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Arabic Possessive Adjective 22. Lesson

Arabic Possessive Adjective 22. Lesson

 

 

Arabic Possessive Adjective 22. Lesson

 

Arabic uses pronoun suffixes as another way to indicate possession. In English we say “my house,” “his house,” etc., to indicate that something belongs to someone. In Arabic the same thing is done but the possessive pronouns are suffixed to the noun instead of written as independent words before the noun. Below is a chart of the possessive pronoun suffixes along with their corresponding independent pronouns.

Independent Pronoun

Possessive Pronoun

أنا

ي

أنتَ

كَ

أنتِ

كِ

هو

هُ

هي

ها

نَحْنُ

نا

أنْتُم

كُم

أنْتُنَّ

كُنَّ

هُم

هُم

هُنَّ

هُنَّ

Possessive pronouns in standard and Egyptian Arabic

 

Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their) are used to indicate ownership of something. In Arabic, as with object pronouns, these take the form of suffixes; they are attached to the noun that’s owned.

بيتي (beiti)
my house

كتابه (kitaabu)
his book

أختهم (uxtuhum)
their sister

 

Note: If the noun that’s owned ends in a taa’ marbuuTa (ـة), the taa’ marbuuTa must be “untied” and made into a ت before the pronoun suffix is added:

خالة (xaala) – maternal aunt
Untie the taa’ marbuuTa to get خالت and then add the pronoun suffix:
خالتي (xalti) – my maternal aunt

 

The object and possessive pronoun suffixes are exactly the same except for the first person singular.

Possessive pronouns in standard and Egyptian Arabic:

 

  English Standard Arabic Egyptian Arabic
Singular my
ـي (-i)
your (masc.) ـكَ (-ka) ـك (-ak)
your (fem.) ـكِ (-ki) ـك (-ik)
his
ـه (-u)
her
ـها (-ha)
Dual our ـنا (-na)  
your ـكما (-kuma)  
their ـهما (-huma)  
Plural our
ـنا (-na)
your (masc.) ـكم (-kum) ـكو\ـكم (-ku/-kum)
your (fem.) ـكن (-kunna)
their (masc.) ـهم (-hum) ـهم (-hom)
their (fem.) ـهن (-hunna)

 

Note: In standard Arabic, if the noun that’s owned is dual (ends in ـان -aan or ـين -ein), or if the noun has a sound masculine plural suffix (ـون -uun or ـين -iin), you need to drop the final ـن before adding the pronoun suffix.

والدان (waalidaan) والداهم (waalidaahum) مؤيدون (mu’ayyiduun) مؤيدوه (mu’ayyiduuh)
two parents their parents supporters his supporters
 
يدين (yadein) يديها (yadeiha) مدرسين (mudarrisiin) مدرسيّ (mudarrisiyya)
two hands her hands teachers my teachers

 

Note: In Egyptian Arabic, if a noun, verb, or preposition ends in a vowel that is not a taa’ marbuuTa, some of the pronoun suffixes you’ll need to use with it will change. For object/possessive pronouns:

ـني (-ni) stays the same.
ـي (-i) ـيا (-ya)
ـك (-ak) ـك (-k)
ـك (-ik) ـكي (-ki)
ـه (-u) ـه (-h)

 

Also, the final vowel in the noun/verb/whatever will need to be lengthened. Some examples:

ورا (wara) ورايا (waraaya) حوالي (Hawaali) حواليّ (Hawaleiyya)
behind behind me around around me
 
لـ (li-) ليك (liik) ورّا (warra) ورّاك (warraak)
for for you (masc. sing.) to show he showed you (masc. sing.)
 
على (3ala) عليكي (3aleiki) بابا (baaba) باباكي (babaaki)
on on you (fem. sing.) dad your dad (fem. sing.)
 
مع (ma3a) معاه (ma3aah) في (fi) فيه (fiih)
with with him in in him

 

Note: In colloquial Arabic, when used with possessive suffixes, the words أب (ab), “father,” and أخ (ax), “brother,” take the form أبو(abu) and أخو (axu). Again, the final -u vowel is lengthened before the suffix is added.

أبويا (abuuya) أخويا (axuuya)
my father my brother
 
أبوك (abuuk) أخوك (axuuk)
your (masc. sing.) father your (masc. sing.) brother
 
أبوكي (abuuki) أخوكي (axuuki)
your (fem. sing.) father your (fem. sing.) brother
 
أبوه (abuuh) أخوه (axuuh)
his father his brother
 
etc.

 

Note: Usually, you do not use possessive pronoun suffixes with dual nouns in Egyptian Arabic. Instead, you say “il-[noun]ein bituu3[possessive pronoun suffix].”

my two books wrongكتابيني
  correctالكتابين بتوعي (il-kitabein bituu3i)

 

There are, however, a few exceptions:

عينيّ (3eineiyya) رجليّ (rigleiyya) ايديّ (iideiyya)
my (two) eyes my (two) legs my (two) hands
 
عينيك (3eineik) رجليك (rigleik) ايديك (iideik)
your eyes your legs your hands
 

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