Arabic Subject Pronouns:
In Arabic the subject pronoun is more specific than many other languages, for example there are different ways to say “you” in Arabic depending on who you’re addressing it to, for example to address 2 people you use a subject pronoun different than the one you would use for a single person, also if you’re addressing more than two people you will have to use a different form for that as well. Finally most of subject pronouns have a feminine and a masculine form. The table below shows the different forms you may come across:
Arabic Subject Pronouns | ||
Singular | Dual | Plural |
I أنا Ana
you (singular masculine.) أنتَ Anta
you (singular feminine) أنتِ Anti
he هو Howa
she هي Hiya
| you (dual male or female) أنتُما Antuma
they (dual male or female) هُما Humaa
| We نحن Nahn
you (plural masculine) أنتُم Antum
you (plural feminine) أنتُن Antun
they (plural masculine) هُم Hum
they (plural feminine) هُن Hun
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To say for example I’m a boy = Ana walad! (Ana = I, walad = boy) as you may have noticed “am” and “a” are omitted in Arabic, so it’s like saying “I boy”, same thing with all other subject pronouns. He is a boy = Howa walad (he boy), we’re boys = Nahnu* Awlad (we boys),
You may also have noticed that Arabic has a “dual” form, meaning that Arabic is being more specific about not only the gender but also the number, so the dual form is used to refer to two people, if you want to talk to Speak7 and Karim to tell them: you both speak Arabic! = Antuma tatakallamani al ‘arabia انتما تتكلّمان العربية , if you want to talk about them: they both speak Arabic = Humaa yatakalamani al ‘arabia هما يتكلمان العربية .
For the plural there are five subject pronouns, We = Nahn (for females and males). You = Antum (when you talk to 3 males or more, or one male and the 2 females or more)
You = Antun (when you talk to 3 females or more). They = Hum (when you talk about 3 males or more, or one male and the 2 females or more). They = Hun (when you talk about 3 females or more).
* Some subject pronouns take an extra vowel at the end when they’re followed by other words, to make the pronunciation smooth and easy, just like when you add an “n” to the indefinite article “a” to some words, “an umbrella” instead of “a umbrella” to make it easier to pronounce, same thing in Arabic, we add either “u” or “a” to many words to make them go in harmony with other words following them, we will go through that later, but for now you can keep using the articles without these vowels especially because you will be still understood even without adding them.
Arabic Object Pronouns:
Object pronouns in Arabic are me, you, him, her, us, you (plural) and come after a verb; In Arabic they’re as follows:
Arabic Object Pronouns | ||
Singular | Dual | Plural |
Me: verb+ni ني
You (masculine): verb+k كََ
You (feminine): verb+ki كِ
Him: verb+h ه ، ـه
Her: verb+ha ها
| You (dual male or female): verb+kumaa كُما
Them (dual male or female): verb+humaa هُما
| We: verb+naa نا
You (plural masculine): verb+kum كُم
You (plural feminine): verb+kun كُن
Them (plural masculine): verb+hum هُم
Them (plural feminine): verb+hun هُن
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So to say in Arabic “you show me”, after conjugating the verb and adding the “you” to it, you need to add the object pronoun “me” to it as well, note that “you show me” in Arabic is written like “youshowme” meaning that the subject pronoun + the verb + the object pronoun are all connected, “you” as a prefix and “me” as a suffix of the verb “show”, so it would be (you show me = turini تُريني ) (you show us = turina ترينا ) (you show him = turih تريه ). Try to memorize these Arabic Pronouns, as they’re very important.
Arabic Determinative Possessive Pronouns:
Similar to the Arabic object pronouns, the determinative possessive pronouns look the same, the only difference is that they end a noun and not a verb like above. So to learn how to say “my house” “his car” “her dress” …you need to look at the table below:
Arabic Determinative Possessive Pronouns | ||
Singular | Dual | Plural |
Me: noun+i ي
You (masculine): noun+k كََ
You (feminine): noun+ki كِ
Him: noun+h ه ، ـه
Her: noun+ha ها
| You (dual male or female): noun+kumaa كُما
Them (dual male or female): noun+humaa هُما
| We: noun+naa نا
You (plural masculine): noun+kum كُم
You (plural feminine): noun+kun كُن
Them (plural masculine): noun+hum هُم
Them (plural feminine): noun+hun هُن
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In Arabic you have to use the possessive pronouns above as a suffix, meaning that they should be ending the word (noun), here are some examples:
Book = Kitab كتاب
My book = Kitabi كتابي
Your book = kitabuk كتابك
Your book (singular female) = Kitabuki كتابك
His book = Kitabuh كتابه
Her book = Kitabuha كتابها
Your book (dual male or female) = Kitabukumaa كتابكما
Their book (dual male or female) = Kitabuhumaa كتابهما
Our book = Kitabuna كتابنا
Your book (plural masculine) = Kitabukum كتابكم
Your book (plural feminine) = Kitabukun كتابكن
Their book (plural masculine) = Kitabuhum كتابهم
Their book (plural feminine) = kitabuhun كتابهن
So it’s very easy to use the possessive pronoun in Arabic, you just need to add the suffixes on the table above to the word, and that’s it.
Arabic Prepositional Pronouns: (to me, for you, about her …any pronoun with a preposition preceding it)
It’s easy to use the prepositional pronouns in Arabic; you just add the suffix below to the preposition, which looks exactly like the ones we learn before in the possessive object, above:
Arabic Prepositional Pronouns | ||
Singular | Dual | Plural |
Me: preposition+i ي
You (masculine): preposition+k كََ
You (feminine): preposition+ki كِ
Him: preposition+h ه ، ـه
Her: preposition+ha ها
| You (dual male or female): preposition+kumaa كُما
Them (dual male or female): preposition+humaa هُما
| We: preposition+naa نا
You (plural masculine): preposition+kum كُم
You (plural feminine): preposition+kun كُن
Them (plural masculine): preposition+hum هُم
Them (plural feminine): preposition+hun هُن
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So to say “come to me” we would add the prepositional pronoun “me = i” to the Arabic preposition “to = ila”, so “come to me = taala ilai = تعال إلي”
Said to me = qaal li قال لي .
Arabic Independent Possessive Pronouns:
In Arabic the independent possessive pronoun is used to express “mine, yours, hers….”
Example: the book is mine: al kitab li الكتاب لي, the drink is ours: al mashroob lana المشروب لنا . The table below shows the independent possessive pronouns:
Arabic Independent Possessive Pronouns | ||
Singular | Dual | Plural |
Mine li لي
yours (sing masculine) lak لك
yours (singular feminine) laki لك
his lah له
hers laha لها
| yours (dual male or female) lakumaa لكما
theirs (dual male or female) lahumaa لهما
| Ours lana لنا
yours (plural masculine) lakum لكم
yours (plural feminine) lakun لكن
theirs (plural masculine) lahum لهم
theirs (plural feminine) lahun لهن
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You can also use the word “milk” to form independent possessive, the word milk ملك means “property of” …, the book is mine (my property) = al kitaabu milki الكتاب ملكي, but I would suggest to use the pronouns on the table above which is easier and more used.
