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 masculine nouns/adjectives depending on the grammatical case of the word. If the word ends in a round Taa' (ة), as is the case in feminine nouns/adjectives, the ة is changed to ت and then ان- or ين- are added depending on the grammatical case of the word. 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
تان-	taan	Used in nominative-case nouns/adjectives that end in ة (usually masculine nouns/adjectives)	مترجمةٌ ← مترجمتَان المترجمةُ ← المترجمتَان
تين-	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