Adj

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Introduction

An adjective is a word that describes a noun "smart," "pretty," "good," etc. Remember that

( the active participle) acts as an adjective.

( il-film da mumill)
This movie is boring.

( kitaab kwayyis)
a good book

( howwa naayim)
He is sleeping.

( is-sitt illi wa'fa hnaak)


the woman who is standing there

Some basic adjectives


Here's a list of some common, basic adjectives in Egyptian Arabic: small big short long; tall smart stupid rich poor old (in reference to things, not people) new pretty, beautiful ugly

() () () () () () () () () () () ()

Soayyar (pl.) Suaar kibiir (pl.) kobaar 'oSayyar (pl.) 'uSaar Tawiil (pl.) Tuwaal zaki (pl.) azkiya abi (pl.) abiya ani (pl.) aniya fa'iir (pl.) fu'ra 'adiim (pl.) 'udaam gediid (pl.) gudaad gamiil (pl.) gumaal 'abiiH (pl.) 'ubaHa weHi naDiif (pl.) nuDaaf wisix aali raxiiS kwayyis weHi sahl Sa3b ti'iil xafiif 3aali waaTi tixiin rofayya3 sarii3 baTii'

clean dirty expensive cheap good bad easy hard, difficult heavy light high low fat thin fast, quick slow

()

Inflections for gender and number

As with nouns, to make adjectives feminine or plural, usually you add a suffix: examples:

( -a) for the feminine form, ( -iin) for the regular plural form. But again, many adjectives do not

have regular plural forms, so for those you have to memorize the broken plurals. The first half of the list above is made up of adjectives with broken plurals. Also see the following

Singular masculine big poor

Singular feminine

Plural

( kibiir) ( fa'iir)

( kibiira) ( fa'iira)

( kobaar) ( fu'ra)

Here's a regular adjective:

Singular masculine good

Singular feminine

Plural

( kwayyis)

( kwayyesa)

( kwayyisiin)

Note: Say an adjective ends in

( -i) and is not of the form ( faa3il). When you're adding on your and suffixes to make it feminine/plural, you need to insert a "yy"
Singular feminine Plural

between the adjective and the suffix (in terms of your pronunciation).

Singular masculine stupid smart Egyptian*

( abi) ( zaki) ( maSri)

( abeyya) ( zakeyya) ( maSreyya)

( abiya) ( azkiya) ( maSriyyiin)

* See below for more on this type of adjective. If, however, an adjective ending in

is of the form , you don't insert a "yy" between it and the suffix when you're making it feminine/plural. And while the masculine form of
Singular feminine Plural

this adjective has a long "aa," the feminine and plural forms have a short "a."

Singular masculine expensive quiet, calm

( aali) ( haadi)

( alya) ( hadya)

( alyiin) ( hadyiin)

Adjectives: agreement
In English, adjectives come right before the noun they describe, but in Arabic, adjectives always directly follow the noun they modify. Also, adjectives and nouns must always agree in definiteness (they must be both definite or both indefinite).

Adjectives for singular nouns


A singular noun is modified by a singular adjective of the same gender.

( il-mudarris il-gediid)
the new teacher - lit. "the-teacher the-new"

( bint hadya)
a quiet girl - lit. "girl quiet"

Adjectives for dual nouns


Any dual noun must be modified by a plural adjective.

( waladein maSriyyiin)
two Egyptian boys

( kitaabein alyiin)
two expensive books

( bintein suriyyiin)
two Syrian girls

( 3arabiyyatein gudaad)
two new cars

Adjectives for human plural nouns


Human plural nouns, masculine or feminine, are usually modified by masculine plural adjectives.

( awlaad kobaar)
big boys

( banaat Soaar)
small girls

Adjectives for non-human plural nouns


Non-human plural nouns are modified by feminine singular adjectives. This is confusing at first, but you get used to it fast!

( dowal mit'addima)
advanced countries

( 3arabiyyaat 'adiima)

old cars

( aflaam gediida)
new movies

Note: A lot of beginning students get confused about adjectival phrases and whether or not they can be complete sentences. Look at these examples for some clarification:

( it-tilmiiz aaTir)
A complete simple sentence: "The student is smart." (Lit. "The-student smart.")

( it-tilmiiz i-aaTir)
A phrase/sentence fragment: "The smart student." (Lit. "the-student the-smart.")

( tilmiiz aaTir)
A phrase/sentence fragment: "A smart student." (Lit. "student smart.")

