1. Gender in Arabic Nouns

1.1 Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Arabic nouns are categorized by gender. Understanding the gender of nouns is essential for correct adjective agreement and verb conjugation.

• Masculine Nouns:
  • Typically do not have a specific ending.
  • Example: كتاب (kitaab) – “book”, مدرس (mudarris) – “teacher”.
• Feminine Nouns:
  • Often end in ـة (taa’ marbuta), but not always.
  • Example: مدرسة (madrasah) – “school”, سيارة (sayyaarah) – “car”.
  • Note: Some feminine nouns do not end in ـة, such as شمس (shams) – “sun”.

1.2 Identifying Gender

• Masculine Indicators: Words referring to males or objects with no feminine form.
• Feminine Indicators: Words referring to females or objects with a ـة ending.

1.3 Special Cases

• Dual Gender: Some nouns can be both masculine and feminine based on context or specific usage.
  • Example: طالب (taalib) – “student” can be masculine or feminine depending on context.

2. Number Forms: Singular, Dual, and Plural

2.1 Singular Form

• Refers to one person or thing.
  • Example: مكتبة (maktabah) – “library”.

2.2 Dual Form

• Refers to exactly two people or things.
• Formed by adding ـانِ (aan) for masculine and ـَتَانِ (ataan) for feminine.
  • Example (Masculine): كتابان (kitaabaan) – “two books”.
  • Example (Feminine): مدرستان (madrasataan) – “two schools”.

2.3 Plural Form

• Regular Plural: Generally formed by adding ـونَ (oon) for masculine and ـات (aat) for feminine.
  • Example (Masculine): طلاب (tullaab) – “students”.
  • Example (Feminine): مدارس (madaaris) – “schools”.
• Broken Plural: Some nouns have irregular plural forms that do not follow a fixed pattern.
  • Example: كتاب (kitaab) – كتب (kutub) – “books”.

3. Case Endings

Arabic nouns change their endings based on their grammatical case: nominative, accusative, or genitive. These endings are crucial for proper sentence structure and meaning.

3.1 Nominative Case (مرفوع – Marfoo’)

• Used for subjects of a sentence or predicate nominative.
• Ending: ـُـ (dammah) or ـٌ (dammatan) in the indefinite form.
  • Example: الكتابُ جديدٌ (al-kitaabu jadeedun) – “The book is new.”

3.2 Accusative Case (مجرور – Majroor)

• Used for objects of verbs or direct objects.
• Ending: ـَـ (fathah) or ـًـ (fathatan) in the indefinite form.
  • Example: أقرأ الكتابَ (aqra’u al-kitaaba) – “I am reading the book.”

3.3 Genitive Case (مجرور – Majroor)

• Used for nouns that are in possession or in prepositional phrases.
• Ending: ـِـ (kasrah) or ـٍ (kasratan) in the indefinite form.
  • Example: كتابُ المدرسةِ (kitaabu al-madrasa) – “The school’s book.”

4. Practice Exercises

4.1 Gender Identification

• Exercise: Identify the gender of the following nouns:
  • مكتب (maktab) – “office”
  • حديقة (hadiqah) – “garden”
  • طبيب (taabeeb) – “doctor”

4.2 Number Forms

• Exercise: Convert the following singular nouns to their dual and plural forms:
  • كتاب (kitaab) – “book”
  • مدرسة (madrasah) – “school”

4.3 Case Endings

• Exercise: Fill in the correct case endings for the following sentences:
  • المدرسةُ كبيرةٌ (al-madrasaatu kabeeratun) – “The school is big.”
  • أحب الكتابَ (uhibbu al-kitaaba) – “I love the book.”
  • في حديقةِ المنزلِ (fi hadeeqati al-manzili) – “In the garden of the house.”

5. Homework and Practice

• Gender Practice: Write five sentences using nouns with their appropriate gender and translation.
• Number Practice: Create sentences using singular, dual, and plural forms of nouns.
• Case Endings Practice: Translate sentences from English to Arabic, paying attention to case endings.