โ† All Levantine Arabic grammar

A1 ยท Levantine Arabic grammar

The Dual in Levantine Arabic: How to Say "Two" of Something

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Arabic has a special form for exactly two of something: the dual. In Levantine it's the ending -ein.

Making the dual

  • ูƒุชุงุจ โ† ูƒุชุงุจูŠู†ktaab โ†’ ktaabeina book โ†’ two books
  • ูŠูˆู… โ† ูŠูˆู…ูŠู†yoom โ†’ yomeina day โ†’ two days

Feminine nouns ending in -a/-e use -tein:

  • ุณูŠุงุฑุฉ โ† ุณูŠุงุฑุชูŠู†sayyaara โ†’ sayyaarteina car โ†’ two cars
  • ุณู†ุฉ โ† ุณู†ุชูŠู†sine โ†’ sinteina year โ†’ two years
  • ู…ุฑู‘ุฉ โ† ู…ุฑู‘ุชูŠู†marra โ†’ marrteinonce โ†’ twice

Don't add the number 2

The dual already means "two", so you don't say tnein ktaab. To stress "two", add tnein after the noun:

  • ุจุฏูŠ ูƒุชุงุจูŠู†baddi ktaabeinI want two books.
  • ุจุณ ูƒุชุงุจูŠู† ุชู†ูŠู†bass ktaabein tneinjust two books

Words that go with a dual

Adjectives and demonstratives after a dual are plural:

  • ุงู„ูˆู„ุฏูŠู† ู‡ุฏูˆู„il-waladein hadoolthese two boys

Related

Plurals

Sound plurals with endings, and "broken" plurals that change shape.

Counting things: 11 and up

Why "30 apple" is correct Arabic: which noun form follows each number.