Number phrase (from 3 to 10) – الْمُرَكَّبُ الْعَدَدِيُّ (مِنْ ثَلاثَةٍ إِلَى عَشَرَةٍ)
- In this part of the lesson we will learn the Arabic numbers from 3 to 10 and the rules relating to their use, In-Shā’-Allâh (God Willing).
- In Arabic language, for the numbers 3 to 10, the following rules are applied:
- The number always precedes the noun, i.e., the noun always appears after the number, e.g., ثَلاثَةُ أَقْلامٍ meaning “Three pens”
- The noun should always be in plural form whereas the number always appear in singular form, e.g., أَرْبَعَةُ جُنُودٍ meaning “Four soldiers”
- The number will take different cases according to the situation, but the noun will always take the genitive case, i.e., سَبْعَةُ أيَّامٍ meaning “Seven days”
- The noun is mostly indefinite, and hence it takes the double /kasrah/ e.g., عَشَرَةُ أَشْخَاصٍ meaning “Ten people”
- The number of the masculine noun is always feminine with a /tā’ marbūŧah/ as the last letter i.e., whenever there is a masculine noun, the number for that noun should always be in feminine form e.g., خَمْسَةُ رِجَالٍ meaning “5 men”.
- Let us cover some examples for a better understanding of the rule:
Picture | Translation | Arabic |
| In the house, there are three boys. | فِي الْبَيْتِ ثَلاثَةُ أَوْلادٍ. |
| Ahmad sat with six teachers | جَلَسَ أَحْمَدُ مَعَ سِتَّةِ مُدَرِّسِينَ. |
| Wajid ate nine grapes | أَكَلَ وَاجِدٌ تِسْعَةَ أَعْنَابٍ. |
| Khalida visited eight countries | زَارَتْ خَالِدَةُ ثَمَانِيَةَ بِلاَدٍ. |
| Nasir opened four doors | فَتَحَ نَاصِرٌ أَرْبَعَةَ أَبْوَابٍ. |
| In my bag there are five pens | فِي حَقِيبَتِي خَمْسَةُ أَقْلامٍ. |