lesson 2 - Arabic Gems
Lesson 2: Plurals In English when speaking of numbers of something in grammar, we have two grammatical accounts- 1. Singular – meaning one of something. 2. Plural – meaning two or more. In Arabic however, you find three grammatical accounts of numbers1. Singular – meaning one of something. 2. Dual – meaning specifically two of something. 3. Plural – meaning three or more. This lesson deals with plurals. Arabic has two forms of the plural – 1. Sound Plural – which is divided into 2 categories1- Sound masculine plural 2- Sound feminine plural 2. Broken Plural Sound Plurals Sound plurals are easy to recognise and form, because all you need to do is add the plural suffix to the end of the word in its singular form. There is however more than one suffix which is used, depending on whether the word is masculine or feminine. Masculine Sound Plural Applies to only 3 categories of words: 1. Human traits 2. Human professions 3. Human nationalities Masculine sound plurals do not apply to non-human words! Feminine Sound Plural These apply to all non-human words, as well as human words. Usually ( although not exclusively) feminine sound plurals will be made from singular words ending in taa’marboota ة (However note: not all words ending in taa’marboota will be a sound feminine plural – many in fact will actually have a broken plural, and some may have a sound masculine plural.) 1 Sound Masculine Plurals َ ونor َ ينis added to the singular word. A dummah will be placed on letter before َ ونsuffix, or a kessrah before َ ين. To form a sound Masculine plural, the suffix The suffix used will depend on which case the word is in: When مرفوع When مجرورor منصوب َون َين َ *lesson 2 only deals with the suffix َ – ونlesson 3 deals with case and how it effects the suffix to be either َ ونor َ ين. The different cases are mentioned here only to aid future revision inshallah. How to do it: َُمؤ ِم ُن ََُمؤ ِمنون ُمؤ ِمن َُمؤ ِمن believers Add the suffix believer َ ونor َين on the end (depending on which case it is) Replace the final vowel with a dummah Remove the tanween from the end if indefinite Start with word in singular form A sound masculine plural will never end in tanween even when indefinite- this is because the does the job of the tanween. The fatha will always remain! -note: the final fatha will always stay no matter what! Sound Feminine Plurals َ to the end. ات When مجرور To form a sound Feminine Plural, remove the taa’marboota and add the suffix When مرفوع When منصوب Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite ُ َات َات َت ِ ا َات َت ِ ا َات The final vowel will alter depending on what case the word is in, and whether it is definite or indefinite. (this How to do it: lesson only deals with the ending َ – َاتlesson 3 explains the rest. The table above is mentioned to aid future revision inshallah. 2 َُمؤ ِمنات َُمؤ ِمن ََُمؤ ِمنة believers Add اتon the end believer Remove both the final tanween (if indefinite) and Note: Not all words ending in taa’marboota will be a sound feminine plural – some may actually have a sound masculine plural. For example: The only common one is َس َنةwith its plural ون َ ( سِ ُنin Modern Standard Arabic you find the plural س َنوات َ ) ةtaa’ marbootah Start with word in singular form Note: Not all words ending in taa’marboota will be a sound feminine plural – many will be a broken plural. For example: َقُرى Settlements/ Villages َقرْ ية settlement/ village Similarly, some words will not end ةbut will have a sound feminine plural. Broken Plurals Unlike sound plurals which keep the singular word intact whilst adding a suffix, broken plurals will “break” the singular word to form the plural. They involve breaking up the singular word and making changes to either the vowels or the letters themselves. Similar to which we find in English words such as mouse / mice and foot / feet etc. This means that there is not a set way or pattern to form a broken plural. Broken plurals should be learnt and memorised alongside its singular counterpart when learning vocab. For example: َِعباد servants / slaves َعبْد servant / slave َم َنا ِف ُع َم ْن َف َعة benefits benefit Although with experience, eventually it may become possible to predict from the singular noun what its broken plural form will be. – However when learning from the beginning Arabic, this is impossible to make such predictions! 3 Important rule:* All non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular! This means that an adjective describing a non-human plural, instead of agreeing with the noun in gender and number as we learnt in lesson 1, it will actually be feminine and singular! Non-human plural noun Feminine singular adjective Ie: ََ م َم َنافِ ُع ك ِثيرة Many benefits Remember: sound masculine plurals only refer to human nouns – therefore you will not find a non-human sound masculine plural! - *however, be aware that although this is the general rule, at times there are exceptions to this, and you can find a non-human broken plural noun will not be treated as feminine singular, but will instead have a broken plural adjective. For example: Broken plural adjective Non-human plural noun َأُخ ُر َأيَّام Other days Singular words with a plural meaning Sometimes, words which although they are grammatically singular, in meaning they are plural. In this case, the adjective must also be plural. For example: Plural adjective َالق ْو َُم الكافِرون Grammatically singular noun – but has plural meaning The disbelieving people “and” َو َ“ – وand” As it is a single letter word, it can not be written independently alone. It must be linked to the following word. For example: ُ ِال ُم ْسلِمونَ وَال ُم ْسل َمات (the) muslim men and (the) muslim women 4 Lesson 2: Quick revision summary Masculine Sound Plurals: Add suffix to end of singular word مرفوعadd suffix َ ونpreceded by dummah When مجرورor منصوبadd suffix َ ينpreceded by kessrah When . Sound Feminine Plurals: Add suffix When مرفوع َ اتto end of singular word When منصوب When مجرور Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite ُ َات َات َت ِ ا َات َت ِ ا َات Broken Plurals: No set formula or pattern. Learn broken plurals alongside singular in vocab. All non-Human Plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular Non-human plurals therefore will have feminine singular adjectives. (with some words being the exception to the rule, and instead they will take a broken plural adjective) Grammatically singular words that have plural meaning will be treated as plural, and therefore will take plural adjectives. َ“ – وand” Must be linked to following word as can not be written independently alone. 5
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