Arabic nouns and adjectives

Understanding the interaction between
nouns and adjectives
Nouns and adjectives go hand in hand. In this section, I show you how you can
manipulate nouns and adjectives to create little phrases. Recall that unlike in
the English language, nouns in Arabic always come before the adjective.
You can create three types of phrases by manipulating nouns and adjectives.
This section examines the ways you can pair up nouns and adjectives to
create definite and indefinite phrases. (Later in the chapter, I show you how
to create a complete sentence by simply using a noun and an adjective.)
Arabic Indefinite phrases
One of the most important things to remember about nouns and adjectives
in Arabic is that they can be both defined and undefined using the definite
article prefix al-. Hence, to create an indefinite phrase, all you do is take an
undefined noun and add to it an undefined adjective. For example, to say “a
big book” or “big book,” you add the adjective kabiir (kah-beer; big) to the
noun kitaab (kee-tab; book). So the phrase kitaab kabiir means “a big book”
in Arabic. Here are some other examples of indefinite phrases featuring undefined
nouns and adjectives:
 walad Tawiil (wah-lad tah-weel; a tall boy)
 bint jamiila (bee-net jah-mee-lah; a pretty girl)
 rajul qawiiy (rah-jool kah-wee; a strong man)
 ‘imra’a laTiifa (eem-rah-ah lah-tee-fah; a nice woman)
 madrasa Saghiira (mad-rah-sah sah-gee-rah; a small school)
 Taawila Hamraa’ (tah-wee-lah ham-rah; a red table)
Notice that the adjectives agree with their corresponding nouns in gender.
For example, you say bint jamiila and not bint jamiil.
Adding more descriptive words to the noun is very simple: Because adjectives
follow the noun in Arabic, you just add an extra adjective and you’re
done! But don’t forget to add the conjunction wa (wah; and) between the
adjectives. Check out some examples:
 walad Tawiil wa kabiir (wah-lad tah-weel wah kah-beer; a tall and big boy)
 bint Tawiila wa jamiila (bee-net tah-wee-lah wah jah-mee-lah; a tall and
pretty girl)
 rajul qawiiy wa sarii’ (rah-jool kah-wee wah sah-reeh; a strong and
fast man)
 ‘imra’a laTiifa wa qawiiya (eem-rah-ah lah-tee-fah wah kah-wee-yah; a
nice and strong woman)
 madrasa Saghiira wa bayDaa’ (mad-rah-sah sah-gee-rah wah bay-dah; a
small and white school)
 Taawila Hamraa’ wa qaSiira (tah-wee-lah ham-rah wah kah-see-rah; a red
and short table)
Definite phrases
The biggest difference between creating an indefinite phrase and a definite
phrase is the use of the definite article prefix al-. Both noun and adjective must
be defined using the definite article prefix. For example, to say “the big book,”
you say al-kitaab al-kabiir. Here are some examples of definite phrases:
 al-walad aT-Tawiil (al-wah-lad ah-tah-weel; the big boy)
 al-bint al-jamiila (al-bee-net al-jah-mee-lah; the pretty girl)
 ar-rajul al-qawiiy (ah-rah-jool al-kay-wee; the strong man)

 al-‘imra’a al-laTiifa (al-eem-rah-ah ah-lah-tee-fah; the nice woman)
 al-madrasa aS-Saghiira (al-mad-rah-sah ah-sah-gee-rah; the small school)
 aT-Taawila al-Hamraa’ (ah-tah-wee-lah al-ham-rah; the red table)
Using similar patterns, you can create a defined phrase using multiple adjectives.
Just like in indefinite phrases, make sure you use the conjunction wa in
between adjectives:
 al-walad aT-Tawiil wa al-kabiir (al-wah-lad ah-tah-weel wah al-kah-beer;
the tall and big boy)
 al-bint aT-Tawiila wa al-jamiila (al-bee-net ah-tah-wee-lah wah al-jah-meelah;
the tall and pretty girl)
 ar-rajul al-qawiiy wa as-sarii’ (ah-rah-jool al-kah-wee wah ah-sah-reeh;
the strong and fast man)
 al-‘imra’a al-laTiifa wa al-qawiiya (al-eem-rah-ah al-lah-tee-fah wah alkah-
wee-yah; the nice and strong woman)
 al-madrasa aS-Saghiira wa al-bayDaa’ (al-mad-rah-sah ah-sah-gee-rah
wah al-bay-dah; the small and white school)
 aT-Taawila al-Hamraa’ wa al-qaSiira (ah-tah-wee-lah al-ham-rah wah alkah-
see-rah; the red and short table)