(u) ‘ilaa
(a)l-madrasa(ti) (a)l-yiwum(a) ‫ﻢﻮﻴﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺔﺴﺭﺪﻣﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻰﻠﺇ‬ ‫ﺪﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺀﺎﺠ‬
The short vowels between brackets are not pronounced unless they are followed by other
sounds – this keeps the last letters as still letters. Long vowels, however, must be pronounced –
this is because long vowels are letters. The feminine taa’ marbuwTa ‫ﺓ‬ has its own comparable
rule. If one stops on the taa’ marbuwTa, it will become –a or –ah rather than –at. If one continues
speaking after it, one should fully pronounce it. Although the rule for ‫-ﺓ‬ is not obligatory, it is so
widely observed that almost nobody today stops on a fully pronouned –at.

Nunation
Nunation (or tanuwyin ‫)ﻥﻴﻮﻧﺗﻠﺍ‬ is the adding of a letter noon ‫ﻥ‬ to the end of a noun. The main
purpose of nunation is to confer the sense of “indefiniteness” on the noun or to make the noun in
the “indefinite state.” Nunation used to appear in writing as a letter noon ‫ﻥ‬ at the end of singular
nouns, but grammarians decided long ago that it was better not to write it to avoid confusion.
They agreed instead to indicate it by doubling the mark of the case-sign – or the “move” (the
short vowel) – on the last letter.
Definite State the male cate al-qiTT(u) ‫ﻂﻗﻠﺍ‬
Indefinite State a male cate qiTT(un) ‫ﻂﻗ‬
Definite State the female cate al-qiTTat(u) ‫ﺔﻂﻗﻠﺍ‬
Indefinite State a female cate qiTTa(tun) ‫ﺔﻂﻗ‬
Example of different cases.
Case-Sign Case Noun
Estimated Short u ar-raf”(u) wualad(un) ‫ﺪﻠﻮ‬
Apparent Short a an-naSb(u) wualada(n) ‫ﺍﺪﻠﻮ‬
Estimated Short i al-jarr(u) wualad(in) ‫ﺪﻠﻮ‬
“Estimated” means to Arabic grammarians “assumed” or “supposed.”
The –an version of nunation will be followed by an extended ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ in writing. When
stopping on this particular nunation, it will be pronounced –aa instead of totally disappearing
from pronunciation like the other two types of nunation. The –un and –in nunations will not be
pronounced at all when one stops at them – similar to the rule of not stopping on a moving letter.
Most speakers of formal Arabic today do not change –an to –aa when they stop at it – rather it is
usually kept a pronounced –an. It might be said that this rule is a classical Arabic rule that is not a
rule anymore in modern standard Arabic.
The –an nunation after a feminine taa’ marbuwTah ‫ﺓ‬ will not be followed by an extended
‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ in writing, but the pronunciation rules are the same.
a school (f.) madrasata(n) ‫ﺔﺴﺭﺪﻤ‬
a young woman (f.) fataata(n) ‫ﺓﺎﺘﻓ‬
A marked difference from English about the indefinite marker is that all nouns in Arabic can
take it – whether singular, dual or plural. Dual and plural masculine nouns have inherenet
nunation in their structures. The nunation for these two types of words stands out with three
characteristics:
 It is written down as a letter noon ‫ﻦ‬ at the end of the word.
 It is always pronounced – whether one stops on it or not.
 It does not disappear with the presence of the definite article.

