13 Patterns of Broken Plurals in Arabic with Examples

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Dear student, if you've read and learned my previous notes about singular, dual, and plurals in Arabic, you must know that there are two type of plurals in Arabic, they are sound plural ( الْجَمْعُ السَّالِمُ  ) and broken plural ( الْجَمْعُ الْمُكَسَّرُ  or جَمْعُ التَّكْسِيْرِ  ).

Before continuing on learning about broken plurals more detail, I will recap the lesson "sound plural".


pattern of broken plurals noun


Recap the previous lesson - sound plural in Arabic


There are two kinds of sound plural in Arabic, they are:

1. Sound masculine plural (جَمْعُ المُذَكَّرِ السَّالِمِ)

2. Sound feminine plural (جَمْعُ المُؤَنَّثِ السَّالِمِ)


Example of sound masculine plural

Singular : مُدَرِّسٌ = a teacher.

Plural:

Nominative case (مَرْفُوْعٌ) is:  مُدَرِّسُوْنَ = teachers.

Accusative case (مَنْصُوْبٌ) is: مُدَرِّسِيْنَ  = teachers.

Genitive case (مَجْرُوْرٌ) is: مُدَرِّسِيْنَ  = teachers.


Example of sound feminine plural

Singular: مُدَرِّسَةٌ  = a (female) teacher.

Plural:

Nominative case (مَرْفُوْعٌ) is: مُدَرِّسَاتٌ = female teachers.

Accusative case (مَنْصُوْبٌ) is: مُدَرِّسَاتٍ = female teachers.

Genitive case (مَجْرُوْرٌ) is: مُدَرِّسَاتٍ = female teachers.



13 Broken Plurals Forms in Arabic - Video lesson version






======special notes======
 
You can watch another video lesson about singular and plural form in Arabic here :

https://learnarabicstepbystep.blogspot.com/2021/07/singular-plural-in-arabic-language-pdf.html

 ======special notes======

 

 

Broken Plural ( جَمْعُ التَّكْسِيْرِ  )


Now, I will show you the list of broken plural patterns. 

In addition to this, I also present you some examples for each patterns.

I suggest you again to observe and memorize the plural form of noun/adjective if you find the new noun/adjective words. Afterwards, recognize that plural form in which pattern it has.

Below are the patterns:



1. فُعَّالٌ


Examples:

- طَالِبٌ (singular) - طُلاَّبٌ (plural) = student.

- عَامِلٌ (singular) - عُمَّالٌ (plural) = worker

- تَاجِرٌ (singular) - تُجَّارٌ (plural) = merchant.


2. فِعَالٌ


Examples:

- جَبَلٌ (singular) - جِبَالٌ (plural) = mountain.

- كَبِيْرٌ (singular) - كِبَارٌ (plural) = big

- رَجُلٌ (singular) - رِجَالٌ (plural) = man


3. أَفْعَالٌ


Examples:

- قَلَمٌ (singular) - أَقْلاَمٌ (plural) = pen

- وَلَدٌ  (singular) - أَوْلاَدٌ  (plural) = child

- زَوْجٌ (singular) - أَزْوَاجٌ (plural) = husband


4. فُعُوْلٌ


Examples:

- ضَيْفٌ (singular) - ضُيُوْفٌ (plural) = guest

- قَلْبٌ (singular) - قُلُوْبٌ (plural) = heart

- بَيْتٌ (singular) - بُيُوْتٌ (plural) = house.


5. فِعْلَةٌ


Examples:

- أَخٌ (singular) - إِخْوَةٌ (plural) = brother


- فَتًى (singular) - فِتْيَةٌ (plural) = youth


6. فُعُلٌ 


Examples:

- كِتَابٌ (singular) - كُتُبٌ (plural) = book

- رَسُوْلٌ (singular) - رُسُلٌ (plural) = messenger

- جَدِيْدٌ (singular) - جُدُدٌ (plural) = new


7. فُعَلاَءُ 


This patters has no tanwiin (مَمْنُوْعٌ مِنَ الصَّرْفِ).

Examples:


- فَقِيْرٌ (singular) - فُقَرَاءُ (plural) = poor

- زَمِيْلٌ (singular) - زُمَلاَءُ (plural) = colleague

- وَزِيِرٌ (singular) - وُزَرَاءُ (plural) = minister


8. أَفْعِلاَءُ 


This patters has no tanwiin (مَمْنُوْعٌ مِنَ الصَّرْفِ).

Examples:


- غَنِيٌّ (singular) - أَغْنِيَاءُ (plural) = rich

- نَبِيٌّ (singular) - أَنْبِيَاءُ  (plural) = prophet

- طَبِيْبٌ (singular) - أَطِبَّءُ (plural) = doctor


9. مَفَاعِلُ


This patters has no tanwiin (مَمْنُوْعٌ مِنَ الصَّرْفِ).

Examples:


- مَكْتَبٌ (singular) - مَكَاتِبُ (plural) = desk

- فُنْدُقٌ (singular) - فَنَادِقٌ (plural) = hotel

- مَسْجِدٌ (singular) - مَسَاجِدُ (plural) = masjid


10. مَفَاعِيْلُ


This patters has no tanwiin (مَمْنُوْعٌ مِنَ الصَّرْفِ).

Examples:


- مِفْتَاحٌ (singular) - مَفَاتِيْحُ  (plural) = key

- فِنْجَانٌ (singular) - فَنَاجِيْنُ ( plural) = cup

- صُنْدُوْقٌ (singular) - صَنَادِيْقُ (plural) = box


11. أَفْعِلَةٌ 


Examples:

- سُؤَالٌ (singular) - أَسْئِلَةٌ (plural) = question

- جَوَابٌ (singular) - أَجْوِبَةٌ (plural) = answer

- طَعَامٌ (singular) - أَطْعِمَةٌ (plural) = food


12. أَفْعُلٌ


Examples:

- شَهْرٌ (singular) - أَشْهُرٌ (plural) = month

- نَفْسٌ (singular) - أَنْفُسٌ (plural) = soul/self

- رِجْلٌ (singular) - أَرْجُلٌ (plural) = foot



13. فُعْلاَنٌ


Examples:

- قَمِيْصٌ (singular) - قُمْصَانٌ (plural) = shirt

- بَلَدٌ (singular) - بُلْدَانٌ (plural) = country