1.7: Grammar (2)الفعل المضارع الجمع
In this section, you will be able to:
- Identify Subject Pronouns.
- Conjugate verbs in the present tense.
- Negating conjugated present tense.
- Learn plural agreement rules.
Separate Subject Personal Pronouns
You learned about the Separate Subject Personal Pronouns in the first book, " Introduction to Arabic I " in section 2.4 and section 10.4 . There are three types of separate subject pronouns: first person, second person, and third person. The separate subject personal pronouns change according to the addressed subject if the subject is singular, dual, or plural. You should know that Arabic doesn't use the verb "be." For Example: أَنا طالِبٌ (I am a student), so the sentence doesn't have the verb "am."
Check the table with all the twelve separate subject personal pronouns:
| English Meaning | Third Person | English Meaning | Second Person | English Meaning | First Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| He | هُـوَ | You (masculine, singular) | أَنْـتَ | I | أَنا |
| She | هِيَ | You (feminine, singular) | أنْـتِ | We | نَحْنُ |
|
They (masculine, dual) They (feminine, dual) |
هُـمَا |
You (masculine, dual) You (feminine, dual) |
أنْـتُـما | ||
| They (masculine, plural) | هُـمْ | You (masculine, plural) | أنْـتُـمْ | ||
| They (feminine, plural) | هُـنَّ | You (feminine, plural) | أنْـتُـنَّ |
Watch the video to learn the subject pronouns in context.
Conjugating Present Tense in Arabic الفعل المضارع
الفعل المضارع the present tense in Arabic is used to express the simple present (I study Arabic= أنا أدْرُسُ العربيَّة), and the present continuous (I am studying Arabic=أنا أدْرُسُ العربيَّة). We express the subject of الفعل المضارع present tense using a combination of prefixes or prefixes and suffixes in Arabic. We do not need to use the subject pronouns, and the prefixes and suffixes do the complete work. So, try to avoid redundancy and try to avoid stating the subject pronouns before the present tense verb.
Watch the video to learn more about the present tense:
We will use the stem "فَعَلَ" which is the verb "do" in Arabic and conjugate it with all the subject pronouns as an example. The table consists of different columns: subject pronoun, the added prefix, the added Suffix if needed, the verb in the conjugated present tense form, and the meaning in English.
| Meaning in English | Conjugated Present Tense Verb | The added Suffix | The Added Prefix | Subject Pronouns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I do | أَ فْعَلُ | أَ | أَنا | |
| We do | نَــ فْعَلُ | نُــ | نَحْنُ | |
| You (masculine, singular) do | تَــ فْعَلُ | تَــ | أَنْـتَ | |
| You (feminine, singular) do | تَــ فْعَل ينَ | ينَ | تَــ | أنْـتِ |
| You (masculine, dual) do | تَــ فْعَل انِ | انِ | تَــ | أنْـتُـما |
| You (feminine, dual) do | تَــ فْعَل انِ | انِ | تَــ | أنْـتُـما |
| You (all/masculine, plural) | تَــ فْعَلُ ونَ | ونَ | تَــ | أنْـتُـمْ |
| You (feminine, plural) | تَــ فْعَلْ نَ | نَ | تَــ | أنْـتُـنَّ |
| He does | يَــ فْعَلُ | يَــ | هُـوَ | |
| She does | تَــ فْعَلُ | تَــ | هِيَ | |
| They (masculine, dual) do | يَــ فْعَل انِ | انِ | يَــ | هُـمَا |
| They (feminine, dual) do | تَــ فْعَل انِ | انِ | تَــ | هُـمَا |
| They ( all/masculine, plural) | يَــ فْعَلُ ونَ | ونَ | يَــ | هُـمْ |
| They (femeninie, plural) | يَــ فْعَلْ نَ | نَ | يَــ | هُـنَّ |
Negating the Present Tense نفي الفعل المضارع
We add the word " لا " in front of the conjugated verb to negate a present tense verb, and we do not need the helping verb for negating like in English. The word " لا " means "no" in Arabic.
For Example: I do not study Arabic = لا أَدْرُسُ العرَبيَّة
The Plural
Sound/Regular Masculine Plural Rules جمع المذكر السالم
You learned about the plural rules in the Arabic language in the first book, " Introduction to Arabic I ." Also, you learned in the first book the formation of dual noun forms by adding the letters "" ألف and نون to the noun, or the letters ياء And نون depending on the grammatical case of the word. In this section, you learn more about the formation of the plural noun and how to form regular or sound plural nouns. Masculine Plurals in Arabic can be sound or broken. Sound/Regular masculine plurals are formed by adding a suffix "ونَ" or "ينَ" to a singular noun depending on the grammatical case of the word.
Sound/Regular Feminine Plural Rules جمع المؤنث السالم
Sound/Regular Feminine Plurals in Arabic are formed by adding the suffix "ات." Many feminine singular human and nonhuman nouns end with ة" تاء مربوطة" take the plural suffix "ات."
Broken Plural Rules جمع التكسير
We call this type of plural broken because we take the stem (the letters of the root) of the singular word and shift the consonants into different syllable patterns. Many broken plurals are based on memorizing, but most are rule-based, with many rules. It is essential to use the phonographic memory that we use when listening to music. Therefore, you will develop a sense of which singular nouns match the plural patterns since you will acquire more vocabulary.
