Adjectives Match the Number

Level 2

In Arabic, an adjective acts like a shadow of its noun. If the noun is singular, the adjective is singular. If the noun is dual, the adjective is dual. If the noun refers to a group of people, the adjective is plural.

How It Works

To use adjectives correctly in Modern Standard Arabic, you must identify the number and gender of the noun first:

  • Singular (مفرد): The adjective must match the noun's gender. It stays in the base form for masculine nouns (e.g., ولد صغير) but many adjectives add the tāʾ marbūṭa (ة) for feminine nouns (e.g., بنت صغيرة).
  • Dual (مثنى): The adjective must take the dual suffixes -ān or -ayn. This applies to both human and non-human nouns (e.g., كتابان جديدان - two new books).
  • Human Plural (جمع عاقل): The adjective matches the noun in gender and number. While many use the Sound Masculine Plural or Sound Feminine Plural, human nouns that are Broken Plurals (like طلاب - students) often pair with broken plural adjectives (like جدد - new).
  • Non-Human Plural (جمع غير عاقل): An ordinary nonhuman plural is generally treated as a singular feminine entity. For example, 'new cars' is سيارات جديدة. Note that this rule only applies to plurals; dual non-human nouns still use dual adjectives.

Becoming proficient in these rules ensures that the relationship between the noun and its description is grammatically clear.

Examples (5)

  1. الولدُ الصغيرُ في البيتِ.

    The small boy is in the house.

    Word by Word: The boy the small in the house.

    Both the noun and the adjective are singular.

  2. رأيتُ الولدينِ الصغيرينِ.

    I saw the two small boys.

    Word by Word: I saw the two boys the two small.

    The adjective matches the dual noun in the accusative case (-ayn).

  3. هؤلاءِ المهندسونَ الناجحونَ.

    These are the successful engineers.

    Word by Word: These the engineers the successful.

    Since engineers are human, the adjective takes the sound masculine plural ending (-ūn).

  4. هذهِ كتبٌ مفيدةٌ.

    These are useful books.

    Word by Word: These books useful.

    Because 'books' are non-human, the adjective 'useful' is singular feminine, even though the noun is plural.

  5. الطالباتُ المجتهداتُ هنا.

    The hardworking (female) students are here.

    Word by Word: The students the hardworking here.

    The adjective matches the sound feminine plural ending (-āt) for human females.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a masculine singular adjective with an ordinary nonhuman plural.

    سَيَّارَاتٌ سَرِيعٌ
    سَيَّارَاتٌ سَرِيعَةٌ

    The ordinary standard agreement is feminine singular. Feminine plural agreement also occurs in Arabic in some contexts, so سريعات should not be declared universally impossible.

  • Confusing a definite noun phrase with a complete sentence.

    البنتان جميلتان
    البنتان الجميلتان

    البنتان الجميلتان means “the two beautiful girls,” a noun phrase. البنتان جميلتان is also grammatical, but means “the two girls are beautiful.” Both already show dual agreement; the difference is definiteness and syntactic function.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Adjectives Match the NumberLevel 2

Learn This First

To understand how adjectives match nouns in number, you first need to know what an adjective is in Arabic and how it follows a noun. You also need a solid grasp of how Arabic nouns change form to represent one, two, or many (singular, dual, and plural) and how gender affects these forms.