{"id":17,"date":"2009-02-09T08:42:28","date_gmt":"2009-02-09T12:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/?p=14"},"modified":"2014-06-13T19:28:12","modified_gmt":"2014-06-13T19:28:12","slug":"number-agreement-in-arabic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/number-agreement-in-arabic\/","title":{"rendered":"Number Agreement in Arabic"},"content":{"rendered":"

In English, words are either singular or plural, yet in Arabic, words can be singular (<\/span>\u0645\u0641\u0631\u062f), dual (<\/span><\/span>\u0645\u062b\u0646\u0649<\/span>) or plural (<\/span>\u062c\u0645\u0639<\/span>). Singular words refer to one person or thing only, dual nouns refer to two persons or things, while plural words refer to more than two. It is often the case that learners of Arabic miss the dual and treat it like plural. Therefore, one must be very careful about identifying the dual. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dual nouns are marked with the suffix (<\/span>\u0627\u0646<\/span>) which is sometimes written as (<\/span>\u064a\u0646<\/span>), e.g. (<\/span>\u0631\u062c\u0644<\/span>) \u201cman\u201d is singular, (<\/span>\u0631\u062c\u0644\u0627\u0646<\/span>) or (<\/span>\u0631\u062c\u0644\u064a\u0646<\/span>) \u201ctwo men\u201d is dual. In feminine words ending in (\u0629<\/span>), it has to be changed into (<\/span>\u062a<\/span>) when a word becomes dual, e.g. (<\/span>\u0627\u0645\u0631\u0623\u0629<\/span>) \u201cwoman\u201d is singular, (<\/span>\u0627\u0645\u0631\u0623\u062a\u0627\u0646<\/span>) or (<\/span>\u0627\u0645\u0631\u0623\u062a\u064a\u0646<\/span>) \u201ctwo <\/span>women\u201d is dual. Adjectives have to agree with the nouns they modify in number, so adjectives must take the dual ending like nous, e.g. (<\/span><\/span>\u0643\u062a\u0627\u0628\u0627\u0646 \u0643\u0628\u064a\u0631\u0627\u0646<\/span>) or (<\/span>\u0643\u062a\u0627\u0628\u064a\u0646 \u0643\u0628\u064a\u0631\u064a\u0646<\/span>) \u201ctwo big books\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Plural nouns are sometimes marked by suffixes (<\/span>\u0627\u0644\u062c\u0645\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0644\u0645<\/span>) \u201csound plural\u201d or by changing the form of the word (<\/span>\u062c\u0645\u0639 \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0643\u0633\u064a\u0631<\/span>) \u201cbroken plural\u201d. Sound masculine plurals are formed by adding the suffix (<\/span>\u0648\u0646<\/span>) which is sometimes written as (<\/span>\u064a\u0646<\/span>)<\/span>, e.g. (<\/span>\u0645\u0647\u0646\u062f\u0633\u0648\u0646<\/span>) or (<\/span>\u0645\u0647\u0646\u062f\u0633\u064a\u0646<\/span>) \u201cengineers\u201d. <\/span>Sound feminine plurals are formed by adding the suffix (\u0627\u062a<\/span>) which, e.g. (<\/span><\/span>\u0645\u0647\u0646\u062f\u0633\u0627\u062a<\/span>) \u201cengineers\u201d. Broken plurals are formed by changing the form of the word, e.g. the plural of (<\/span>\u0637\u0627\u0644\u0628<\/span>) \u201cstudent\u201d is (<\/span>\u0637\u0644\u0627\u0628<\/span>) \u201cstudents\u201d. There is no rule to specify which word has a sound plural and which one has a broken plural. However, it may be useful to for learners of Arabic to learn the broken plurals as soon as they are encountered. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Adjectives of plural nouns are usually plural as well, e.g. (<\/span>\u0645\u0647\u0646\u062f\u0633\u0648\u0646 \u0623\u0645\u0631\u064a\u0643\u064a\u0648\u0646<\/span>) and (<\/span>\u0645\u0647\u0646\u062f\u0633\u0627\u062a \u0623\u0645\u0631\u064a\u0643\u064a\u0627\u062a<\/span>) \u201cAmerican engineers\u201d. It should be noted that words that refer to non-humans are treated like singular feminine in agreement, so \u201cAmerican universities\u201d is (<\/span>\u062c\u0627\u0645\u0639\u0627\u062a \u0623\u0645\u0631\u064a\u0643\u064a\u0629<\/span>). Although universities is plural, it does not refer to a human, and therefore the adjectives that goes with it is singular feminine. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In English, words are either singular or plural, yet in Arabic, words can be singular (\u0645\u0641\u0631\u062f), dual (\u0645\u062b\u0646\u0649) or plural (\u062c\u0645\u0639). Singular words refer to one person or thing only, dual nouns refer to two persons or things, while plural words refer to more than two. It is often the case that learners of Arabic…<\/p>\n

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