Continued
· In this part of the lesson we will learn the plural form of “That” In-Shā’-Allâh (God willing) – the demonstrative pronoun for the distant objects. In the previous lessons we have already learnt the following demonstrative pronouns:
- The plural form of these demonstrative pronouns (i.e. “those”) is the same for the masculine and feminine nouns i.e.:
| English | Transliteration | Arabic | Singular / Plural (Arabic) | Masculine / Feminine (Arabic) | Grammatical Term |
| That (masculine) | /Dhālika/ | ذَلِكَ | الْمُفْرَدُ | الْمُذَكَّرُ | أَسْمَاءُ الإِشَارَةِ الْبَعِيدَةِ |
| Those | /ulā’ika/ | أُولَـٰئِكَ | الْجَمْعُ | ||
| That (feminine) | /Tilka/ | تِلْكَ | الْمُفْرَدُ | الْمُؤَنَّثُ | |
| Those | /ulā’ika/ | أُولَـٰئِكَ | الْجَمْعُ |
- The plural form of the demonstrative pronoun for the distant objects is أُولَـٰئِكَ as above. It is an indeclinable word and always takes a /fatħah/ on the last letter. It must however be remembered that أُولـٰئِكَ is used only for human beings and not for non human beings.
- Let’s use some examples for a better understanding of the rule:
| Picture | English | Arabic |
|
| Singular: That is a father Plural: Those are fathers | الْمُفْرَدُ: ذَلِكَ أَبٌ. الْجَمْعُ: أُولَـٰئِكَ آبَاءٌ. |
|
| Singular: That is a mother Plural: Those are mothers | الْمُفْرَدُ: تِلْكَ أُمٌّ. الْجَمْعُ: أُولَـٰئِكَ أُمَّهَاتٌ. |
|
| Singular: Who is that man? Plural: Who are those men? | الْمُفْرَدُ: مَنْ ذَلِكَ الرَّجُلُ؟ الْجَمْعُ: مَنْ أُولَـٰئِكَ الرِّجَالُ؟ |
|
| Singular: Where is that girl? Plural: Where are those girls? | الْمُفْرَدُ: أَيْنَ تِلْكَ الْبِنْتُ؟ الْجَمْعُ: أَيْنَ أُولَـٰئِكَ الْبَنَاتُ؟ |
|
| Singular: That is a pilgrim Plural: Those are pilgrims | الْمُفْرَدُ: ذَلِكَ حَاجٌّ. الْجَمْعُ: أُولَـٰئِكَ حُجَّاجٌ. |
|
| Singular: That is a nurse Plural: Those are nurses |
