Nunation on Regular Feminine Plurals

Level 6

Tanwīn al-Muqābalah is the 'n' sound (nunation) at the end of indefinite Regular Feminine Plurals (ending in -āt). It exists to provide structural balance with the 'n' found in Regular Masculine Plurals.

How It Works

While most tanwīn indicates that a noun is fully declinable (Tanwīn al-Tamkīn), Tanwīn al-Muqābalah is a functional marker specific to the feminine plural suffix -āt (ـات).

Key characteristics include:

  • Structural Symmetry: It 'corresponds' to the ن (nūn) at the end of masculine plurals like مُؤْمِنُونَ (mu'minūna).
  • Case Behavior: It appears in all three cases. However, a critical rule of the feminine plural is that it never takes a fatha. In the accusative case, it uses kasratayn (ٍ ) instead of fathatayn (ً ).
  • Indefiniteness: Like other forms of nunation, it disappears if the word becomes definite via the definite article or is the first part of an Idāfa (possession) construction.
  • Proper Nouns: Even if a word is used as a proper noun that would normally be a diptote (forbidden from tanwīn), if it follows the -āt plural pattern (like the place ‘Arafāt), it retains this tanwīn because its purpose is correspondence, not just marking declinability.

Examples (4)

  1. جَاءَتْ مُعَلِّمَاتٌ جَدِيدَاتٌ.

    New (female) teachers came.

    Word by Word: Came teachers (fem. pl. nom.) new (fem. pl. nom.)

    In the nominative case (subject), the feminine plural takes dammatayn. This 'un' sound corresponds to the 'ūna' in masculine plurals.

  2. رَأَيْتُ مُعَلِّمَاتٍ فِي المَدْرَسَةِ.

    I saw (female) teachers in the school.

    Word by Word: I saw teachers (fem. pl. acc.) in the school

    Even though 'teachers' is the direct object (accusative), it takes kasratayn. The tanwīn here is still considered Tanwīn al-Muqābalah.

  3. سَلَّمْتُ عَلَى طَالِبَاتٍ مُجْتَهِدَاتٍ.

    I greeted hardworking (female) students.

    Word by Word: I greeted [on] students (fem. pl. gen.) hardworking (fem. pl. gen.)

    In the genitive case (after a preposition), the tanwīn remains to maintain the structural balance with the masculine plural equivalent.

  4. هَذِهِ مَطَارَاتٌ كَبِيرَةٌ.

    These are large airports.

    Word by Word: These airports (fem. pl. nom.) large (fem. sing. nom.)

    This pattern applies to non-human plurals ending in -āt as well, not just people.

Common Mistakes

  • Using fathatayn (ً ) for the accusative case.

    رَأَيْتُ مُسْلِمَاتاً
    رَأَيْتُ مُسْلِمَاتٍ

    Regular feminine plurals are 'allergic' to the 'a' sound at the end. They must use kasratayn for both the accusative and genitive cases.

  • Adding a supporting Alif in the accusative.

    قَابَلْتُ طَالِبَاتاً
    قَابَلْتُ طَالِبَاتٍ

    Unlike singular nouns (e.g., بَيْتاً), regular feminine plurals never take a supporting Alif because they use kasratayn for the accusative case.

How It Connects

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

Nunation on Regular Feminine PluralsLevel 6

Learn This First

To understand nunation on regular feminine plurals, you first need to know how these plurals are formed using the '-at' suffix. You also need to understand the general concept of 'tanwin' (nunation) and how the accusative case (Mansub) usually works, as this pattern highlights a major exception where the standard '-a' ending is replaced by '-i'.