Fusha shows possession by putting two nouns side by side. This construction is called iḍāfa ("addition"), and it does the work of English "'s" and "of".
The iḍāfa
Put the thing owned first, then the owner. The rules:
- The first noun never takes al- and never takes -n (nunation), even though it means "the".
- The second noun is in the genitive case (ending -i).
- بيتُ أحمدَbaytu a7madaAhmed's house
- بابُ البيتِbaabu al-baytithe door of the house
- مفتاحُ السيارةِmiftaa7u as-sayyaaratithe car key
If the first noun ends in ة, the t is pronounced:
- مدينةُ القاهرةِmadiinatu al-qaahiratithe city of Cairo
Chains
You can link more than two nouns. Only the last one can take al-:
- بابُ بيتِ المُعلّمِbaabu bayti al-mu3allimithe door of the teacher's house
Adjectives come after the whole iḍāfa
An adjective describing either noun goes at the end and agrees with the noun it describes:
- بيتُ أحمدَ الكبيرُbaytu a7mada al-kabiiruAhmed's big house
"Belonging to": li-
To say "a book of Ahmed's" (indefinite), use li-:
- كتابٌ لأحمدَkitaabun li-a7madaa book of Ahmed's
- هذا الكتابُ ليhaadha al-kitaabu liiThis book is mine.