Noun Plurals – ‫جمع ا السم‬

Like most of the world’s languages, Arabic nouns have both a singular (‫ )المفرد‬and a plural (‫)الجمع‬
form (as well as a dual form that we will see later). Arabic has two ways to form plural nouns:
suffixes (like English –s/-es, though this is not the most common way) and ‘broken plurals’ in
which the internal structure of the word is changed (the closest equivalent in English would be the
change of vowel from ‘mouse’ to ‘mice’). Let’s look at the different ways to created plural in
Arabic.

(Human) Sound Masculine Plural ‫جمع المذ ّكر السا الم‬

The Sound Masculine Plural endings are named as such because the singular stem remains intact
in the plural. To this stem endings are added, either َ‫ ـون‬or َ‫ـين‬, depending on the grammatical use
of the word. Typically, the final ‫ فتحة‬is not typically pronounced except in the most formal registers.
Until the difference between the َ‫ ـون‬and َ‫ ـين‬endings is learned, you may use either one (though I
recommend ‫ ـين‬as it is the most prevalent in Colloquial Arabic).
The (Human) Sound Masculine Plural is most commonly used with ‫ نسبة‬adjectives (with a few
exceptions), human nouns beginning in ‫ ُمـ‬and ‫مـ‬, and adjectives ending in ‫ـان‬.

َ ‫جمع‬ َ ‫مفرد‬
َ‫َمصريين‬/َ‫مصريون‬ َ َ‫مصري‬
َ‫َلبنانيين‬/َ‫لبنانيون‬ َ َ‫لبناني‬
َ‫َمشغولين‬/َ‫مشغولون‬ َ ‫مشغول‬
َ‫َتعبانين‬/َ‫تعبانون‬ َ ‫تعبان‬
َ‫َمترجمين‬/َ‫مترجمون‬ َ ‫مترجم‬
َ َ‫َمتخصصين‬/َ‫متخصصون‬ َ ‫متخصص‬

Sound Feminine Plural ‫جمع المؤنّث السالم‬

The Sound Feminine Plural ending is named (like the Sound Masculine Plural) as such because
the singular stem remains intact in the plural. Many–but not all–feminine nouns whose singular
form ends in ‫ ة‬take the sound feminine plural suffix ‫ـات‬.

َ َ َ ‫جمع‬ َ ‫مفرد‬
َ ‫طالبات‬ َ ‫طالبة‬ ‫جامعات‬ ‫جامعة‬
َ ‫أستاذات‬ َ ‫أستاذة‬ ‫سيارات‬ ‫سيارة‬
َ ‫مترجمات‬ َ ‫مترجمة‬ ‫واليات‬ ‫والية‬
َ ‫متخصصات‬ َ ‫متخصصة‬ ‫لغات‬ ‫لغة‬
َ ‫مشغوالت‬ َ ‫مشغولة‬ ‫بنايات‬ ‫بناية‬
َ ‫لبنانيات‬ َ ‫لبنانية‬ ‫مكتبات‬ ‫مكتبة‬
َ ‫مصريات‬ َ ‫مصرية‬ ‫ساعات‬ ‫ساعة‬
Broken Plurals ‫جمع التكسير‬
The majority of Arabic nouns form their plurals not with suffixes, but by changing the internal
structure of the word. This is usually done by the addition, removal, or change of short and long
vowels between the consonants of the root. There are several patterns that broken plurals fall into,
but they are not predictable. You may be able to predict some plurals and recognize the patterns,
but often there will be a word that does not fit that rule. The best method to learning broken plurals
is to learn them with your vocabulary; recognize the pattern of the plural, but when learning a new
vocabulary word, learn its plural with it. Below are some of the common broken plural patterns.

‫َفُعول‬Pattern َ ‫َأ ْفعال‬Pattern

‫جمع‬ ‫مفرد‬ ‫جمع‬ ‫مفرد‬
‫بَُيوت‬ ‫بََْيت‬ ‫صحاب‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ ‫صاحَب‬
‫َدُروس‬ ‫دَرس‬ ‫أَ َْوالد‬ ‫وَلَد‬
‫صفوف‬
َُ َ‫صَف‬ ‫سماء‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ ‫َاسم‬
‫فَُصول‬ ‫فَصل‬ ‫عمال‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ ‫عَمل‬
‫بَُنوك‬ ‫بَنك‬ ‫شغال‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ ‫ش َْغل‬ َُ
‫َفُلوس‬ ‫فَلس‬ ‫شياء‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ ‫يء‬َْ َ‫ش‬
َ ‫خبار‬ َْ َ‫أ‬ َ ‫خََْبر‬
َ ‫أََْبواب‬ َ ‫باب‬
َ ‫أَيام‬ َ ‫يَ َْوم‬

Patterns with Medial ‫ا‬ ‫َفُعلَوفعل‬Patterns

‫جمع‬ ‫مفرد‬ ‫الجمع‬ ‫المفرد‬
َ ‫شوارَع‬ َ ‫شارَع‬ ‫أُسر‬ ‫َأ ُسرة‬
‫شَبابيك‬ ‫شباك‬ َُ ‫غرف‬ ُ ُ
‫غرفة‬
‫أَساتَذة‬ ‫َأ ُستاذ‬ ‫ُجمل‬ ‫ُجملة‬
‫دَكاتَرة‬ ‫َدُكتور‬ ‫َأ ُمَم‬ ‫أُمة‬
‫دَفاتَر‬ ‫دََْفتَر‬ ‫قصَص‬ ‫قصة‬

َ ‫َفُعُل‬Pattern A Few Special Forms

‫جمع‬ ‫مفرد‬ ‫جمع‬ ‫مفرد‬
‫ُكتُب‬ ‫كتاب‬ َ ‫طالب‬ َُ َ ‫طالَب‬
‫ُجدُد‬ َ ‫جديد‬ ‫رَجال‬ ‫ر ُجل‬
‫ُمدُن‬ ‫مدينة‬ َ ‫َبَُلدان‬/َ‫بَالد‬ َ ‫بَلَد‬
‫ُج ُزر‬ ‫جزيرة‬ ‫جيران‬ ‫جار‬
َ َ َ ‫عَرَب‬ َ َ‫عربي‬
َ