Masculine and Feminine
To begin with, the Arabic language also has masculine and feminine pronouns, just like the English language.
The masculine pronouns consist of:
- "أنتَ" (Anta), meaning "you" (male).
- "هوَ" (Howa), meaning "he".
As for the feminine pronouns:
- "أنتِ" (Anti), meaning "you" (female). Notice the small change in the letters between the male and the female "you", as there is only one letter changed between the two words, which is the last letter of the word (or the Harakaa of the last letter, in the Arabic word).
- "َهي" (Hiya), meaning "she". Also, notice the small change in the letters between he and she, as there is only one letter changed between the two words, which is the middle of the word.
Pronouns
General Words
Besides the masculine and feminine pronouns in Arabic, regular general words also have different forms, whn changed from masculine to feminine or the opposite way. Also, in the Arabic language, even non-living things are written in the form of either masculine or feminine, and there is no specific form for non-living objects.
Usually, feminine words end with the "ة" letter (t) (it is called "Taa' Marboota").
For example:
- "فرشاة" (Forshat) (meaning brush). As you can see, this word ends with the "ة" letter, showing that it is feminine (even though it is a non-living object). Also, as shown, the word ends with the letter "t", showing that it is feminine.
- "مهندسة" (Mohandisah), meaning "engineer" (female). As shown, the word ends with the "ة" letter, showing that it is feminine.
As for masculine words, they usually do NOT have the "ة" letter (t) at the end of them.
For example:
- "طائر" (Ta'ir) (meaning bird) As shown, the word does NOT end with the "ة" letter, showing that it is masculine.
Plural Masculine Words
Plural masculine words sometimes have special cases that make them look different from normal plural words (shown in previous lesson). This case usually works with people/occupations.
Plural masculine words can sometimes end with the letters "ون" (oon) or the letters "ين" (een).
For example:
- "لاعبون" (La'iboon) (meaning players). Notice that the word ends with the letters "ون", showing that it is masculine plural. Also, notice that the word ends with "oon", to also express plural masculine form.
- "كاتبين" (Katibeen) (meaning writers). Notice that the word ends with the letters "ين", showing that it is masculine plural. Also, notice that the word ends with "een", to also express plural masculine form.
