Lesson 12: Feminine & Plural Adjectives
Let’s learn some very important adjectives in Levantine Arabic. Are you ready? These ones also have irregularities. Sorry!
Position of the Adjective
In Arabic, the adjective comes after the noun. Example:
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الطالب منيح (altaalib mnii7) — The male student is good.
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هو طالب منيح و هي طالبة منيحة كمان (Hue taalib mnii7 w hie taaliba mnii7a kamaan) — a beautiful girl
Feminine Adjectives
To make the adjective feminine, we usually add -a (ة) at the end, as with nouns.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| حلو (7elu) | حلوة (7elwe) | Beautiful |
| منيح (mnii7) | منيحة (mnii7a) | Nice / Good |
Plural Adjectives
Plural adjectives change depending on dialect:
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In Lebanon: use -iin for masculine/generic.
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In Syria/Jordan: use -aat for feminine groups.
Example:
Hie 7elue w hue 7elu. Hinne 7eluiin.
هي حلوة و هو حلو. هن حلوين
New Adjectives and their Plurals
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| حلو (7elu) | حلوين (7elwiin) | Beautiful |
| منيح (mnii7) | مناح (mnaa7) | Good |
| كبير (kbiir) | كبار (kbaar) | Big |
| صغير (sghiir) | صغار (sghaar) | Small |
Did you notice something?
Only "beautiful" is regular in this table. Many irregular adjectives like:
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منيح (mnii7)
-
كبير (kbiir)
-
صغير (sghiir)
form their plurals by changing the middle vowel, not just adding a suffix. Not all irregulars are the same though. For now, just memorize this ones!
Kbiir - Kbaar
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Here are a few questions to help you practice! Give them a try! Let's see if you can translate these sentences!