Lesson 13: the dual
Lesson 13: the dual In Arabic there are 3 different word numbers: singular, dual (referring to 2) and plural (referring to 3+). We’ve learnt about singular and plural, this lesson is about the dual. The dual in some cases, may have a literal meaning, and a figurative meaning. For example: Literal Meaning Figurative Meaning األبوان the two fathers the parents القمران the two moons the sun and the moon العُمران the two Umars Abu Bakr and Umar رضي هللا عنهما So alert attention, that when we see a dual, although most often it refers to its literal meaning, sometimes it may actually refer to its figurative meaning. The dual: Nouns There are only 2 ways to form a dual noun, and it will depend on which case the noun is in: When it is adding مرفوع When it is either ِ انto its singular form adding مجرورor منصوب ِ ْينto its singular form and place a fatha on letter before the ْي Never try to make a dual from a plural noun – it won’t work! Always make a dual noun from its singular format! There is no tanween for indefinite (as with sound masc plural) – just the addition of الif definite When feminine, the tar’maaboota can only appear at the end of a word, not in the middle! Therefore replace with the open ta before adding ان / يْنas shown in the feminine example in the table below with the word َمرَّ ة If the dual has the 1st person suffix pronoun as we saw with nouns ending in كتاباي My two books ى كتابان two books هُداي هُدى my guidance guidance يis added! – this is because adding يmakes this now an idafa! Therefore, as we learnt in lesson 7, a sound masc plural looses the( نlike other words loose their Notice: the نof is انdropped when 1 يattached to it, the suffix becomes ي, َ just st person pronoun tanween) – the same applies for the dual!( – see following section “dual noun as a mudaaf”) 1 Nominative Genitive/Accusative مرفوع منصوب/ مجرور ان يْن رجُالن رجُلين Indefinite Remember: no “tanween” as the final ن replaces the need for tanween. Masculine Two men Definite الرجُالن الرجُلين The two men Indefinite Remember: no “tanween” as the final ن replaces the need for tanween. Feminine مرَّتان مرَّتيْن Two occasions Definite المرَّتان المرَّتيْن The two occasions The dual noun as a mudaaf In lesson 7 about Idaafa, we learnt that a mudaf can not displayالor tanweeen, and also that a sound masculine plural when in the position of mudaaf, looses its final سجْ ُن يُوسُف The prison of Yusuf مع ُمسْلمي المدينة With the Muslims of the city بين يديْه Between his two hands *Note: When the dual is end of the سجْ ن tanween gets dropped نgets Dropped Singular noun prison نgets Dropped (and ال ن. ) مع ال ُمسْلمين Sound Masc plural With the Muslims بين يديْن Dual Between two hands منصوبor مجرور, and followed by hamzatul-wasl, the sukoon on the ْ يbecomes a kasrah, in order to prevent 2 sukoons together in succession. * َّ ي ْ ب هللا ين يد Between the hands of Allah *literally means “’between’ the hands of” but depending on context can also mean ‘before’ (either in space and time) 2 Pronouns Independent 3rd person (male and female) (same for both male and female) 2nd person (male and female) Attached (to verb/noun) هُما أ ْنتُما ُكما هُماis the same and does not change, whether used as independent َ أنetc) or as suffix pronouns of a noun or verb (like َك ها ُهetc). pronouns (like ِي هُم َ ته The suffix pronoun هُماwill become هِماwhen preceded by a kasrah or a yaa’, (like هُم and ُ)ه The pronoun Demonstratives In lesson 6 we learnt that demonstratives do not change case. However, when in the dual form they actually do! Masculine These two Feminine Masculine Those two Feminine Nominative Genitive/Accusative مرفوع منصوب/ مجرور هذان هذيْن هتان ْ هت ين ذانك ذيْنك تانك تيْنك 3 Dual verbs- Perfect tense There are only 3 conjugation patterns in the perfect tense for the dual: 3M Dual 3F Dual 2M/F Dual Derived from 3M singular Derived from 2F singular Derived from 2M plural ا تا تُما فعال فعلتا فع ْلتُما They (m) two did They (f) two did In lesson 8 we learnt that when a verb precedes its subject, the verb will be in its singular form even if the subject is plural. It is the same with the dual – the verb preceding it will be in the singular. Adjectives In lesson 1 we learnt that adjectives must agree with the noun it describes in all 4 things (in/definatness, gender, number and case) – therefore, an adjective describing a dual must also be put in the dual form. In the same way as we make singular nouns dual, take the singular adjective and add to انthe end. الب ْنتان الجميلتان ُت الجميلة ُ الب ْن The two beautiful girls The beautiful girl اللسانان األبْيضان ُ الل ُسان األبْيض The two white tongues the white tongue دون It is a preposition, therefore will make following nouns genitive مجْ رور 4 Its basic meaning is “on the side of” or “below” however it can take on different meanings depending on context- بthen quite often it means “without”- .بدون ْ مand give the meaning of “to the exclusion It may be preceded by منas in ن دون 1. When preceded by 2. of” or “apart from”. و من ُدونهما جنَّتان Apart from them (two) are two gardens 5
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