Indefinite State two children (m) wualadaan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺩﻠﻮ‬
Definite State the two children (m) al-wualadaan(i) ‫ﻥﺍﺩﻠﻮﻠﺍ‬
Indfinite State teachers (m.) mu”allimuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Definite State the teachers (m) al-mu”allimuwn(a) ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻤﻠﺍ‬
Nunation for feminine and irregular plural nouns is just like that of singular nouns.
Definite State teachers (f.) mu”allimaat(un) ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤ‬
Indefinite State the teachers (f.) al-mu”allimaat(u) ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻤﻟﺍ‬
Definite State children (m) ‘awulaad(un) ‫ﺪﻻﻮﺄ‬
Indefinite State the children (m.) al-‘awulaad(u) ‫ﺪﻻﻮﻸﺍ‬
Nunation does not always indicate indefiniteness. Nunation is used with people’s proper
names and those are always definite nouns. This is just one of the peculiarities of Arabic.
Muhammad muHammad(un) ‫ﺩﻤﺣﻤ‬
Ali “aliy(un) ‫ﻲﻠﻋ‬
However, proper names do not take the definite article al- -‫ﻠﺍ‬ – except if it was part of the
name itself. Proper names of places, rivers, etc., can sometimes take nunation but not always –
because nunation is not used for proper names of foreign origin that have more than three letters.
Nouns that are the first part of a genitive construction – or in other words, nouns that are in
the construct state – are always definite nouns and do not take nunation. The only definite
singular nouns that take nunation are usually people’s first names.
Shortened Nouns
Shortened nouns are nouns that end with a shortened ‘alef ‫ﻯ‬ / ‫.ﺎ‬ These nouns will always take
the –an nunation – and in all cases. When adding the nunation to a shortened noun it will be
placed on the letter preceding the final shortened ‘alef, not on the ‘alef itself.
fataa ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬ a lad (m.)
Case-Sign Case Noun
Estimated Short u ar-raf”(u) fataa(n) ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬
Apparent Short a an-naSb(u) fataa(n) ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬
Estimated Short i al-jarr(u) fataa(n) ‫ﻰﺘﻓ‬

Extended Nouns
Extended nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel ‘alef ‫ﺍ‬ -aa that is followed by a
consonant ‘alef hamza ‫.ﺀ‬ Extended nouns will take nunation just like regular nouns—except that
when one adds nunation one would not add an extended a’lef after it in writing. However, the
pronunciation rules remain the same as those of the regular singular nouns.
ma’ ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬ a water (m.)
Case-Sign Case Noun
Estimated Short u ar-raf”(u) maa’(un) ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬
Apparent Short a an-naSb(u) maa’a(n) ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬
Estimated Short i al-jarr(u) maa’(in) ‫ﺀﺎﻤ‬
There is no distinction in Arabic when it comes to countable and uncountable singular
nouns – they are all singular nouns.
Defective Nouns
Defective nouns are nouns that end with a long vowel –y ‫ﻱ‬ which belongs to the root. When
adding nunation to a defective noun, the final –y must be deleted in both writing and
pronunciation – except in the accusative case. The added nunation will always be –in (except in
the accusative).
qaaD ‫ﺽﺎﻗ‬ a judge (m.)
Case-Sign Case Noun
Estimated Short u ar-raf”(u) qaaD(in) ‫ﺽﺎﻗ‬
Apparent Short a an-naSb(u) qaaDiya(n) ‫ﺽﺎﻗ‬
Estimated Short i al-jarr(u) qaaD(in) ‫ﺽﺎﻗ‬
Case-Endings of Nouns in the Indefinite State
Noun Nominative Accusative Genitive
REGULAR
Singular -un -an -in
Dual -aan -ayn -ayn
Masculine Plural -wn -yn -yn
Feminine Plural -un -in -in
Irregular Plural -un -an -in
IRREGULAR
Shortened -n -n -n
Extended -un -an -in
Defective -in -an -in

