Nouns-Masc.-Fem./Sg.-Pl.

MASCULINE / FEMININE                 SINGULAR / PLURAL

In this lesson we will learn how to deal with Arabic nouns, especially how to form the feminine from the masculine, than how to form the plural from a singular, once you learn how to do it, you will also be able to form them vice versa easily.

Masculine to Feminine in Arabic:

To form a feminine word from the masculine in Arabic, you simply add “taa’ marbuta” which looks like (ة)   or ( ـة ) depending on the word it’s connected to. Usually for animals, humans and professions… for example:

 kalbكلب  (dog masculine)  kalba  كلبة(dog feminine)

tefl طفل (child masculine)  tefla طفلة (child feminine)

mohandes مهندس (engineer masculine)  mohandesa   مهندسة(engineer feminine)

It’s possible also for most adjectives & some other nouns:

Sadeeq صديق (friend masculine)  Sadeeqa صديقة (friend feminine)

Hazeen حزين (sad masculine)  hazeena حزينة (sad feminine)

Kabeer كبير (big masculine)  kabeera كبيرة (big feminine)

However not all animals or humans masculines can take a “taa’ marbuta” ((ة, ــة in their feminine form, for example:

Asad أسد (lion)  Labo’a  لبؤة(lioness)

But

Walad ولد (boy)  Bent بنت  (girl)

In Arabic, words are either masculine or feminine, so anything you may think of should take either feminine or masculine form, now you can recognize if a word is feminine or masculine by its ending, for example:

Qessa قصة (story (is feminine because as you may have noticed it has “taa’ marbuta” ((ة, ــة at the end of the word, similar are:

Shajara شجرة (tree), Saheefa صحيفة (newspaper), Kora كرة (ball), Ghorfa غرفة (room), Bohaira بحيرة (lake) … and therefore the adjective following these feminine words should also take the feminine form (add a “taa’ marbuta” ((ة, ــة to them)

Most Arabic nouns are considered masculine if no “taa’ marbuta” is connected to them, however like any other language there are exceptions:

Arabic Nouns

Sky سماء samaa’ is feminine even if there is no “taa’ marbuta” ((ة, ــة  at the end of the word, Windريح  reeh is feminine even if it’s not ending with a “taa’ marbuta”. Also some masculine proper names are ending with “taa’ marbuta” but still considered masculine name for example: osama أسامة  , hamza حمزة.

 The good news is that they are not many, and the general rule is “add a “taa’ marbuta” ((ة, ــة to form the feminine from a masculine word, and omit it to form the masculine”.