Arabic Possession: The Idafa Construction and 'I Have' Without a Verb

1. The first noun never takes ال (the article), never takes tanwin, and is definite through the second noun.
2. The second noun is in the genitive case.
3. Nothing can come between them — an adjective for the first noun goes after the entire phrase.

Chains of more than two

Idafa chains can be extended: مفتاح باب البيت (miftah bab al-bayt), "the key of the door of the house". Only the last noun can take ال.

Feminine nouns in the first position

A feminine noun ending in ة changes its ة to ت when pronounced in a chain: سيارة المدير (sayyarat al-mudir), "the manager's car".

Adjectives in the chain

If you want to say "the teacher's new book", the adjective agrees with the first noun in gender, and takes ال because the phrase is definite: كتاب المعلم الجديد (kitab al-mu'allim al-jadid). Beginners often mistakenly place the adjective between the nouns.

Pronoun suffixes

For "my book", Arabic attaches a suffix to the noun: كتابي (kitabi). Common suffixes include ـي (my), ـك (your), ـه (his), ـها (her), ـنا (our), ـهم (their).

"I have" with prepositions

Arabic expresses "have" using a preposition plus a pronoun suffix, most commonly عند ('inda, "at"):

• عندي كتاب — 'indi kitab — I have a book
• عندها سيارة — 'indaha sayyara — she has a car
• ليس عندنا وقت — laysa 'indana waqt — we have no time

Another preposition, ل (li), gives "belongs to": هذا الكتاب لي (hadha al-kitab li), "this book is mine".

Where learners struggle

• Adding ال to both nouns in the chain.
• Forgetting to change ة to ت.
• Putting adjectives in the wrong place.
• Trying to find a verb for "have".

Practice

1. Write ten idafa phrases from things around you.
2. Add a pronoun suffix to each noun to compare.
3. Turn statements into "I have" sentences with عند.
4. Look up any new noun for gender and plural.

Look up nouns for idafa practice with English Arabic Dictionary →