Adj
Adj
Adj
An adjective is a word that describes a noun "smart," "pretty," "good," etc. Remember that
( il-film da mumill)
This movie is boring.
( kitaab kwayyis)
a good book
( howwa naayim)
He is sleeping.
() () () () () () () () () () () ()
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
()
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 feminine
Plural
( kibiir) ( fa'iir)
( kibiira) ( fa'iira)
( kobaar) ( fu'ra)
Singular feminine
Plural
( kwayyis)
( kwayyesa)
( kwayyisiin)
( -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).
* 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."
( 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).
( il-mudarris il-gediid)
the new teacher - lit. "the-teacher the-new"
( bint hadya)
a quiet girl - lit. "girl quiet"
( waladein maSriyyiin)
two Egyptian boys
( kitaabein alyiin)
two expensive books
( bintein suriyyiin)
two Syrian girls
( 3arabiyyatein gudaad)
two new cars
( awlaad kobaar)
big boys
( banaat Soaar)
small girls
( 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
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
Masculine singular
Some plural nisba adjectives are irregular: Masculine singular Arab Turkish Kurdish Moroccan British Feminine singular Plural
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.
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.
( aHla)
sweeter, nicer
( 3aali)
high
( a3la)
Higher
( aali)
expensive
( ala)
more expensive
( zaki)
smart
( azka)
Smarter
3.
( agadd)
Newer
( mohimm)
important
( ahamm)
more important
( xafiif)
light
( axaff)
Lighter
'( aliil)
few
( a'all)
less, fewer
( laziiz)
delicious
( alazz)
more delicious
( kwayyis)
good
( aHsan)
Better
To form a comparison (between two things) in Arabic, you use the elative adjective followed by
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.
( di arxaS akitta)
This is the cheapest jacket.
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.