A Hundred and One Rules in Arabic Grammar!
- The Feminine Marker. ========================
As in many other languages, any Arabic noun/adjective has to be either masculine or feminine. With few exceptions, the general rule is to suffix the Taa' MarbuTa (ـة/ة ) to the masculine noun/adjective forms to derive the feminine ones. Examples are:
nouns استاذ/استاذة ، مراسل/مراسلة ، طالب/طالبة
adjectives قديم/قديمة، جميل/جميلة ** ** ، جديد/جديدة
However, you need to remember that the Taa' Marbuta (ـة/ة ) is used in certain ancient Arabic male proper names such as:
**طلحة ، معاوية ، حمزة**
Also, it is used on some broken plural patterns such as:
(giant ) عملاق/عمالقة ( professor/s) استاذ/استاذة