Arabic Subject Pronouns:
In Arabic the subject pronoun is more specific than many other
languages, for example there are different ways to say “you” in Arabic depending
on who you’re addressing it to, for example to address 2 people you use a
subject pronoun different than the one you would use for a single person, also
if you’re addressing more than two people you will have to use a different form
for that as well. Finally most of subject pronouns have a feminine and a
masculine form. The table below shows the different forms you may come
across:
Arabic Subject Pronouns |
Singular |
Dual |
Plural |
I
Ana
you
Anta (singular masculine.)
you
Anti (singular feminine)
he
Howa
she
Hiya
|
you (dual
male or female) Antuma
they (dual
male or female) Humaa
|
We
Nahn
you (plural
masculine) Antum
you (plural
feminine) Antun
they (plural
masculine) Hum
they (plural
feminine) Hun
|
To say for example I’m a boy =
Ana walad! (Ana = I, walad = boy) as you may have noticed “am” and
“a” are omitted in Arabic, so it’s like saying “I boy”, same thing with all
other subject pronouns. He is a boy = Howa walad (he boy), we’re boys = Nahnu*
Awlad (we boys),
You may also have noticed that
Arabic has a “dual” form, meaning that Arabic is being more specific about
not only the gender but also the number, so the dual form is used to refer to
two people, if you want to talk to Salim and Karim to tell them:
you both speak Arabic! = Antuma tatakallamani al ‘arabia
, if you want
to talk about them: they both speak Arabic = Humaa yatakalamani al
‘arabia
For the plural there are five
subject pronouns, We = Nahn (for females and males). You = Antum (when you talk
to 3 males or more, or one male and the 2 females or more)
You = Antun (when
you talk to 3 females or more). They = Hum (when you talk about 3 males or more,
or one male and the 2 females or more). They = Hun (when you talk about 3
females or more).
* Some subject pronouns take an
extra vowel at the end when they’re followed by other words, to make the
pronunciation smooth and easy, just like when you add an “n” to the indefinite
article “a” to some words, “an umbrella” instead of “a umbrella” to make it
easier to pronounce, same thing in Arabic, we add either “u” or “a” to many
words to make them go in harmony with other words following them, we will go
through that later, but for now you can keep using the articles without these
vowels especially because you will be still understood even without adding them.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Learn Arabic Home Page
|