Elementary Arabic Morphology 1

The Division of Nouns Into Masculine and Feminine

  1. What is a masculine noun?

  2. What is a feminine noun?

  3. What gender to non-living objects have?

  4. What are the signs of feminine nouns?

  5. A masculine noun is a noun that denotes a male human or animal. For example: ﺃبٌ ﺃسَدٌ(a lion, a father)

  6. A feminine noun is a noun that denotes a female human or animal. For example: اُمّ لَبوَةٌ (a lioness, a mother)

  7. Non living objects are:

• Always masculine; for example: قَمَرٌ سَیفٌ (a moon, a sword)

• Always feminine; for example: شَمسٌ عَینٌ (a sun, an eye)

  1. There are three signs of a feminine noun:

• The ة ; for example: کاذِبَة (a female liar)

• The ی ; for example: کُبریَ (a female name)

• The اء ; for example: حَسناء (a beautiful woman)