Types of noun in terms of the quantity | Arabic Grammar Concepts

This lesson complements the former lesson types of noun in Arabic.

After reviewing types of noun in term of gender, today I'll explain you noun types in term of the quantity.

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I advise you to read the most related lesson in the following links:

Singular, dual, and plural noun in Arabic 

Singular and plural words in Arabic - video lesson and pdf eBook 

 
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Types of noun in term of it's quantity

If a noun is seen from it's quantity, the noun is divided to three types. They are:

1. اسم مفرد (ismun mufrad)

ism mufrad is singular noun.

examples :

بَابٌ  = a door

بَيْتٌ = a house

نَافِذَةٌ = a window

2. اسم مثنّى (ismun muthanna)

ism muthanna is dual noun.

Dual noun in Arabic means the quantity of the noun is two.


examples :

بَابَانِ = two doors

بَيْتَانِ = two houses

نَافِذَتَانِ = two windows

Basic rules regarding dual noun

a. We make dual noun from singular noun with these steps :

- Add the last letter with ان

- the harakat before ا  is fat-hah

- the harakat of ن is kasrah

examples :

بَابٌ is singular noun.

The dual form of  بَابٌ  is => 

- add the last letter with ان  , so it will become بَابان

- the letter before ا (in this case is ب) , we put the harakat ب  fat-hah, so it will become بَابَان

- the harakat of ن  is kasrah , finally it becomes بَابَانِ

b. We perform the same steps with point "a" to make dual form from feminine singular noun.

We do the same steps, but the thing we must concern is letter ة (ta marbutah).

We change ة to ت for dual form.

examples :

مُدَرِّسَةٌ = a female teacher.

The dual form of مُدَرِّسَةٌ is  => مُدَرِّسَتَانِ  (two female teachers)

سَيَّارَةٌ = a car

the dual form of سَيَّارَةٌ  is => سَيَّارَتَانِ  (two cars)

c. the rules of  الأضافي (phrase/combination of two nouns) in dual noun

When ism muthanna (dual noun) is in phrase form or connected to another noun, then the letter ن is removed.

example:

كِتَابَانِ  = two books

مُحَمَّدٌ = Muhammad

Muhammad's books  => كِتَابَا مُحَمَّدٍ  

3. اسم جمع (ismun jam'un)

ism jam' is plural noun.

plural noun in Arabic is the noun which has the quantity more than two.

There are three types of plural noun in Arabic, they are:


a. جمع مذكّر سالم (jam'un mudhakkar saalim)

jam' mudhakkar salim is masculine sound plural.

Sound plural means the origin form of the noun does not change. 

We make masculine sound plural from singular with these steps:

- Add the last letter with ون

- و is sukuun

- the harakat of ن  is fat-hah


examples :

مُدَرِّسٌ = a male teacher.

the sound plural form of مُدَرِّسٌ  is =>  مُدَرِّسُونَ (teachers)

مُجْتَهِدٌ  = diligent

the sound plural form of مُجْتَهِدٌ   is  مُجْتَهِدُوْنَ 

The rules of  الأضافي (phrase/combination of two nouns) in masculine sound plural

It has the same concept of ism muthanna, if it is combined with another noun, then the letter ن is removed.

example:

مُدَرِّسُونَ plus اللُغَةُ => it becomes  مُدَرِّسُو اللُّغَةِ  (language teachers)

b. جمع مؤنّث سالم (jam'un mu-annath saalim)

jam' muannath salim is feminine sound plural.

We can make feminine sound plural form from singular with these steps:

- the letter before ة is fat-hah, then add ا (alif)

- change ة to ت

Examples :

مُدَرِّسَةٌ = a female teacher

the sound plural form of مُدَرِّسَةٌ  is => مُدَرِّسَاتٌ (female teachers)

سَيَّارَةٌ = a car

the sound plural form of  سَيَّارَةٌ   is =>  سَيَّارَاتٌ   (cars)

c. جمع تكسير (jam'un taksiir)

jam' taksir is broken plural.

Unlike sound plurals where the original form of the word is retained, the broken plural is formed by making internal changes to the structure of the noun, like deletions, prefixes, or suffixes.

Broken plurals are known from hearing Arabic native speaker or by recognizing from Arabic dictionary.

examples :

 طَالِبٌ = a student

the broken plural form of  طَالِبٌ is => طُلاَّبٌ (students)

مَسْجِدٌ = a mosque

the broken plural of  مَسْجِدٌ is => مَسَاجِدُ (mosques)

بَيْتٌ =  a house

the broken plural of  بَيْتٌ is =>  بُيُوتٌ (houses)  

I recommend you to memorize the broken plurals once you found a new Arabic word.

I also recommend you to memorize Arabic vocabulary by reading a book that contains and focus on singular and plural words in Arabic to make it easier for you to memorize the words both in singular and plural form.

Here is the book : singular and plural nouns in Arabic 

I've discussed broken plurals in Arabic, and you can read to get understanding more comprehensively here 13 patterns (wazan) of broken plurals in Arabic

Summary of quantity of noun in Arabic (video version)