Nisba adjectives ()
Nisba adjectives are those that indicate a relationship, often a nationality. Nouns are transformed into these adjectives in this manner: 1. Drop any definite article at the beginning of the noun, and any taa marbuuTa ( )or alif ( )at the end of it. 2. Add the suffixes

( -ii) for the masculine adjective, ( -eyya) for the feminine adjective, and ( -iiyyiin) for the plural adjective.

Here are some examples of nouns and their correponding nisba adjectives: Noun Egypt Lebanon the United States Palestine Syria Sudan school Adjective Egyptian Lebanese American Palestinian Syrian Sudanese scholastic Masculine singular Feminine singular Plural

( maSr) ( libnaan) (amriika) (filisTiin) ( surya) ( is-suudaan) (madrasa)

(maSri) (libnaani) (amriiki) (filisTiini) (suuri) (sudaani) (madrasi)

(maSreyya) (libnaneyya) (amrikeyya) (filisTiineyya) (sureyya) (sudaneyya) (madraseyya)

(maSriyyiin) (libnaniyyiin) (amrikiyyiin) (filisTiiniyyiin) (suriyyiin) (sudaniyyiin) (madrasiyiin)

Note: For some nouns that end in -a, you don't follow that formula but use the suffixes Noun France Asia year prophet Adjective French Asian yearly/annual prophetic

( -awi), ( -aweyya), and ( -awiyyiin).


Feminine singular Plural

Masculine singular

(faransa) (asya) (sana) ( nabi)

(faransawi) ( asawi) (sanawi) (nabawi)

(faransaweyya) (asaweyya) (sanaweyya) (nabaweyya)

(faransawiyyiin) (asawiyiin) (sanawiyyiin) (nabawiyyin)

Some plural nisba adjectives are irregular: Masculine singular Arab Turkish Kurdish Moroccan British Feminine singular Plural

( 3arabi) ( turki) ( kurdi) ( maribi) ( ingiliizi)

( 3arabeyya) ( turkeyya) ( kurdeyya) ( maribeyya) ( ingliizeyya)

( 3arab) ( atraak) ( akraad) ( maarba) ( ingiliiz)

Elative forms of adjectives

In Arabic, there are elative forms of adjectives that are used for both comparisons (ex. "bigger") and superlatives (ex. "best"). Elative adjectives are invariable and take three regular forms: 1.

( af3al) - this is the most common form. ( kibiir) ( akbar)

big

bigger

( kitiir)
many

( aktar)
More

( fa'iir)
poor

( af'ar)
Poorer

( gamiil)
pretty

( agmal)
Prettier

( sahl)
easy

( ashal)
Easier

( Sa3b)
hard, difficult

( aS3ab)
Harder

( Tawiil)
tall, long

( aTwal)
taller, longer

( Tayyib)
nice

( aTyab)
Nicer

2.

( af3a) - corresponds to adjectives that end in ( -i) or ( -w). ( Helw)


sweet, nice

( aHla)
sweeter, nicer

( 3aali)
high

( a3la)
Higher

( aali)
expensive

( ala)
more expensive

( zaki)
smart

( azka)
Smarter

3.

( afa3ll) - corresponds to adjectives with a doubled/geminate root. ( gediid)


new

( agadd)
Newer

( mohimm)
important

( ahamm)
more important

( xafiif)
light

( axaff)
Lighter

'( aliil)
few

( a'all)
less, fewer

( laziiz)
delicious

( alazz)
more delicious

There is an irregular comparative:

( kwayyis)
good

( aHsan)
Better

Forming comparative and superlative statements


( min).

To form a comparison (between two things) in Arabic, you use the elative adjective followed by

( il-'amiiS da ala min da)


This shirt is more expensive than that one.

( Hussein aTwal minni)


Hussein is taller than me.

To form a superlative (comparing one thing to multiple other things), you can use the elative adjective followed by an indefinite noun. This has a basic "the [adj]est [noun]" meaning.

( howwa aSar walad)


He's the youngest boy.

( di arxaS akitta)
This is the cheapest jacket.

( il-qaahira akbar mediina fi maSr)


Cairo is the biggest city in Egypt.

For another kind of superlative, you can use the elative adjective followed by a definite plural noun. This has a "the [adj]est of (all) the [nouns]" meaning.

( howwa aSar il-wilaad fil-faSl)


He's the youngest of the boys in the class

( di arxaS i-akittaat fil-maHall)


This is the cheapest of the jackets in the shop.

( il-qaahira akbar il-mudun fi maSr)


Cairo is the biggest of the cities in Egypt.

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