Learning the Language of Quran

UNIT TWO (2)

Study Material for online Course | 2016

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LESSON TWO
Feminine Gender, Dual and Plural
1. Feminine Gender )(
a) The usual feminine ending, as said in the first lesson, is ,
a. e.g. a village, a cow,

b. However, two feminine nouns have long at the end.
c. Sister, daughter
b) The second feminine ending is known as alif maqsurah ) ( short
alif which is pronounced as a, e.g.
(names of women),

(smaller, f.), ( greater, f.)

c) The third feminine ending is called alif mamdudah, ) ( long alif
which is hamzah preceded by alif, e.g.
( name of a woman),

(blind woman),
(beautiful woman)
d) There are, however, feminine nouns that do not have any of these
endings. They may be classified in the following categories:
1. Names of women, e.g.

2. Females, e.g.

bride

mother

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3. Parts of the body that are double, e.g.

eye

arm

hand

foot, leg

4. Names of towns and countries, e.g.

Egypt

Syria

5. Some everyday words, e.g.

house,

fire

sky

sun

earth

soul

All the nouns that do not fall in these categories are masculine. You may
also say that all nouns are masculine except those that belong to these
categories.
2. Number
Arabic has three numbers: singular )(, dual )(, and plural )
(
(a) The dual
To form the dual, add to the singular, masculine as well as
feminine, e.g.
Singular

Dual

merchant

Muslim

eye

cat

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(b) The plural

Plurals are two kinds:
Regular plural

irregular plural

Regular Plurals
Regular plurals of masculine and feminine are formed in different ways.
In the case of masculine, add to the singular. For example:
Singular

plural

servant

`writer

merchant

farmer

In the case of feminine, drop, first, the ending , and then add .
For example:
Singular

plural

girl student

Muslim woman

cow

Irregular plural
Most masculine and feminine nouns are not pluralized according to
the above rules; their plurals are conventional. However, there are some
definite patterns on which they are pluralized. Following are some of
them. For others, see appendix 1

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Singular
1.

writer
2.

mountain

river

4.

3.

Plural

bird

Some nuns gave both regular and irregular plurals. For example:
has and
, has and etc.
3. Agreement of Subject and Predicate in Number
a. Usually the predicate agrees with the subject in number, e.g.

the two boys are noble.

the two eyes are bright

the famers are lazy

the girl students are intelligent

b. However, when the subject is noun-rational plural the predicate is often

feminine singular, though it can also be feminine plural. For example:

the apartments are spacious

/ the eyes are bright

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4. Interrogative Sentences
The common way to make an interrogative sentence is to put or
hamzah ) (in the beginning
Indicative

Interrogative

Is Khalid true?

Is this a she monkey?

But before a noun with definite article use only .

Is the city big?

Is the cat beautiful?

Note: To facilitate reading, the sukun on the lam of is changed into kasrah, and
lam is joined with the next letter.

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Summary of the Grammar

1. Feminine endings are three: as in , short alif, as, in
, and long alif
as in
.
2. A class of feminine nouns are neither natural feminine, not have a feminine
ending; they feminine by convention.
3. Duals of both the genders are made by adding to the singular.
4. Plurals are either regular or irregular: the former is made by adding to
the masculine and to the feminine; the letter follows some patterns.
5. The predicate usually agrees in number and gender with its subject.
However, in the case of non-rational plural subjects, the predicate may be
a feminine singular or plural.
6. To make interrogative, add or hamzah ) (in the beginning of the
indicative.

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To Memorise
Table of Irab
Singular
Dual
Plural

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

Table of Light Irab

Sl No.

Feminine Proper Noun

Non-Arabic Proper Noun

Proper Noun Ending with

Proper Noun in the Pattern of

Proper Noun Ending with

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