Personal Pronoun | Detached and Attached Pronoun in Arabic

Today we are going to learn a very basic concept about pronoun. The Beginners must know comprehensively this concept. Therefore, we have to learn this fundamental concept carefully.

Ok, let's start. We will learn personal pronouns (الضّمائر) in Arabic. 

The fundamental concept we are going to learn are:

1. Types of personal pronoun in Arabic:
a. detached pronoun (damir munfasil).
b. attached pronoun (damir muttasil).

2. Categories of personal pronoun, both masculine (mudhakkar) and feminine (mu-annath):
a. 1st person (mutakallim).
b. 2nd person (mukhatab).
c. 3rd person (gha-ib).

3. List all of 14 personal pronouns in Arabic with Examples.

Note:
Actually, there are 12 personal pronouns, because there are two same dual forms (they are هُمَا and أنْتُمَا.)
If they are counted as one, we can say there are 12 personal pronouns.

The concept of personal pronoun in Arabic

Read the fundamental concept of personal pronoun in Arabic below.

1. There are two types of personal pronoun in Arabic, they are attached pronoun and detached pronoun.

• Attached pronouns in Arabic is الضّمائر المتّصلة
• Detached pronouns in Arabic is الضّمائر المنفصلة

2. Each pronoun is divided into three categories, they are 1st Person, 2nd Person, and 3rd Person.

• 1st person in Arabic is المتكلّم
• 2nd person in Arabic is المخاطب
• 3rd person in Arabic is الغائب

3. Each person is divided into two categories, they are masculine and feminine.

• Masculine in Arabic is المذكّر
• Feminine in Arabic is المؤنّث

4. Detached pronouns:

a. 1st person/al-mutakallim (al-mutakallim is for mudhakkar and mu-annath).

Singular (مفرد) is أَنَا , the meaning is I.
Plural (جمع) is نَحْنُ, the meaning is We.

b1. 2nd person/al-mukhatab al-mudhakkar (masculine).

Singular : أَنْتَ , the meaning is You.
Dual: أَنْتُمَا , the meaning is You (two)
Plural: أَنْتُمْ, the meaning is You (all).

b2. 2nd person/al-mukhatab al-mu-annath (feminine).

Singular: أَنْتِ , the meaning is You (female).
Dual: أَنْتُمَا , the meaning is You (two females).
Plural: أَنْتُنَّ , the meaning is You (all females).

c1. 3rd person/al-gha-ib al-mudhakkar (masculine).
 
Singular: هُوَ , the meaning is He.
Dual: هُمَا , the meaning is They (two).
Plural: هُمْ, the meaning is They (all males).

c2. 3rd person/al-gha-ib al-muannath (feminine).

Singular: هِيَ  , the meaning is She.
Dual: هُمَا, the meaning is they (two females).
Plural: هُنَّ , the meaning is They (all females).


5. Recap: detached pronouns (الضّمائر المنفصلة)

الغائب third person: one who is absent => huwa, huma, hum, hiya, huma, hunna
المخاطب second person: the one addressed => anta, antuma, antum, anti, antuma, antunna
المتكلّم first person: the one who speaks => ana, nahnu

 
6. Attached pronouns (الضّمائر المتّصلة) :
Attached pronoun is a pronoun that is attached to a noun, verb, or particle. The pronoun is considered possessive.

a. 1st person/al-mutakallim (al-mutakallim is for mudhakkar and mu-annath).

Singular (مفرد) is ي, the meaning is My.
Plural (جمع) is نَا, the meaning is Our.

b1. 2nd person/al-mukhatab al-mudhakkar (masculine).

Singular : كَ, the meaning is Your.
Dual: كُمَا, the meaning is Your (two)
Plural: كُمْ, the meaning is Your (all).

b2. 2nd person/al-mukhatab al-mu-annath (feminine).

Singular: كِ, the meaning is Your (female).
Dual: كُمَا, the meaning is Your (two females).
Plural: كُنَّ, the meaning is Your (all females).

c1. 3rd person/al-gha-ib al-mudhakkar (masculine).
 
Singular: هُ, the meaning is His.
Dual: هُمَا, the meaning is Their (two males).
Plural: هُمْ, the meaning is Their (all males).

c2. 3rd person/al-gha-ib al-muannath (feminine).

Singular: هَا, the meaning is Her.
Dual: هُمَا, the meaning is Their (two females).
Plural: هُنَّ, the meaning is Their (all females).


7. Examples of personal pronoun in Arabic.

a. Detached pronouns in Arabic examples:

هُوَ مُدَرِّسٌ = He is a teacher.
هُمَا مُدَرِّسَانِ = They are teachers.
هُمْ مُدَرِّسُونَ = They are teachers.
هِيَ مُدَرِّسَةٌ = She is a teacher.
هُمَا مُدَرِّسَتَانِ = They are teachers.
هُنَّ مثدَرِّسَاتٌ = They are teachers.
أَنْتَ مُدَرِّسٌ = You are a teacher.
أَنْتُمَا مُدَرِّسَانِ = You are teachers.
أَنْتُمْ مُدَرِّسُوْنَ = You are teachers.
أَنْتِ مُدَرِّسَةٌ = You are a teacher.
أَنْتُمَا مُدَرِّسَتَانِ = You are teachers.
أَنْتُنَّ مُدَرِّسَاتٌ = You are teachers.
أَنَا مدَرِّسٌ = I'm a teacher.
نَحْنُ مُدَرِّسُونَ = We are teachers.


b. Attached pronouns in Arabic examples:

قَلَمُهُ = his pen.
قَلَمُهُمَا = their pen.
قَلَمُهُمْ = their pen.
قَلَمُهَا = her pen.
قَلَمُهُمَا = their pen.
قَلَمُهُنَّ = their pen.
قَلَمُكَ = your pen.
قَلَمُكُمَا = your pen.
قَلَمُكُمْ = your pen.
قَلَمُكِ = your pen.
قَلَمُكُمَا = your pen.
قَلَمُكُنَّ = your pen.
قَلَمِي = my pen.
قَلَمُنَا = our pen.


8. List down all the personal pronouns (14 pronouns) in Arabic with the meaning.
 

Observe the picture below.

Below is Arabic personal pronouns chart to make you memorize them easily.

Click the picture to enlarge.