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 plurals: add an ending
-iin is mostly for male people and occupations:
- مهندس ← مهندسينmuhandis → muhandisiinengineer → engineers
-aat is for most feminine nouns (drop the -a/-e first), and for many borrowed words:
- سيارة ← سياراتsayyaara → sayyaaraatcar → cars
- ساعة ← ساعاتsaa3a → saa3aathour → hours
- تلفون ← تلفوناتtalafoon → talafonaatphone → phones
Broken plurals: the word changes shape
Most everyday nouns have a broken plural. The root letters stay, but the vowels change.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| كتاب ktaab | كتب kutub | book |
| بيت beit | بيوت byuut | house |
| ولد walad | ولاد wlaad | boy, child |
| بنت binit | بنات banaat | girl |
| رجّال rijjaal | رجال rjaal | man |
| كلب kalb | كلاب klaab | dog |
| شبّاك shibbaak | شبابيك shbabiik | window |
There's no reliable way to predict a broken plural, so learn each one together with its singular.
Collective nouns
Many foods, plants and animals have a "collective" form. Add -a/-e for one item and -aat to count several.
- تفّاحtiffaa7apples (in general)
- تفّاحةtiffaa7aone apple
- تلات تفّاحاتtlat tiffaa7aatthree apples