When to Use Nunation
Nunation must be added to every indefinite noun. The only definite nouns that will take
nunation are first names of people and some rare names of places, rivers, etc. The definite nouns
in Arabic are:
 Proper names – names of people, places, etc.
 Pronouns and demonstratives
 Nouns preceded by the definite article al- ‫ﻠﺍ‬
 Nouns forming the first part of a genitive construction
 Nouns in the vocative case
The noon ‫ﻥ‬ of the dual and mascular plural nouns will always be there, except in one
condition – when the noun is the first part of a genitive construction. In this case the noon ‫ﻥ‬ will
be deleted just like any nunation.
There is a category of irregular nouns that is called the “forbidden to nunation.” These nouns
will not take nunation – even if they were indefinite. Most names of places, rivers, etc., are
forbidden to nunation. Any proper name of non-Arabic origin that have more than three letters is
forbidden to nunation. Proper names of unknown Arabic origins include most of the names of
towns and geographical features – even in Arabia itself. This is why nunation happens only with
first names of people but not with other proper nouns, in general – because most of those are
forbidden to nunation. Of course, first names have to be of known Arabic origin in order to be
nunated.

V. ADJECTIVES
Adjectives in Arabic follow the nouns or pronouns they modify in gender, number,
grammatical case, and the state of definiteness. They always come after the words they modify.
Adjectives in Arabic belong to the “noun” category and there are several types of nouns that can
serve as adjectives. These will be covered later.
This is a list of adjectives matching the modified word.
mu”allim(un)
‫ﻢﻠﻌﻣ‬
a teacher (m.)
jayyid(un)
‫ﺪﻴﺠ‬
a good (sing., m. adj.)
mu”allim(un) jayyid(un)
‫ﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﻢﻠﻌﻣ‬
a good teacher (m)
mu”allima(tun) jayyida(tun)
‫ﺓﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﺔﻣﻠﻌﻣ‬
a good teacher (f.)
al-mu”allim(u) (a)l-jayyid(u)
‫ﺪﻴﺠﻟﺍ‬ ‫ﻢﻠﻌﻣﻟﺍ‬
the good teacher (m.)
al-mu”allima(tu) (a)l-jayyida(tu)
‫ﺓﺪﻴﺠﻟﺍ‬ ‫ﺔﻣﻠﻌﻣﻟﺍ‬
the good teacher (f.)
mu”allimaan(i) jayyidaan(i)
‫ﻥﺍﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﻥﺎﻤﻠﻌﻣ‬
two good teachers (m.)
al-mu”allimaan(i) al-jayyidaan(i)
‫ﻥﺍﺪﻴﺠﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻥﺎﻤﻠﻌﻣﻠﺍ‬
the two good teachers (m.)
mu”allimataan(i) jayyidataan(i)
‫ﻥﺎﺘﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻤﻠﻌﻣ‬
two good teachers (f.)
al-mu”allimataan(i) al-jayyidataan(i)
‫ﻥﺎﺘﺪﻴﺠﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻥﺎﺘﻤﻠﻌﻣﻠﺍ‬
the two good teachers (f.)
mu”allimuwn(a) jayyiduwn(a)
‫ﻥﻮﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻣ‬
good teachers (m.)
al-mu”allimuwn(a) al-jayyiduwn(a)
‫ﻥﻮﺪﻴﺠﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﻥﻮﻤﻠﻌﻣﻠﺍ‬
the good teachers (m.)
mu”allimaat(un) jayyidaat(un)
‫ﺕﺍﺪﻴﺠ‬ ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻣ‬
good teachers (f.)
al-mu”allimaat(u) al-jayyidaat(u)
‫ﺕﺍﺪﻴﺠﻠﺍ‬ ‫ﺕﺎﻤﻠﻌﻣﻟﺍ‬
The good teachers (f.)