Here are some notes about certain categories of nouns that regularly take the sound/regular plurals:
- Nisba adjectives take the sound/regular plural, like (أمريكي/ أمريكيون ، أمريكيين), with a few exceptions (عربي/ عَرَب).
- Nouns and adjectives are referring to people that have the letter (مُــ) or (مَــ), like: (مُوَظف/ موظفون، مُوَظفين) ( مُبرمِح/ مبرمجون، مُبرمجيين) (مُحامي/مُحاميون، مُحاميين)
- Adjectives which singular form ends in letters (ان), like: (جوعان/ جوعانون، جوعانين)
Check the table and memorize these words in the plural forms
| Plural | Singular Feminine | Plural | Singular Masculine |
|---|---|---|---|
| طَبيباتٌ | طَبيبَةٌ | أَطبّاءٌ | طَبيبٌ |
| مُهَنْدِساتٌ | مُهَنْدِسَةٌ | مُهَنْدِسون - مُهَندِسين | مُهَنْدِسٌ |
| ٌمُـتَزَوِّجَات | مُـتَزَوِّجَة | مُـتَزَوِّجون - مُـتَزَوِّجين | مُتَزَوِّجٌ |
| حَفيدَاتٌ | حَفيدَةٌ | أَحفادٌ | حَفيدٌ |
| خَالاتٌ | خَالَةٌ | أَخْوالٌ | خَالٌ |
| عَمّاتٌ | عَمَّةٌ | أَعْمامٌ | عَمٌّ |
| بَناتٌ | اِبْنَةٌ | أَبْناءٌ | اِبْنٌ |
| مُتَخَصِّصاتٌ | مُتَخَصِّصَة | مُتَخَصِّصون - مُتَخَصِّصين | مُتَخَصِّصٌ |
| جَدّاتٌ | جَدَّةٌ | أَجْدادٌ | جَدٌّ |
| أَخوات | أُخت | أُخوَة | أخ |
Plural Agreement Rules
Rules for plural agreement in Arabic distinguish between human and nonhuman plurals.
Human Plurals
Human plurals in Arabic take plural agreement. This means the adjective should be plural if the adjective is added to a plural human noun. Also, the adjective corresponds to the noun's gender and grammatical case. Check the table to learn more.
| Plural | Singular Feminine | Plural | Singular Masculine |
|---|---|---|---|
| طَبيباتٌ مُتَخَصِّصاتٌ | طَبيبَةٌ مُتَخَصِّصَة | أَطبّاءٌ مُتَخَصِّصون | طَبيبٌ مُتَخَصِّصٌ |
| بَناتٌ ٌمُـتَزَوِّجَات | اِبْنَةٌ مُـتَزَوِّجَة | أَبْناءٌ مُـتَزَوِّجون | اِبْنٌ مُتَزَوِّجٌ |
| أَخواتٌ مُثقَّفاتٌ | أُختٌ مثقَّفَةٌ | أُخوةٌ كريمون | أخٌ كريمٌ |
| عَمّاتٌ مُثَقَّفاتٌ | عَمَّةٌ مُثَقَّفَةٌ | أَعْمامٌ مُثَقَّفون |
عَمٌّ مثَّقَفٌ |
| خَالاتٌ كريماتٌ | خَالَةٌ كريمَةٌ | أَخْوالٌ كَريمون | خَالٌ كَريمٌ |
| جَدّاتٌ حَكيماتٌ | جَدَّةٌ حَكيمَةٌ | أَجْدادٌ حُكَماءٌ | جَدٌّ حَكيمٌ |
| حَفيدَاتٌ عَنيداتٌ | حَفيدَةٌ عَنيدَةٌ | أَحفادٌ عُنُدٌ | حَفيدٌ عَنيدٌ |
Nonhuman Plural Agreement
The nonhuman plural nouns, regardless of their gender, are treated as a single group, and they take feminine singular agreement. Check the table to learn more.
| Nonhuman Plural Phrase | Nonhuman Singular Phrase | Nonhuman Plural Phrase | Nonhuman Singular Phrase |
|---|---|---|---|
| كُتُبٌ قَديمَةٌ | كِتابٌ قَديمٌ | جِنسيَّاتٌ أَمريكيَّةٌ | جِنسيَّةٌ أَمريكيَّةٌ |
| أَقْلامٌ زَرْقاءٌ | قَلَمٌ أزْرَقٌ | سيّارَاتٌ كوريَّةٌ | سيّارَةٌ كوريَّةٌ |
| جامِعَاتٌ كَبيرَةٌ | جامِعَةٌ كَبيرَةٌ | بُيوتٌ بَيْضاءٌ | بَيْتٌ أَبْيَضٌ |
| تفّاحٌ أحمرٌ | تفّاحة حَمَراءٌ | صُوَرٌ جَميلَةٌ | صورَةٌ جَميلَةٌ |
Practice Plural تدريبات الجمع
Sound/Regular Masculine Plural Rules جمع المذكر السالم
Sound/Regular Feminine Plural Rules جمع المؤنث السالم
Broken Plural Rules جمع التكسير