List of Singular and Plural Nouns in Arabic | اسم مفرد وجمع

Knowing and memorizing vocabulary is one of the factors for success in learning a language, including Arabic. Therefore, we are going to read the list of singular and plural nouns. 

Once you finish reading the list of singular and plural nouns below, you can memorize them.

Before memorizing the words, let me explain to you the basic concept of  a noun, the concept that must be known by beginners.

I've discussed types of noun based on gender, number, definiteness, and cases in this lesson and this one, but it's better to repeat the lesson to get more understanding.

Arabic words Materials & Workbook that make your memorizing process easier

Noun inflection based on number

The concepts of noun inflection based on number

Arabic nouns are inflected for three numbers, they are:

a. Singular ⇒ مفرد (mufrad)

b. Dual ⇒ مثنّى (muthanna)

c. Plural ⇒ جمع (jam'un)

Let's discuss them one by one, start from singular noun.

Singular nouns

مفرد (mufrad) is a noun (اسم) which denotes one of something.

Examples:

قَلَمٌ = a pen (one pen)

مُدَرِّسٌ = a teacher (one teacher)

مُدَرِّسَةٌ = a female teacher (one female teacher)

Dual nouns

مثنّى (muthanna) or dual noun is a noun (اسم) which denotes two of something.

How do we form dual noun from singular noun?

Below are the steps:

— An alif (ألف) preceded by a fath-hah then followed by a nun (نون) with a kasrah.

This step is for dual noun which is in nominative case (مرفوع)

Example:

مُدَرِّسَانِ (mudarrisaani) = two teachers


— A ya (ياء) preceded by a fat-hah and followed by a nun (نون) with kasrah.

This step is for dual noun which is in accusative and genitive case (منصوب and مجرور).

Example:

مُدَرِّسَيْنِ = two teachers.

Summary of dual noun

1. The dual noun is formed by replacing the case ending of the singular form with the following suffixes:

انِ (aani) for nominative.

يْنِ (ayni) for accusative and genitive.

2. The final ta marbutah (ة) in a singular noun becomes ta regular (ت) before dual endings.

Example:

Singular : مُدَرِّسَةٌ

Dual : مُدَرِّسَتَانِ (nominative case/marfu') or مُدَرِّسَتَيْنِ (accusative case/mansub and genitive case/majrur).

Plural nouns

جمع (jam'un) or plural noun is a noun which denotes more than two of something.

Example:

قَلَمٌ = a pen
أَقْلاَمٌ = pens

مُدَرِّسٌ = a teacher
مُدَرِّسُونَ = teachers

مُدَرِّسَةٌ = a female teacher
مُدَرِّسَاتٌ = teachers

Types of plural

Below are the types of plurals

1. الجمع السّالم (al-jam' as-saalim) or sound plural

Sound plural or jam' salim means the plural form  of mufrad doesn't change when its plural is made. In other word, the singular noun letter sequence doesn't break.

Example :

— First, let's see the example of masculine sound plural (جمع مذكّر سالم).

مُجْتَهِدٌ is singular form.

The plural form of مُجْتَهِدٌ  is مُجْتَهِدُونَ

This is plural form, which is in nominative case (مرفوع).

The plural form when it is in accusative or genitive case (منصوب or مجرور) is مُجْتَهِدِيْنَ (mujtahidiina).


— The plural form example for feminine sound plural (جمع مؤنّث سالم):

singular form: مُدَرِّسَةٌ

the plural form for nominative case : مُدَرِّسَاتٌ

The plural form for accusative case and genitive case: مُدَرِّسَاتٍ

2. الجمع التكسير (al-jam' at-taksiir) or broken plural

I've explained you the wazan (pattern) the broken plural, you can learn them to understand more detail.

In this lesson, I just want to show you the types of plural noun with examples.

Broken plural or jam' taksir means the plural form of mufrad changes when its plural is made. In other words, the singular letter sequence breaks.

Example:

singular form = قَلَمٌ

The plural form of قَلَمٌ is أَقْلاَمٌ (aqlaamun).

You can notice that the sequence of singular letter breaks when the plural is made.

Summary of the plural noun

1. There are two plural types in Arabic, they are:

a. Sound plural (jam' salim)

b. Broken plural (jam' taksir)


2. The sound masculine plural (jam' mudhakkar salim) is formed by replacing the case endings of the singular with :

— ونَ (uuna) for nominative or marfu'.

— ينَ (iina) for accusative/mansub and genitive/majrur.


3. Sound feminine plural (jam' mu-annath salim) is formed by adding the following suffixes:

— اتٌ (aatun) for nominative.

— اتٍ (aatin) for accusative and genitive.

Example of jama' mudhakkar salim (sound masculine plural)

Example of sound feminine plural (jama' mu-annath salim)

Example of broken plural

Examples of singular and plural nouns in Arabic with English translation

Note:

I will write the singular form first, then the plural form. (singular ⇒ plural)

المهنة (Profession)

تَاجِرٌ (a merchant) ⇒ تُجَّارٌ

طَيَّارٌ (a pilot) ⇒ طَيَّارُونَ

خَيَّاطٌ (a tailor) ⇒ خَيَّاطُونَ

نَجَّارٌ (a carpenter) ⇒ نَجَّارُونَ

طَبِيْبٌ (a doctor) ⇒ أَطِبَّاءُ

الأسرة (Family)

أَبٌ (a father) ⇒ آباءٌ

أُمٌّ (a mother) ⇒ أُمَّهَاتٌ

جَدٌّ (a grandfather) ⇒ أَجْدَادٌ

جَدَّةٌ (a grandmother) ⇒ جَدَّاتٌ

أَخٌ (a brother) ⇒ إِخْوَانٌ

أُخْتٌ (a sister) ⇒ أَخَوَاتٌ

الأثاث (Furniture)

أَرِيْكَةٌ  (a sofa) ⇒ أَرَائِكٌ

طَاوِلَةٌ (a table) ⇒ طَاوِلَاتٌ

سَرِيْرٌ (a bed) ⇒ أَسِرَّةٌ

خِزَانَةٌ (a cupboard) ⇒ خَزَائِنُ

مِصْبَاحٌ (a lamp) ⇒ مَصَابِيحُ

المواصلات (Transportation)

سَيَّارَةٌ (a car) ⇒ سَيَّارَاتٌ

حَافِلَةٌ ( a bus) ⇒ حَافِلَاتٌ

دَرَّاجَةٌ ( a bicycle) ⇒ دَرَّاجَاتٌ

طَائِرَةٌ (a plane) ⇒ طَائِرَاتٌ

قِطَارٌ (a train) ⇒ قِطَارَاتٌ

الملابس (Clothes)

لِبَاسٌ (apparel) ⇒ أَلْبِسَةٌ

قَمِيْصٌ (a shirt) ⇒ قُمْصَانٌ

سِرْوَالٌ (pants) ⇒ سَرَاوِيلُ

بَنْطَلُونٌ (trousers) ⇒ بَنْطَلُونَاتٌ  

جَوْرَبٌ (socks) ⇒ جَوَارِبُ

الحيوانات (animals)