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 (tāʼ mạrbūṭạẗtāʾ marbūṭahtāˈ marbuwṭaẗtaʼ mrbwṭẗ)), the adjective must also take the feminine form.

• ⁧وَلَدٌ صَغِيرٌ⁩

  wạlạdụṇ ṣạḡīrụṇwaladun ṣag͟hīrunwaladú ṣaġiyrúwld ṣḡyr

  a small boy

• ⁧بِنْتٌ صَغِيرَةٌ⁩

  bịntụṇ ṣạḡīrạẗụṇbintun ṣag͟hīratunbintú ṣaġiyraẗúbnt ṣḡyrẗ

  a small girl

• ⁧مَدِينَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ⁩

  mạdīnạẗụṇ jạmīlạẗụṇmadīnatun d͟jamīlatunmadiynaẗú ǧamiylaẗúmdynẗ jmylẗ

  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

  albạytụ ᵃlkạbīrụalbaytu ᵃlkabīruʾalbaytu ᵃlkabiyrualbyt ᵃlkbyr

  the big house

• ⁧الْمُدَرِّسُ الْجَيِّدُ⁩

  almụdạrrịsụ ᵃljạyyịdụalmudarrisu ᵃld͟jayyiduʾalmudarrisu ᵃlǧayyidualmdrs ᵃljyd

  the good teacher

• ⁧اللُّغَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ⁩

  allụḡạẗụ ᵃlʕạrạbịyyạẗụallug͟hatu ᵃlʿarabiyyatuʾalluġaẗu ᵃlʿarabiyyaẗualḡẗ ᵃlʕrbyẗ

  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

  bạytụṇ kạbīrụṇbaytun kabīrunbaytú kabiyrúbyt kbyr

  a big house

• ⁧مُدَرِّسٌ جَيِّدٌ⁩

  mụdạrrịsụṇ jạyyịdụṇmudarrisun d͟jayyidunmudarrisú ǧayyidúmdrs jyd

  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

  alwạlạdụ ᵃṭṭạwīlụalwaladu ᵃṭṭawīluʾalwaladu ᵃṭṭawiylualwld ᵃṭwyl

  the tall boy

Complete Sentence (Mismatched)

• ⁧الْوَلَدُ طَوِيلٌ⁩

  alwạlạdụ ṭạwīlụṇalwaladu ṭawīlunʾalwaladu ṭawiylúalwld ṭwyl

  The boy is tall.

More Examples

• ⁧السَّيَّارَةُ سَرِيعَةٌ⁩

  assạyyārạẗụ sạrīʕạẗụṇassayyāratu sarīʿatunʾassayyāraẗu sariyʿaẗúalsyarẗ sryʕẗ

  The car is fast.

• ⁧الْكِتَابُ مُفِيدٌ⁩

  alkịtābụ mụfīdụṇalkitābu mufīdunʾalkitābu mufiydúalktab mfyd

  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

  kụtụbụṇ kạṯīrạẗụṇkutubun kat͟hīratunkutubú kaṯiyraẗúktb kṯyrẗ

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

• ⁧سَيَّارَاتٌ جَدِيدَةٌ⁩

  sạyyārātụṇ jạdīdạẗụṇsayyārātun d͟jadīdatunsayyārātú ǧadiydaẗúsyarat jdydẗ

  new cars

• ⁧الْأَقْلَامُ الْقَدِيمَةُ⁩

  alʼạqlāmụ ᵃlqạdīmạẗụalʾaqlāmu ᵃlqadīmatuʾalˈaqlāmu ᵃlqadiymaẗualˈaqlam ᵃlqdymẗ

  the old pens