Attributive Adjectives

01

Word Order and Gender Agreement

While English says "a tall man," Arabic says "a man tall." Furthermore, the adjective must match the gender of the noun. If the noun is masculine, the adjective is masculine. If the noun is feminine (usually indicated by the ending ⁧ة⁩ (t), the ⁧⁧تاء مربوطة⁩⁩ (tāʾ marbūṭahtāʾ marbūṭahtāʾ marbuwṭahtaʾ marbwṭah)), the adjective must also take the feminine form.

• ⁧وَلَدٌ صَغِيرٌ⁩

  waladun ṣaghīrunwaladun ṣaghīrunwaladun ṣaghiyrunwaladun ṣaghyrun

  a small boy

• ⁧بِنْتٌ صَغِيرَةٌ⁩

  bintun ṣaghīratunbintun ṣaghīratunbintun ṣaghiyratunbintun ṣaghyratun

  a small girl

• ⁧مَدِينَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ⁩

  madīnatun jamīlatunmadīnatun d͟jamīlatunmadiynatun ǧamiylatunmadynatun jamylatun

  a beautiful city

02

Agreement in Definiteness (The "Al-" Rule)

In Arabic, adjectives act like a mirror to the noun. They must match not only in gender but also in "definiteness." This means if the noun has the definite article ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-), meaning "the", the adjective must also have ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-).

If you want to say "the big house," you literally say "the house the big." Both words must carry the definite article.

• ⁧الْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ⁩

  al-baytu al-kabīrual-baytu al-kabīruʾal-baytu ʾal-kabiyrual-baytu al-kabyru

  the big house

• ⁧الْمُدَرِّسُ الْجَيِّدُ⁩

  al-mudarrisu al-jayyidual-mudarrisu al-d͟jayyiduʾal-mudarrisu ʾal-ǧayyidual-mudarisu al-jayidu

  the good teacher

• ⁧اللُّغَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ⁩

  al-lughatu al-ʿarabiyyatual-lughatu al-ʿarabiyyatuʾal-lughatu ʾal-ʿarabiyyatual-lughatu al-ʿarabiyatu

  the Arabic language

If the noun is indefinite (meaning "a house" rather than "the house"), neither word takes ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-), and both usually end with the "un" sound ⁧⁧تنوين⁩⁩ (tanwīntanwīntanwiyntanwyn).

• ⁧بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ⁩

  baytun kabīrunbaytun kabīrunbaytun kabiyrunbaytun kabyrun

  a big house

• ⁧مُدَرِّسٌ جَيِّدٌ⁩

  mudarrisun jayyidunmudarrisun d͟jayyidunmudarrisun ǧayyidunmudarisun jayidun

  a good teacher

03

Distinguishing Phrases from Sentences

This agreement rule is crucial for distinguishing between a descriptive phrase (like "the tall man") and a complete sentence (like "The man is tall").

To form a complete sentence with "is," you break the agreement. The noun remains definite with ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-), but the adjective becomes indefinite without ⁧⁧ال⁩⁩ (al-al-ʾal-al-). This mismatch creates the meaning of "is" without actually using a verb.

Descriptive Phrase (Matching)

• ⁧الْوَلَدُ الطَّوِيلُ⁩

  al-waladu al-ṭawīlual-waladu al-ṭawīluʾal-waladu ʾal-ṭawiylual-waladu al-ṭawylu

  the tall boy

Complete Sentence (Mismatched)

• ⁧الْوَلَدُ طَوِيلٌ⁩

  al-waladu ṭawīlunal-waladu ṭawīlunʾal-waladu ṭawiylunal-waladu ṭawylun

  The boy is tall.

More Examples

• ⁧السَّيَّارَةُ سَرِيعَةٌ⁩

  as-sayyāratu sarīʿatunas-sayyāratu sarīʿatunʾas-sayyāratu sariyʿatunas-sayaratu saryʿatun

  The car is fast.

• ⁧الْكِتَابُ مُفِيدٌ⁩

  al-kitābu mufīdunal-kitābu mufīdunʾal-kitābu mufiydunal-kitabu mufydun

  The book is useful.

04

Non-Human Plurals

There is one major exception to the agreement rules. When a noun refers to plural non-human objects (like cars, books, pens, or ideas), the adjective does not take the plural form. Instead, it takes the feminine singular form.

Think of non-human plurals as a collective "it" or "she" grammatically.

• ⁧كُتُبٌ كَثِيرَةٌ⁩

  kutubun kathīratunkutubun kathīratunkutubun kathiyratunkutubun kathyratun

  many books (literally: books many-feminine-singular)

• ⁧سَيَّارَاتٌ جَدِيدَةٌ⁩

  sayyārātun jadīdatunsayyārātun d͟jadīdatunsayyārātun ǧadiydatunsayaratun jadydatun

  new cars

• ⁧الْأَقْلَامُ الْقَدِيمَةُ⁩

  al-aqlāmu al-qadīmatual-aqlāmu al-qadīmatuʾal-aqlāmu ʾal-qadiymatual-aqlamu al-qadymatu

  the old pens