Two genders, no neuter
Every Arabic noun is either masculine or feminine. This applies to things as well as people: a book is masculine, a car is feminine. Gender matters because adjectives, verbs and pronouns agree with it:
- الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ. — The house is big. (masculine)
- الْمَدِينَةُ كَبِيرَةٌ. — The city is big. (feminine)
Masculine is the basic form and has no special ending.
The main marker: taa marbuta ة
Most feminine nouns end in ة. For people, you usually form the feminine by adding ة to the masculine:
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| طَالِبٌ (ṭālibun) | طَالِبَةٌ (ṭālibatun) | student |
| مُعَلِّمٌ (muʿallimun) | مُعَلِّمَةٌ (muʿallimatun) | teacher |
| مُهَنْدِسٌ (muhandisun) | مُهَنْدِسَةٌ (muhandisatun) | engineer |
| صَدِيقٌ (ṣadīqun) | صَدِيقَةٌ (ṣadīqatun) | friend |
| كَبِيرٌ (kabīrun) | كَبِيرَةٌ (kabīratun) | big (adjective) |
Many things ending in ة are feminine too: سَيَّارَةٌ (car), مَدْرَسَةٌ (school), غُرْفَةٌ (room), مَدِينَةٌ (city).
Feminine nouns without ة
1. Females by meaning. Some words for women are feminine simply because of what they mean, and some pairs are completely different words:
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| أَبٌ (abun) father | أُمٌّ (ummun) mother |
| أَخٌ (akhun) brother | أُخْتٌ (ukhtun) sister |
| وَلَدٌ (waladun) boy | بِنْتٌ (bintun) girl, daughter |
| رَجُلٌ (rajulun) man | امْرَأَةٌ (imraʾatun) woman |
2. Feminine by usage. A small group of common nouns is feminine with no visible marker. Learn them as a list:
- شَمْسٌ (sun), أَرْضٌ (earth, land), نَارٌ (fire), دَارٌ (house, home), حَرْبٌ (war)
- body parts that come in pairs: يَدٌ (hand), عَيْنٌ (eye), رِجْلٌ (leg), أُذُنٌ (ear)
- most names of countries and cities: مِصْرُ (Egypt), دِمَشْقُ (Damascus)
3. Other feminine endings. Less often, ـَى and ـَاءُ mark the feminine: ذِكْرَى (memory), صَحْرَاءُ (desert).
Masculine nouns that look feminine
A few male names end in ة, and they stay masculine: حَمْزَةُ، أُسَامَةُ. The ending is a strong hint, not a guarantee, which is why a dictionary lists gender when it is not obvious.
Watch out as an English speaker
- English nouns have no gender, so learners use the masculine adjective for everything. ✗ الشَّمْسُ كَبِيرٌ. / ✓ الشَّمْسُ كَبِيرَةٌ. Learn each noun together with its gender.
- "Teacher", "student", "doctor" are the same for men and women in English. In Arabic a woman needs the feminine form. ✗ هِيَ مُعَلِّمٌ. / ✓ هِيَ مُعَلِّمَةٌ.
- Do not add ة to nouns that are already feminine by meaning. ✗ أُمَّةٌ for "mother" (this word means "nation") / ✓ أُمٌّ. ✗ بِنْتَةٌ / ✓ بِنْتٌ.
Example dialogue
هَلْ أَنْتِ طَالِبَةٌ؟ — Are you a student? (to a woman)
لَا، أَنَا مُهَنْدِسَةٌ. وَأَنْتَ؟ — No, I am an engineer. And you?
أَنَا مُعَلِّمٌ، وَأُمِّي مُعَلِّمَةٌ أَيْضًا. — I am a teacher, and my mother is a teacher too.
هَلِ الْمَدْرَسَةُ قَرِيبَةٌ؟ — Is the school close?
نَعَمْ، هِيَ قَرِيبَةٌ جِدًّا. — Yes, it is very close.