.: Anna :.
21-07-05, 05:57 PM
LESSON THIRTEEN : Plurals
Plurals in Arabic refer to three or more of something.
In English plurals are usually formed by adding an S to the end of a noun, although there are some irregulars like "mice".
In Arabic, it is actually more common for plurals to be 'irregular' [known as broken plurals] so each plural may have to be learned just like vocab.
However, to make it easier there are some patterns which are often followed.
The most important rule to remember about Plurals in Arabic is that :
Non human plurals (for example "cats", "chairs", "books" ) are treated grammatically as if they were feminine singular (ie "she")
This means that...
when describing them you would use a feminine adjective
when referring back to them you use the pronoun "haa"
if using them as a subject of a sentence, use a feminine verb
EG:
مساجد جميلة
(Masaajid jameela) beautiful mosques
كَتَبَ الكتبَ... كَتَبَها
(kataba alkutub... katabahaa) he wrote the books... he wrote them
ذَهَبَت الكلاب
(dhahabat al kilaab) the dogs went
Here are the plurals for some of the vocab given in previous lessons :
بيوت
(buyoot) houses
أولاد
(awlaad) boys
أبواب
(abwaab) doors
قلوب
(quloob) hearts
مكاتب
(makaatib) offices
مساجد
(masaajid) mosques كلاب (kilaab) dogs
قطط
(qutut) cats
كتب
(kutub) books
كراسي
(kuraasee) chairs
قمصان
(qumsaan) shirts
رجال
(rijaal) men
Two of the main patterns for plurals are known as:
فُعُولٌ
أفْعالٌ
The fa 3ayn and lam represent the root letters of the word.
An example of each is :
بيوت
(buyoot) houses
أولاد
(awlaad) boys
Plurals in Arabic refer to three or more of something.
In English plurals are usually formed by adding an S to the end of a noun, although there are some irregulars like "mice".
In Arabic, it is actually more common for plurals to be 'irregular' [known as broken plurals] so each plural may have to be learned just like vocab.
However, to make it easier there are some patterns which are often followed.
The most important rule to remember about Plurals in Arabic is that :
Non human plurals (for example "cats", "chairs", "books" ) are treated grammatically as if they were feminine singular (ie "she")
This means that...
when describing them you would use a feminine adjective
when referring back to them you use the pronoun "haa"
if using them as a subject of a sentence, use a feminine verb
EG:
مساجد جميلة
(Masaajid jameela) beautiful mosques
كَتَبَ الكتبَ... كَتَبَها
(kataba alkutub... katabahaa) he wrote the books... he wrote them
ذَهَبَت الكلاب
(dhahabat al kilaab) the dogs went
Here are the plurals for some of the vocab given in previous lessons :
بيوت
(buyoot) houses
أولاد
(awlaad) boys
أبواب
(abwaab) doors
قلوب
(quloob) hearts
مكاتب
(makaatib) offices
مساجد
(masaajid) mosques كلاب (kilaab) dogs
قطط
(qutut) cats
كتب
(kutub) books
كراسي
(kuraasee) chairs
قمصان
(qumsaan) shirts
رجال
(rijaal) men
Two of the main patterns for plurals are known as:
فُعُولٌ
أفْعالٌ
The fa 3ayn and lam represent the root letters of the word.
An example of each is :
بيوت
(buyoot) houses
أولاد
(awlaad) boys