Arabic Noun Gender and Plurals, Including the Famous 'Broken' Plurals

Every Arabic noun is either masculine or feminine — there is no neuter. Fortunately, there is a reliable marker for most feminine nouns, though the plural system is where learners need a bit more patience.

Recognising feminine nouns

Most feminine nouns end in ة (ta marbuta), pronounced -a in isolation. Compare طالب (talib, male student) and طالبة (taliba, female student), or مدرس (mudarris, male teacher) and مدرسة (mudarrisa, female teacher). Note that مدرسة is also the word for "school", so context matters.

Some feminine nouns lack the ending, including أم (umm, mother), شمس (shams, sun), and many body parts that come in pairs such as عين ('ayn, eye) and يد (yad, hand). Names of most countries and cities are also feminine.

Sound plurals

Some plurals follow a predictable pattern:

• Sound masculine plural: add ـون (nominative) or ـين (oblique) to words for male people: مسلم → مسلمون / مسلمين.
• Sound feminine plural: replace ـة with ـات: طالبة → طالبات, سيارة → سيارات.

Feminine plural endings ـات can be used for many things that aren't people at all, including loanwords like تلفزيونات.

Broken plurals

Most nouns, especially common everyday ones, form their plural by changing the internal vowel pattern instead of adding a suffix. That's why they're called "broken". Examples:

• كتاب (kitab, book) → كتب (kutub)
• رجل (rajul, man) → رجال (rijal)
• ولد (walad, boy) → أولاد (awlad)
• مدينة (madina, city) → مدن (mudun)
• بيت (bayt, house) → بيوت (buyut)
• قلم (qalam, pen) → أقلام (aqlam)

There are dozens of broken-plural patterns, and although some are more common than others, the plural of a given noun generally has to be learned along with the singular.

Why dictionaries list plurals

A good dictionary entry gives the plural alongside the singular for exactly this reason. If you learn "book" without knowing "kutub", you'll be stuck the first time you read a sign or a menu that uses the plural.

Agreement with plural nouns

Plurals of things (as opposed to people) take feminine singular agreement. Thus "the new books" is الكتب الجديدة (al-kutub al-jadida), with the adjective in the feminine singular form.

Tips for learners

1. Always learn a noun with its plural.
2. Group broken plurals by pattern to spot regularities.
3. Notice which words have irregular gender.
4. Practise by writing a short sentence with each plural.

Reading tip

If you meet an unfamiliar plural, try to peel off the pattern and find the singular. The three root letters usually remain in the same order.

Look up singular and plural forms with English Arabic Dictionary →