Main menu Arabic Course Vocabulary Application Questions Application

Lesson 4 الدَّرْسُ الرَّابِعُ

The masculine and the feminine  - الْمُذَكَّرُ وَالْمُؤَنَّثُ

  • In Arabic both living things and inanimate (non-living) things are treated as either masculine or feminine.
  • In this part of the lesson /In-Shā'-Allâh/ (God willing) we will learn about the masculine and the feminine words. We will also learn how to change a masculine word into a feminine word. There are three symbols which change a masculine word to a feminine word when added on the end of a masculine word and they are:

English

Symbol of feminine word

Arabic

Feminine

Masculine

Feminine

Masculine

Female student

Male student

ةُ

(تُاءٌ مَرْبُوطَةٌ)

طَالِبَـةٌ

طَالِبٌ

Left (for feminine words)

Left

ىٰ

(أَلِفٌ مَقْصُورَةٌ)

يُسْرَىٰ

أَيْسَرُ

Noble woman

Noble man

اء

(أَلِفٌ مَمْدُودَةٌ)

حَسْنَاءُ

حَسَنٌ

  • It should be remembered that the penultimate (second to last) letter of a feminine word always takes a /fatħah/.
  • Following are some examples to better understand the above mentioned rules:

Picture

Translation

Transliteration

Arabic

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

I am a doctor.

/Anā ŧabībun/

أَنَا طَبِيبٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

I am a female student.

/Anā ŧālibatun/

أَنَا طَالِبَةٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

You are a male teacher.

/Anta mudarrisun/

أَنْتَ مُدَرِّسٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

You are a lady doctor.

/Anti ŧabībatun/

أَنْتِ طَبِيْبَةٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

He is an engineer.

/Huwa muhandisun/

هُوَ مُهَنْدِسٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

She is a female nurse.

/Hiya mumarriđatun/

هِيَ مُمَرِّضَةٌ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

Aminah is in the kitchen.

/āminatu fil maŧbakhi/

آمِنَةُ فِي الْمَطْبَخِ.

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

Where are you from?

/Min ayna anta/

مِنْ أَيْنَ أَنْتَ؟

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

I am from China.

/Ana min-aŝ ŝīni/

أَنَا مِنَ الصِّيْنِ.