Grammar reference / Masculine and feminine

Masculine and feminine (المُذَكَّر وَالمُؤَنَّث)

Level 2One grammar thread that runs through lessons 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9: how to tell if a noun is feminine, and how verbs change when you talk about or to a woman.

Part 1

How to spot a feminine noun

A noun is usually feminine when it ends in one of these three endings. If it has none of them, it's usually masculine, but a few everyday words are feminine without one, such as أُمّ (mother) and أَرْض (earth).

ـة

التَّاءُ المَرْبُوطَةُ

tāʾ marbūṭa · the most common

ṭāliba · female student
طَالِبَة
sāʿa · clock, watch
سَاعَة
nāfidha · window
نَافِذَة

ـى

الأَلِفُ المَقْصُورَةُ

alif maqṣūra · short alif

laylā · Layla
لَيْلَى
salmā · Salma
سَلْمَى
bushrā · Bushra (good news)
بُشْرَى

ـاء

الأَلِفُ المَمْدُودَةُ

alif mamdūda · long alif + hamza

ḥawwāʾ · Hawwa (Eve)
حَوَّاء
ṣaḥrāʾ · desert
صَحْرَاء

Turn a masculine word into a feminine one by adding ـة:

طَالِبٌ
student (m.)
طَالِبَةٌ
student (f.)
مُدَرِّسٌ
teacher (m.)
مُدَرِّسَةٌ
teacher (f.)

Part 2

This is… and who or what?

The noun decides the word for “this”. And when you ask a question, use مَنْ for people and مَا for things.

هَذَا
hādhā · this (m.)
هَذِهِ
hādhihi · this (f.)
مَنْ
man · who? (people)
مَا
mā · what? (things)

MasculineFeminine

This is…
هَذَا قَلَمٌ.
hādhā qalam. · This is a pen.
هَذِهِ سَاعَةٌ.
hādhihi sāʿa. · This is a clock.
Who? (people)
مَنْ هَذَا؟
man hādhā? · Who is this? (a man)
مَنْ هَذِهِ؟
man hādhihi? · Who is this? (a woman)
What? (things)
مَا هَذَا؟
mā hādhā? · What is this? (m. thing)
مَا هَذِهِ؟
mā hādhihi? · What is this? (f. thing)

Part 3

Verbs change for he, she, you and I

In the present tense, the letter at the start of the verb tells you who is doing it. Speaking to a woman adds ـينَ at the end. Model verb: فَعَلَ (to do).

هُوَ

يَفْعَلُ

starts with يَـ

هِيَ

she

تَفْعَلُ

starts with تَـ

أَنْتَ

you (m.)

تَفْعَلُ

starts with تَـ

أَنْتِ

you (f.)

تَفْعَلِينَ

تَـ at the start, ـينَ at the end

أَنَا

أَفْعَلُ

starts with أَ

Watch out: هِيَ (she) and أَنْتَ (you, m.) look the same: تَفْعَلُ. The pronoun or the context tells you which one it is.

مُحَمَّدٌ يُصَلِّي. فَاطِمَةُ تُصَلِّي.
muḥammadun yuṣallī. fāṭimatu tuṣallī.
Muhammad prays. Fatima prays.
الطَّالِبُ يَفْهَمُ الدَّرْسَ. الطَّالِبَةُ تَفْهَمُ الدَّرْسَ.
aṭ-ṭālibu yafhamu d-darsa. aṭ-ṭālibatu tafhamu d-dars.
The student (m.) understands the lesson. The student (f.) understands the lesson.
مَاذَا تَفْعَلُ يَا أَحْمَدُ؟
mādhā tafʿalu yā aḥmad?
What are you doing, Ahmad?
مَاذَا تَفْعَلِينَ يَا مَرْيَمُ؟
mādhā tafʿalīna yā maryam?
What are you doing, Maryam?
أَنْتِ تَدْرُسِينَ اللُّغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةَ.
anti tadrusīna l-lughata l-ʿarabiyya.
You (f.) study the Arabic language.

Part 4

Verb chart

The verbs from class, in the present tense for all five people. Pick a verb to see its chart.

هُوَ
he
يَدْرُسُ
yadrusu · he studies
هِيَ
she
تَدْرُسُ
tadrusu · she studies
أَنْتَ
you (m.)
تَدْرُسُ
tadrusu · you (m.) study
أَنْتِ
you (f.)
تَدْرُسِينَ
tadrusīna · you (f.) study
أَنَا
I
أَدْرُسُ
adrusu · I study

Part 5

Practice

Choose the right word for each sentence.

1. Which verb?
الطَّالِبَةُ الوَاجِبَ.
2. Which verb?
أَنْتِ يَا مَرْيَمُ القُرْآنَ.
3. Which verb?
أَنَا الدَّرْسَ.
4. Which verb?
أَنْتَ يَا أَحْمَدُ عَلَى الكُرْسِيِّ.
5. Which verb?
المُدَرِّسَةُ الدَّرْسَ.
6. Which verb?
فَاطِمَةُ الفَجْرَ.
7. This (m.) or this (f.)?
نَافِذَةٌ.
8. This (m.) or this (f.)?
كِتَابٌ.
9. This (m.) or this (f.)?
سَلْمَى.
10. Who or what?
هَذَا؟ هُوَ مُدَرِّسٌ.
11. Who or what?
هَذِهِ؟ هَذِهِ سَاعَةٌ.