Levantine Arabic Adjectives: Word Order and Agreement

Adjectives come after the noun and match it in gender, number and "the".

Matching gender

• ولد كبيرwalad kbiira big boy
• بنت كبيرةbinit kbiirea big girl

Matching "the": description vs sentence

If the noun has il-, the adjective takes il- too. Leave it off the adjective and you've made a sentence instead.

• الولد الكبيرil-walad il-kbiirthe big boy
• الولد كبيرil-walad kbiirThe boy is big.

Matching number

People take plural adjectives, often broken plurals:

• ولاد كبارwlaad kbaarbig children
• ناس منيحينnaas mni7iinnice people

Plurals of things usually take the feminine singular:

• سيارات جديدةsayyaaraat jdiidenew cars

Nationality adjectives (-i)

• لبناني / لبنانية / لبنانيينlibnaani / libnaaniyye / libnaaniyyiinLebanese (m / f / pl)

Colours