ahlan! Hello! In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about people and your family. You’ll also learn some important points of Arabic grammar: masculine and feminine genders of nouns and the singular, dual, and plural forms of nouns. But let’s learn some new vocabulary first. As before, you’ll read the English first, followed by the Arabic. Repeat each new word or phrase every time you read it. haya’a nabda’a! Let’s begin!
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Arab Speaking Areas
VOCABULARY BUILDING 1
boy | walad |
|---|---|
girl | bint |
man | rajul |
woman | imra’a |
father | abb |
mother | umm |
brother | akh |
sister | ukht |
husband | zawj |
wife | zawja |
son | ibn |
daughter | bint |
family | ila |
TAKE A BREAK 1
Have you noticed the strong sounding m in umm (mother) and b in abb (father)? These are examples of “doubled” consonants that are pronounced with more emphasis and force than their single counterparts. And did you notice that the word bint means both girl and daughter in Arabic? Great! Okay, now let’s talk about the gender of nouns. Arabic nouns can be classified as either masculine or feminine, usually depending on their endings. For example, feminine nouns often end in -a, such as the feminine noun ‘ã’ila (family). This system is not perfect, however, and other words of feminine gender do not end in -a, like yadd (hand). On the other hand, feminine nouns referring to people are usually created by adding -a to the end of the masculine form. One example is the word zawja (wife), which is formed by adding -a to the masculine form, zawj (husband). zawja becomes zawjat, with a -t at the end, if a possessive ending is added to the noun. For example, when we attach the possessive ending -i (my) to zawja, we get zawjati (my wife). When an adjective modifi es a noun, it must match the noun in gender— for example, ‘ã’ilati kabora (my family is big), where kabora is the feminine version of the masculine form of the adjective kabor (big). When you want to talk about more than one of something in Arabic, you use either the plural form or the dual form of the noun. The dual is used to refer to two of something; the plural is used for three or more. Let’s look at how this works on examples, while learning some additional vocabulary.
TAKE A BREAK 2
So let’s break down what you’ve just learned. You probably noticed that the dual is formed by adding -ãn to the singular form of a noun, as in waladãn (two boys), bintãn (two girls), and ‘ã’ilatãn (two families). As for the plural, Arabic has both the regular and the irregular plural. The regular plural is formed by adding -an to masculine nouns— mudarrisan ([male] teachers)—and -ãt to feminine nouns— mudarrisãt ([female] teachers). Unfortunately, most Arabic nouns have irregular plurals, and the vowels of the root are either changed or taken out and the word thereby transformed in unpredictable ways. The best way to learn these irregular plural forms is simply to memorize them. Today you have learned irregular plurals awlãd (boys), banãt (girls), and ‘ã’ilãt (families).
As for the adjectives, we mentioned earlier that they must match the noun in number and gender. For example, ‘ã’ila kabora (big family) is feminine singular; ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn (two big families) is feminine dual; and ‘ã’ilãt kabora (big families) is feminine plural. Did you notice that the same singular form, kabíra, was used with both the singular— ‘ã’ila— and the plural noun—‘ã’ilãt? That’s because the singular 8 form of the adjective is used with plural nouns that denote inanimate objects. When an adjective is used with a noun that refers to people, like mudarrisãt ([female] teachers), it has to be in the plural form, e.g., mudarrisãt jayyidat (good teachers).
As for the adjectives, we mentioned earlier that they must match the noun in number and gender. For example, ‘ã’ila kabora (big family) is feminine singular; ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn (two big families) is feminine dual; and ‘ã’ilãt kabora (big families) is feminine plural. Did you notice that the same singular form, kabíra, was used with both the singular— ‘ã’ila— and the plural noun—‘ã’ilãt? That’s because the singular 8 form of the adjective is used with plural nouns that denote inanimate objects. When an adjective is used with a noun that refers to people, like mudarrisãt ([female] teachers), it has to be in the plural form, e.g., mudarrisãt jayyidat (good teachers).
VOCABULARY BUILDING 2
boy (m. sg.) | walad |
|---|---|
two boys (m. du.) | waladãn |
boys (m. pl.) | awlãd |
teacher (m. sg.) | mudarris |
two teachers (m. du.) | mudarrisãn |
teachers (m. pl.) | mudarrisan |
girl (f. sg.) | bint |
two girls (f. du.) | bintãn |
girls (f. pl.) | banãt |
teacher (f. sg.) | mudarrisa |
two teachers (f. du.) | mudarrisatãn |
teachers (f. pl.) | mudarrisãt |
family (f. sg.) | ‘ã’ila |
two families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn |
families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt |
two big families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn |
big families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt kabora |
boy (m. sg.) | walad |
two boys (m. du.) | waladãn |
boys (m. pl.) | awlãd |
teacher (m. sg.) | mudarris |
two teachers (m. du.) | mudarrisãn |
teachers (m. pl.) | mudarrisan |
girl (f. sg.) | bint |
two girls (f. du.) | bintãn |
girls (f. pl.) | banãt |
teacher (f. sg.) | mudarrisa |
two teachers (f. du.) | mudarrisatãn |
teachers (f. pl.) | mudarrisãt |
family (f. sg.) | ‘ã’ila |
two families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn |
families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt |
two big families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn |
big families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt kabora |
boy (m. sg.) | walad |
|---|---|
two boys (m. du.) | waladãn |
boys (m. pl.) | awlãd |
teacher (m. sg.) | mudarris |
two teachers (m. du.) | mudarrisãn |
teachers (m. pl.) | mudarrisan |
girl (f. sg.) | bint |
two girls (f. du.) | bintãn |
girls (f. pl.) | banãt |
teacher (f. sg.) | mudarrisa |
two teachers (f. du.) | mudarrisatãn |
teachers (f. pl.) | mudarrisãt |
family (f. sg.) | ‘ã’ila |
two families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn |
families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt |
two big families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn |
big families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt kabora |
ONE MORE TIME
Now, let’s use some of what you’ve learned in a short comprehension exercise. You’ll notice the definite article, al, in front of some of the words. Listen to the English fi rst, then to the Arabic, which you should repeat for practice. Use the word wa to say and.
boy (m. sg.) | walad |
|---|---|
two boys (m. du.) | waladãn |
boys (m. pl.) | awlãd |
teacher (m. sg.) | mudarris |
two teachers (m. du.) | mudarrisãn |
teachers (m. pl.) | mudarrisan |
girl (f. sg.) | bint |
two girls (f. du.) | bintãn |
girls (f. pl.) | banãt |
teacher (f. sg.) | mudarrisa |
two teachers (f. du.) | mudarrisatãn |
teachers (f. pl.) | mudarrisãt |
family (f. sg.) | ‘ã’ila |
two families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn |
families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt |
two big families (f. du.) | ‘ã’ilatãn kaboratãn |
big families (f. pl.) | ‘ã’ilãt kabora |
