I have explained sound plurals in a previous post. These are plurals that are formed by adding a suffix to the end of the word without making further changes. The broken plurals (جمع التكسير) involve changing the internal structure of the word; that’s why they are called broken plurals. This change may involve adding letters inside the word (infixes), moving letters round, or following a certain pattern. Broken plurals are very tricky for non-native speakers, because there is not a single rule that you can learn to make a plural from a given word. However, there are certain patterns that are common to this category. In the examples below, I give some of the most common patterns of broken plurals and some examples of them.
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فَعَلة
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فُعَل
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طَلَبة
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طالب
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student
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أُسَر
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أسرة
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family
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حَمَلة
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حامل
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holder
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غُرَف
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غرفة
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room
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قَتَلة
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قاتل
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killer
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جُمَل
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جملة
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sentence
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فُعَلاء
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فُعُل
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نُشَطاء
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ناشط
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activist
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مُدُن
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مدينة
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city
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حُكَماء
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حكيم
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wise
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كُتُب
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كتاب
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book
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غُرَباء
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غريب
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stranger
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رُسُل
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رسول
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messanger
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أفعِلة
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فِعَل
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أَسئِلة
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سؤال
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question
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قِطَع
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قطعة
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piece
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أُجوِبة
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جواب
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answer
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إِبَر
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إبرة
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needle
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أُديرِة
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دير
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monastery
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مِهَن
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مهنة
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profession
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أفعِلاء
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فُعُول
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أَقرِباء
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قريب
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relative
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دُروس
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درس
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lesson
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أَبرِياء
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برئ
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innocent
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فُصول
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فصل
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season
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أَشقِياء
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شقي
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miserable
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بُيوت
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بيت
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house
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فُعلان
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فِعَال
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بُلدان
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بلد
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country
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بِلاد
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بلد
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country
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رُهبان
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راهب
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monk
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جِمال
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جمل
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camel
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قُضبان
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قضيب
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bar
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خِراف
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خروف
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sheep
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فَعلى
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فُعَّال
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جَوعى
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جوعان
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hungry
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عُمّال
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عامل
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worker
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مَرضى
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مريض
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ill
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كُتّاب
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كاتب
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writer
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عَطشى
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عطشان
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thirsty
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قُرّاء
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قارئ
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reader
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فَواعِل
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أفعُل
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عَوامِل
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عامل
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factor
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أَلسُن
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لسان
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tongue
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شَوارِع
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شارع
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street
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أَشهُر
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شهر
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month
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قَوالِب
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قالب
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mould
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أَرجُل
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رِجل
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foot
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مفاعِل
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فَعَائِل
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مَصانِع
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مصنع
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factory
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عَرائس
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عروس
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bride
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مَدارِس
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مدرسة
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school
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قَبائل
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قبيلة
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tribe
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مَكاتِب
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مكتب
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office
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رَسائل
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رسالة
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message
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أفاعيل
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أفاعِل
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أَقاليم
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إقليم
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province
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أَرامِل
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أرمل
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widow
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أَساليب
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أسلوب
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style
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أَماكِن
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مكان
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place
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أَسابيع
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أسبوع
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week
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أَقارِب
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قريب
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relative
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Comments:
othmaan:
habibti! whts the arabic of leg?
Aziza:
Ahlan Uthmaan,
The Arabic word for leg is (ساق) “saaq” and the plural is broken (سيقان) “siiqaan”.
In Egyptian colloquial, we say (رِجل) “rigl”.
Salam,
Aziza
zahra:
Do you need to know all of the broken plurals in colloquial Arabic and is there more?