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A R
Hello, how to distinguish between female and male form, in Arabic? thank you ever so much
Sep 3, 2013 7:06 AM
Answers · 10
3
You can have a look to this video I made before. It's a tutoring about the Arabic word Categories.
There, I explain about the masculine and the feminine nouns.
September 3, 2013
2
Actually, there is no problem in distinguishing between male and female for animate objects (humanbeings &animals).
Ex:
علي : a man's name (male).
فاطمة : a woman's name (female).
أسد : the male lion (male).
لبؤة : the female lion (female).
Remarks:
1-Some men's names end with "ة" (the feminene mark), but they are still treated as male, because they are men's names as well.
Ex: حمزة ، حيدرة / أسامة / عكاشة
2-And some women's names doesen't end with the feminine mark "ة", but they are treated as female names.
Ex: سعاد، أمل، إيمان، صفاء
But for inanimate objects, i'm afraid that there is no rule, and you'll have to memorize. But if the word ends with ة ( like in طاولة =table ), then it is considered female.
Ex:
شمس : the sun (female).
قمر : the moon (male).
كرسي : chair (male).
طاولة : table (female).
Remark:
Plants are mostly treated as female.
Ex:
نخلة : palm tree.
شجرة : tree.
وردة/زهرة : flower
September 4, 2013
2
Female usually ends in ة and male doesn't. Of course there are exceptions like in any language, so sometimes you will just have to memorize if the word is or isn't female.
September 4, 2013
1
I forgot to mention the feminine marks:
1- ة (at the end of nouns and adjectives)
Ex:
Noun:
طبيب : doctor
طبيبة : female doctor.
Adjective:
ماهر : skillful.
ماهرة : skillful (femaile)
2- اء (only at the end of adjectives).
Ex:
أحمر : red (male).
حمراء : red (female).
أعمى : blind (male).
عمياء : blind (female).
3- ى (the "most" female adjectives)
Ex:
كبرى : the biggest
قصرى : the shortest
Note: this doesn't work for all adjectives, like in english when you can't say "beautifullest".
Now l'll annoy you with verbs. I'll use the verb يكتب =to write:
Male past: كتب = he wrote.
Female past: كتبت = she wrote.
Male present: يكتب = he writes / is writing.
Female present: تكتب = she writes / is writing.
Male imperative: اكتب = write!
Female imperative: اكتب (pronounced with a slight ي at the end) = write! (Asking a female to write).
Female
September 4, 2013
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A R
Language Skills
Arabic, English
Learning Language
Arabic
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