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Nouns: masculine, feminine, ال and plurals
Every Arabic noun is masculine or feminine, and that choice changes the adjectives and verbs around it. Getting nouns right now makes every GCSE sentence more accurate.
Masculine and feminine
Most nouns ending in ة (ta marbuta) are feminine: مَدْرَسة (madrasa, school), سَيّارة (sayyaara, car), غُرْفة (ghurfa, room).
Most nouns without ة are masculine: بَيْت (bayt, house), كِتاب (kitaab, book), قَلَم (qalam, pen).
Words for female people are feminine even without ة: أُمّ (umm, mother), بِنْت (bint, girl), أُخْت (ukht, sister).
Most nouns without ة are masculine: بَيْت (bayt, house), كِتاب (kitaab, book), قَلَم (qalam, pen).
Words for female people are feminine even without ة: أُمّ (umm, mother), بِنْت (bint, girl), أُخْت (ukht, sister).
A and the
Plurals you meet all the time
Feminine plural ـات: سَيّارة → سَيّارات (cars), مُعَلِّمة → مُعَلِّمات (women teachers).
Masculine plural for people ـون: مُعَلِّم → مُعَلِّمون (teachers).
Many plurals are broken: the inside of the word changes, so learn them in pairs: كِتاب → كُتُب (books), بَيْت → بُيوت (houses), وَلَد → أَوْلاد (boys), صَديق → أَصْدِقاء (friends).
Masculine plural for people ـون: مُعَلِّم → مُعَلِّمون (teachers).
Many plurals are broken: the inside of the word changes, so learn them in pairs: كِتاب → كُتُب (books), بَيْت → بُيوت (houses), وَلَد → أَوْلاد (boys), صَديق → أَصْدِقاء (friends).
Translate into Arabic: the big cars
- Car is سيّارة; the plural is سيّارات, with ال: السيّارات.
- Non-human plurals take a feminine singular adjective: كبيرة.
- The noun has ال, so the adjective has ال too.
Answer: السيّارات الكبيرة
Most nouns with ة are feminine. There is no word for "a"; ال means "the". Adjectives come after the noun and match its gender and ال. Plurals: ـات, ـون, or a broken plural you learn by heart.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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