Lesson 2: Plurals. In Arabic however, you find three grammatical accounts of numbers-

Transcription

1 Lesson 2: Plurals In English when speaking of numbers of something in grammar, we have two grammatical accounts- 1. Singular meaning one of something. 2. Plural meaning two or more. In Arabic however, you find three grammatical accounts of numbers- 1. Singular meaning one of something. 2. Dual meaning specifically two of something. 3. Plural meaning three or more. This lesson deals with plurals. Arabic has two forms of the plural 1. Sound Plural which is divided into 2 categories- 1- Sound masculine plural 2- Sound feminine plural 2. Broken Plural Sound Plurals Sound plurals are easy to recognise and form, because all you need to do is add the plural suffix to the end of the word in its singular form. There is however more than one suffix which is used, depending on whether the word is masculine or feminine. Masculine Sound Plural Feminine Sound Plural Applies to only 3 categories of words: 1. Human traits 2. Human professions 3. Human nationalities Masculine sound plurals do not apply to non-human words! These apply to all non-human words, as well as human words. Usually ( although not exclusively) feminine sound plurals will be made from singular words ending in taa marboota ة (However note: not all words ending in taa marboota will be a sound feminine plural many in fact will actually have a broken plural, and some may have a sound masculine plural.) 1

2 Sound Masculine Plurals word. is added to the singular ن ي or ون To form a sound Masculine plural, the suffix. ي ن suffix, or a kessrah before ون A dummah will be placed on letter before The suffix used will depend on which case the word is in: منصوب or مجرور When مرفوع When ين ون *lesson 2 only deals with the suffix ون lesson 3 deals with case and how it effects the suffix to be either ون or ين. The different cases are mentioned here only to aid future revision How to do it: م ؤم ن م ؤم ن م ؤم ن م ؤم نون believers believer ين or ون Add the suffix on the end (depending on which case it is) -note: the final fatha will always stay no matter what! Replace the final vowel with a dummah Remove the tanween from the end if indefinite Start with word in singular form A sound masculine plural will never end in tanween even when indefinite- this is because the does the job of the tanween. The fatha will always remain! Sound Feminine Plurals To form a sound Feminine Plural, remove the taa marboota and add the suffix ات to the end. مجرور When منصوب When مرفوع When Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite ات ات ات ات ات ات The final vowel will alter depending on what case the word is in, and whether it is definite or indefinite. (this How to do it: lesson only deals with the اتending lesson 3 explains the rest. The table above is mentioned to aid future revision inshallah. 2

3 م ؤم ن ة م ؤم ن م ؤم ن ات believers Add ات on the end Remove both the final tanween (if indefinite) and ة taa marbootah believer Start with word in singular form Note: Not all words ending in taa marboota will be a sound feminine plural some may actually have a sound masculine plural. The only common one is س ن ة with its plural (in Modern Standard Arabic you find س ن ون ) س ن وات the plural Note: Not all words ending in taa marboota will be a sound feminine plural many will be a broken plural. ق ر ي ة ق رى Settlements/ Villages settlement/ village Similarly, some words will not end ة but will have a sound feminine plural. Broken Plurals Unlike sound plurals which keep the singular word intact whilst adding a suffix, broken plurals will break the singular word to form the plural. They involve breaking up the singular word and making changes to either the vowels or the letters themselves. Similar to which we find in English words such as mouse / mice and foot / feet etc. This means that there is not a set way or pattern to form a broken plural. Broken plurals should be learnt and memorised alongside its singular counterpart when learning vocab. عب د ع باد servants / servant / slaves slave م ن اف ع benefits م ن ف ع ة benefit Although with experience, eventually it may become possible to predict from the singular noun what its broken plural form will be. However when learning from the beginning Arabic, this is impossible to make such predictions! 3

4 Important rule:* All non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular! This means that an adjective describing a non-human plural, instead of agreeing with the noun in gender and number as we learnt in lesson 1, it will actually be feminine and singular! Feminine singular adjective Non-human plural noun Ie: م م ن اف ع ك ث يرة Many benefits Remember: sound masculine plurals only refer to human nouns therefore you will not find a non-human sound masculine plural! - *however, be aware that although this is the general rule, at times there are exceptions to this, and you can find a non-human broken plural noun will not be treated as feminine singular, but will instead have a broken plural adjective. Broken plural adjective Non-human plural noun أ ي ام أ خر Other days Singular words with a plural meaning Sometimes, words which although they are grammatically singular, in meaning they are plural. In this case, the adjective must also be plural. Grammatically singular noun but Plural adjective has plural meaning الق و م الكاف رون The disbelieving people و and and و As it is a single letter word, it can not be written independently alone. It must be linked to the following word. الم س ل مون و الم س ل مات (the) muslim men and (the) muslim women 4

5 Lesson 2: Quick revision summary Masculine Sound Plurals: Add suffix to end of singular word- When مرفوع add suffix ون preceded by dummah When مجرور or منصوب add suffix ي ن preceded by kessrah. Sound Feminine Plurals: Add suffix ات to end of singular word مجرور When منصوب When مرفوع When Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite Indefinite ات ات ات ات ات ات Broken Plurals: No set formula or pattern. Learn broken plurals alongside singular in vocab. All non-human Plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular Non-human plurals therefore will have feminine singular adjectives. (with some words being the exception to the rule, and instead they will take a broken plural adjective) Grammatically singular words that have plural meaning will be treated as plural, and therefore will take plural adjectives. and و Must be linked to following word as can not be written independently alone. 5