10.1: Duals in Arabic

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Learning Objectives

In this section, you will be able to:

Learn the Dual nouns and adjectives using suffixes.
Use Duals depending on different grammatical cases.

10.1.1. Arabic Nouns and Adjectives

When it comes to nouns and adjectives, Arabic has three forms: the Singular, the Dual, and the Plural. The Singular is used to refer to just one person or thing. The Dual is used to refer to two people or things. The Plural is used to refer to three or more people or things. The Dual and the Plural end in certain letters that denote the number of people or objects (suffixes). This section introduces The Dual with its suffixes and uses.

10.1.1.1. The Dual

The Dual (المثنّى) is formed by adding either the letters ان- or ين- to the end of the word in nouns and adjectives depending on the grammatical case of the word.
If the word ends in a Taa' Marbouta تاء مربوطة (ة), as is the case in feminine nouns and adjectives, the Taa' Marbouta (ة) is changed to ت and then the prefix ان- or ين- are added depending on the grammatical case of the word.
(ان) is used in nominative case nouns, and (ين) is used in accusative and genitive cases.

Arabic Cases: The last letter of the word will change to a different vowel as a result of a certain rule.

A word in the nominative case will end with a Dammah الضمة or Tanween Damm تنوين الضم.
A word in the accusative case will end with a Fataha الفتحة or Tanween Alfatah تنوين الفتح.
A word in the genitive case will end with a Kasrah الكسرة or Tanween Alkasar تنوين الكسر.

The details of how and when to use these suffixes are explained in the table below.

This table illustrates how to use the different suffixes of Dual Nouns/Adjectives:
The Dual Letters in Arabic	Pronunciation	When to Use	Example
ان	'aan	Used in nominative-case nouns/adjectives that don't end in ة (usually masculine nouns/adjectives)	مهندسٌ ← مهندسَان المهندسُ ← المهندسَان
ين	'een	Used in accusative and genitive-case nouns/adjectives that don't end in ة (usually masculine nouns/adjectives)	مهندساً ← مهندسَين المهندسَ ← المهندسَين مهندسٍ ← مهندسَين المهندسِ ← المهندسَين
ان	taan	Used in nominative-case nouns/adjectives that end in ة (usually masculine nouns/adjectives)	مترجمةٌ ← مترجمتَان المترجمةُ ← المترجمتَان
ين	tayn	Used in accusative and genitive-case nouns/adjectives that end in ة (usually feminine nouns/adjectives)	مترجمةً ← المترجمتَين المترجمةَ ← المترجمتَين مترجمةٍ ← المترجمتَين المترجمةِ ← المترجمتَين