Adjectives in general behave regularly. They are always feminized by adding one of the three
feminine markers to them; and they are always pluralized by adding one of the regular plural
endings to them – masculine or feminine. However, there are exceptions to this.
Feminine Adjectives
Feminine adjectives always have one of the three feminine markers attached. However, there
are a few structures that will not carry any such markers.
Case One: Adjectives that can be used only in reference to females but not males – such as
“pregnant” – do not usually have the feminine taa’ marbuwTah ‫ﺓ‬ attached, even though they
modify true feminine nouns and that have a taa’ marbuwTah ‫.ﺓ‬
Meaning Literal Translation Phrase
a pregnant wife
zawuja(tun) Haamil(un)
‫ﻞﻤﺎﺣ‬ ‫ﺔﺠﻮﺯ‬
a wife a pregnant
a divorced woman
‘imra’a(tun) Taaliq(un)
‫ﻕﻠﺎﻁ‬ ‫ﺓﺍﺮﻤﺇ‬
a woman a divorced
Here the noun had a feminine marker but the modifying adjective did not. Other adjectives of this
kind include:
Female-Only Adjectives
a spinster “aanis(un) ‫ﺱﻧﺎﻋ‬
a barren “aaghir(un) ‫ﺭﻘﺎﻋ‬
a nursing murDi”(un) ‫ﻊﺿﺮﻤ‬
a menstruating
Haa’iD(un) ‫ﺾﻴﺈﺤ‬
Taamith(un) ‫ﺚﻣﺎﻃ‬
a virgin
bikr(un) ‫ﺭﻜﺒ‬
batuwl(un) ‫ﻞﻮﺘﺑ‬
a widowed or a divorced thayyib(un) ‫ﺐﻳﺜ‬
a rebellious (wife) naashiz(un) ‫ﺯﺸﺎﻧ‬
a large-breasted
naahid(un) ‫ﺪﻫﺎﻧ‬
kaa”ib(un) ‫ﺐﻋﺎﻜ‬
an aged menopausal qaa”id(un) ‫ﺪﻋﺎﻗ‬
a prolific or lush wualuwd(un) ‫ﺪﻮﻠﻮ‬
a milch (cow) Haluwb(un) ‫ﺏﻮﻠﺣ‬

All of these adjectives lack the feminine taa’ marbuwTah ‫.ﺓ‬ The other feminine markers – the
extended ‘alef ‫ﻯ‬ and the shortened ‘alef ‫ﺃ‬ – cannot be removed from an adjective in this case as
simply as the feminine taa’ marbuwTah, or the adjective will become a senseless word. If a
feminine adjective of this kind ends with either one of the two feminine markers other than the
feminine taa’ marbuwTah, it will be kept there because there will not usually be a masculine
form of that adjective – one without feminine markers – and one cannot just remove the marker
because that would be mutilation of the word.
a virgin “adraa’(u) ‫ﺀﺍﺭﺪﻋ‬
a pregnant Hublaa ‫ﻰﻠﺑﺣ‬
Note: Nouns ending with feminine extended ‘alef or feminine shortened ’alef are
forbidden to nunation.
Case Two: Adjectives will not have any feminine markers when they assume one of the
following structures.
Example Type of Structure Structure
ghawur(un)
‫ﺭﻮﻳﻏ‬ active-participle-like fa”uwl(un) ‫ﻞﻮﻌﻓ‬
a jealous …
qatiyl(un)
‫ﻞﻳﺘﻗ‬ passive participle fa”iyl(un) ‫ﻞﻳﻌﻓ‬
a killed …
mi”Taa’(un)
‫ﺀﺎﻁﻌﻤ‬ emphatic mif”aal(un) ‫ﻞﺎﻌﻓ‬
a very giving …
Mi”Tiyr(un)
‫ﺮﻴﻃﻌﻣ‬ emphatic mifa”iyl(un) ‫ﻞﻳﻌﻓﻣ‬
a very using of perfume …
“adl(un)
‫ﻞﺪﻋ‬ verbal noun fa”l(un) ‫ﻞﻌﻓ‬
a just, fair …
Those five structures don’t take feminine endings when they modify feminine nouns. However,
case two is not always followed in the modern language.
Meaning Literal Tranlation Phrase
a jealous man
rajul(un) ghayiwur(un)
‫ﺭﻮﻳﻏ‬ ‫ﻞﺠﺭ‬
a man a jealous
a jealous woman
‘imra’a(tun) ghayiwur(un)
‫ﺭﻮﻴﻏ‬ ‫ﺓﺃﺮﻤﺇ‬
a woman a jealous
a jealous woman
(Modern Arabic)
‘imra’a(tun) ghayiwura(tun)
‫ﺓﺭﻮﻴﻏ‬ ‫ﺓﺃﺮﻤﺇ‬
a woman a jealous
Another thing about the structures of case two is that they do not take regular plural endinds – as
will be covered later.

