3.4: Possessive Pronouns, and the verb "To Like"

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Learning Objectives

In this section, you will learn:

The eight possessive forms and how to show possession or ownership for each one.
The present tense verb conjugation for the eight subject pronouns.

Possessive pronouns

The nouns الأَسْمَاء and verbs الأَفْعَال have three categories to classify them. 1st. person (speaker). 2nd. person (spoken to). 3rd. person (spoken about).

In Arabic, the attached pronouns (possessive pronouns) are different than separate pronouns (subjective pronouns). The attached pronouns are suffixes, they become possessive when they connected to a noun. The following table demonstrates the suffixes that relate to each separate pronoun before adding any noun to them.

Table of attached pronouns
Meaning	الضمائر المتصلة / الملكية Attached pronouns/ "Possessive Pronouns"	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ Arabic	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ English	Gender & Number of people
My	ي----------	أنا	I	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine
Our	نَا-----------	نحنُ	We	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine plural
Your	كَ-----------	أَنْتَ	You	2nd. Person Masculine/ Singular
Your	كِ----------	أَنْتِ	You	2nd. Person Feminine/ Singular
Your	كُم-----------	أَنْتُم	You	2nd. Person Masculine/ Feminine Plural
His	ـهُ-----------	هو	He	3rd. Person Masculine/ Singular
Her	ـها-----------	هي	She	3rd. Person Feminine/ Singular
Their	ـهم----------	هم	They	3rd. Person Masculine/ Plural

Example of changing the noun to possessive pronouns using the noun House (بَيْت) for all the different subject pronouns.

Meaning and Pronunciation	الضمائر الملكية The Possessive Pronouns	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ Arabic	Gender & Number of people
My house / bayty	بَيْتي	أنا	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine
Our house / baytuna	بَيْتُنا	نحنُ	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine plural
Your house / baytukum	بَيْتُكَ	أَنْتَ	2nd. Person Masculine/ Singular
Your house / baytuki	بَيْتُكِ	أَنْتِ	2nd. Person Feminine/ Singular
Your house / baytukum	بَيْتُكم	أَنْتُم	2nd. Person Masculine/ Feminine Plural
His house / baytuhu	بَيْتُهُ	هو	3rd. Person Masculine/ Singular
Her house / baytuha	بَيْتُها	هي	3rd. Person Feminine/ Singular
Their house / baytuhum	بَيْتُهُمْ	هم	3rd. Person Masculine/ Plural

Watch this video to learn more about the possessive pronouns in Arabic:

Activities

Complete the following activities and the interactive video.

Query \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Present tense verb conjugation.

The verbs الأَفْعَال like nouns أَسْمَاء have three categories to classify them as we mentioned in chapter 3 . 1st. person (speaker). 2nd. person (spoken to). 3rd. person (spoken about). The following chart shows the appropriate suffix/prefix for basic verb to conjugated in the present tense for all the different subject pronouns.

Table for verb conjugation in present tense
تصريف الفعل المضارع (Present tense verb conjugation)	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ Arabic	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ English	Gender & Number of people
---------أَ	أنا	I	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine
---------نـَ	نحنُ	We	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine plural
----------تـَ	أَنْتَ	You	2nd. Person Masculine/ Singular
تـَ-------يـن	أَنْتِ	You	2nd. Person Feminine/ Singular
تـَ-------ون	أَنْتُم	You	2nd. Person Masculine/ Feminine Plural
--------يـَ	هو	He	3rd. Person Masculine/ Singular
---------تـَ	هي	She	3rd. Person Feminine/ Singular
يـَ--------ون	هم	They	3rd. Person Masculine/ Plural

Example of Conjugating the verb to love/ to like (حَبَّ) in present tense for all the different subject pronouns.

Meaning and Pronunciation	Suffix/Prefix for conjugating basic verb in present tense	الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ Arabic	Gender & Number of people
I love / Auheb	أُحبُّ	أنا	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine
We love / nuheb	نُحبُّ	نحنُ	1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine plural
You love / tuheb	تُحبُّ	أَنْتَ	2nd. Person Masculine/ Singular
You love / tuhebin	تُحبَّين	أَنْتِ	2nd. Person Feminine/ Singular
You love / tuhebon	تُحبَّون	أَنْتُم	2nd. Person Masculine/ Feminine Plural
He loves / yuheb	يُحبُّ	هُوَ	3rd. Person Masculine/ Singular
She loves / tuheb	تُحبُّ	هِي	3rd. Person Feminine/ Singular
They loves / yuhebon	يُحبُّون	هُم	3rd. Person Masculine/ Plural

Activities

Complete the following activities.

Query \(\PageIndex{2}\)