Modern Standard Arabic Plurals: Sound and Broken Plurals

Arabic makes plurals in two ways: by adding an ending (a "sound" plural), or by changing the vowels inside the word (a "broken" plural).

Sound masculine plural: -uun / -iin

For male people and occupations. The ending changes with the noun's case: -uuna as the subject, -iina otherwise.

• مُعلّمونmu3allimuunateachers (subject)
• رأيتُ المُعلّمينra2aytu al-mu3allimiinaI saw the teachers.

Sound feminine plural: -aat

For most feminine nouns and many borrowed or technical words:

• سيارة ← سياراتsayyaara → sayyaaraatcar → cars
• جامعة ← جامعاتjaami3a → jaami3aatuniversity → universities

Broken plurals

Most everyday nouns have a broken plural. The root letters stay, but the pattern of vowels changes.

There's no reliable way to predict which pattern a noun takes, so learn each plural with its singular. Dictionaries list both.

Collective nouns

Some nouns refer to a kind of thing in general. Add ة for one item:

• شجر / شجرة / أشجارshajar / shajara / ashjaartrees / a tree / trees (counted)