Plural Adjectives
In perfect Classical Arabic irregular plurals were not supposed to be used in adjectives.
Adjectives had to be pluralized only by adding the regular plural endings – masculine or
feminine. However, there are certain adjective structures in Arabic that ca not have the regular
plural endings when their nouns have it. Instead, they are pluraized irregularly. All of the
structures mentioned that don’t carry feminine markers cannot accept masculine plural endings as
well. However, the structure fa”uwl(un) ‫ﻞﻮﻌﻓ‬ is often pluralized regularly against the rule. Here
are the other structures that do not take regular plural endings.
‘af”al(u) ‫ﻞﻌﻓﺃ‬ – Adjectives following this structure are of several kinds and they differ from
each other by the structure of the feminine form of the adjective. The kind that cannot take
regular plural endings is the one whose feminine form is af”aala’(u) ‫.ﺀﻻﺎﻌﻓﺃ‬ This kind belongs to
a category called in Arabic “active-participative-like adjectives.” It usually refers to a color or to
bodily characteristic (Form IX) – such as blond, burnette, blind, mute, deaf, lame, etc. Note: This
kind is forbidden to nunation, which means that it will not be nunated in addition to having an
irregular case-sign in the genitive case (-a instead of -i).
a red (s., m.) ‘aHmar(u) ‫ﺭﻣﺣﺃ‬
a red (s., f.) Hamaraa’(u) ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻣﺣ‬
red (p., m./f.) Humr(un) ‫ﺭﻣﺣ‬
a blond (s., m.) ‘ashqar(u) ‫ﺭﻘﺸﺃ‬
a blonde (s., f.) shaqraa’(u) ‫ﺀﺍﺭﻘﺸ‬
blond (p., m./f.) shuqr(un) ‫ﺭﻘﺸ‬
a blind (s., m.) ‘a”maa(u) ‫ﻰﻤﻋﺃ‬
a blinde (s., f.) “amiyaa’(u) ‫ﺀﺎﻳﻤﻋ‬
blind (p., m./f.) “umiy(un) ‫ﻲﻤﻋ‬
However, it is rather common for the feminine form of this structure to be pluralized
regularly. The following three plural adjectives, for example, are common.
red (p., f.) Hamraawuaat(un) ‫ﺖﺍﻮﺍﺭﻣﺣ‬
blonde (p., f.) shabraawuaat(un) ‫ﺕﺍﻮﺍﺭﻘﺸ‬
blind (p., f.) “amiyaawuaat(un) ‫ﺕﺍﻮﺎﻳﻤﻋ‬
fa”laan(u) ‫ﻥﻼﻌﻓ‬ – Similarly to the previous one, adjectives following this structure are of two
kinds that differ by the structure of their feminine forms. The kind that cannot take the regular
plural ending is the one whose feminine structure is fa”laa ‫ﻼﻌﻓ‬ – his kind is also forbidden to
nunation. The other kind has the feminine form fa”laana(tun) ‫ﺔﻨﻼﻌﻓ‬ and is rarer. There are 13
fa’laan adjectives in Arabic that are feminized as fa”laana(tun) ‫ﺔﻨﻼﻌﻓ‬ instead of fa”laa ‫ﻼﻌﻓ‬ – those
are not forbidden to nunation.

Complete Arabic Grammar 2nd Ed

Complete Arabic Grammar 2nd Ed

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