In Arabic, personal pronouns are classified into two types: detached and attached personal pronouns. Although the equivalence is not exact, detached personal pronouns in Arabic often function like subject personal pronouns in English. On the other hand, attached personal pronouns often function like possessive, object, and prepositional pronouns in English.
Detached Personal Pronouns in Arabic
Notice that Arabic pronouns are more complex due to their specificity in terms of gender and number. In Arabic, there are two genders, namely masculine and feminine, and three numbers, namely singular, dual, and plural. Here are the detached personal pronouns in Arabic:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st person (m/f) | أَنــا ’anā I | نَـحْـنُ naḥnu We | |
| 2nd person masculine | أَنْـتَ ’anta You | أَنْـتُمـا ’antumā You (both) | أَنْـتُـمْ ’antum You (all) |
| 2nd person feminine | أَنْـتِ ’anti You | أَنْـتُـنَّ ’antunna You (all) | |
| 3rd person masculine | هُــوَ huwa He | هُــمـا humā They (both) | هُــمْ hum They |
| 3rd person feminine | هِــيَ hiya She | هُــنَّ hunna They | |
The feminine forms are used for groups that consist exclusively of feminine-gendered members. In the case of mixed-gender groups, masculine forms are used.
In many spoken dialects, the dual and feminine plural forms are rarely used. This simplifies the use of detached pronouns in informal settings.
Let us consider some examples:
| أَنــا هُــنـا٠ ’anā hunā. I (am) here. | هُــوَ فــي الْـمَـدْرَسَــة٠ huwa fī -l-madrasah. He (is) at school. |
| أَنْـتُـمـا تَـعــيــشـانِ هُــنــاك٠ ’antumā ta‘īshāni hunāk. You (both) live there. | هُــمْ يُـسـافِـــرونَ كُــلَّ عـام٠ hum yusāfirūna kulla ‘ām. They travel every year. |
| أَنْـتَ مُـهَـنْـدِس٠ ’anta muhandis. You(m) (are) (an) engineer. | أَنْـتِ مُـهَـنْـدِسَــة٠ ’anti muhandisah. You(f) (are) (an) engineer. |
| هِـيَ تَـعـيـشُ مَـعَ والِـدَتِـها٠ hiya ta‘īshu ma‘a wālidatihā. She lives with her mother. | نَـحْـنُ نُـحَـضِّـرُ الـطَّـعـام٠ naḥnu nuḥaḍḍiru -ṭ-ṭa‘ām. We are preparing the food. |
Attached Personal Pronouns in Arabic
On the other hand, attached personal pronouns appear as suffixes that can attach to verbs, nouns, prepositions, and some conjunctions. Here are the attached personal pronouns in Arabic:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st person (m/f) | ٠٠٠ــي ، ٠٠٠ـني … ī, … nī my, me, I | ٠٠٠ـنـا … nā our, us, we | |
| 2nd person masculine | ٠٠٠ــكَ … ka your, you | ٠٠٠ــكُـمـا … kumā your, you (both) | ٠٠٠ــكُـمْ … kum your, you (all) |
| 2nd person feminine | ٠٠٠ــكِ … ki your, you | ٠٠٠ــكُـنَّ … kunna your, you (all) | |
| 3rd person masculine | ٠٠٠ــهُ … hu his, him, he, its, it | ٠٠٠ـهُمـا … humā their, them, they (both) | ٠٠٠ـهُـمْ … hum their, them, they |
| 3rd person feminine | ٠٠٠ـهـا … hā her, she, its, it | ٠٠٠ـهُـنَّ … hunna their, them, they | |
In the first-person singular, the suffix ٠٠٠ـني (…nī) is generally used with verbs, whereas ٠٠٠ـي (…ī) is used in most other cases.
As mentioned earlier, attached personal pronouns can be used as suffixes to:
1. Nouns (similar to English possessive pronouns).
2. Verbs (similar to English object personal pronouns).
3. Prepositions (similar to English prepositional pronouns).
4. Some conjunctions (no English equivalent).
Here are some examples:
| Noun | Verb | Preposition | Conjunction |
| كِـتـاب kitāb book | يُــحِــبُّ yuḥibbu he loves | مِـــنْ min from | لـكِـنَّ ٠٠٠ lākinna … but … |
| كِـتـابــي kitābī my book | يُـحِـبُّـــنـي yuḥibbunī he loves me | مِـنّــــي minnī from me | لـكِـنّـــي lākinnī but I … |
| كِـتـابُــكَ kitābuka your(m.s.) book | يُـحِـبُّـــكَ yuḥibbuka he loves you(m.s.) | مِـنْــــكَ minka from you(m.s.) | لـكِـنَّــــكَ lākinnaka but you(m.s.)… |
| كِـتـابُــكِ kitābuki your(f.s.) book | يُـحِـبُّـــكِ yuḥibbuki he loves you(f.s.) | مِـنْـــكِ minki from you(f.s.) | لـكِـنَّـــكِ lākinnaki but you(f.s.)… |
| كِـتـابُــهُ kitābuhu his book | يُـحِـبُّـــهُ yuḥibbuhu he loves him | مِـنْـــهُ minhu from him | لـكِـنَّـــهُ lākinnahu but he … |
| كِـتـابُــهـا kitābuhā her book | يُـحِـبُّــهـا yuḥibbuhā he loves her | مِـنْــهـا minhā from her | لـكِـنَّــهـا lākinnahā but she … |
| كِـتـابُـــنـا kitābunā our book | يُـحِـبُّـــنـا yuḥibbunā he loves us | مِـــنّـا minnā from us | لـكِـنَّـــنـا lākinnanā but we … |
| كِـتـابُــكُـمـا kitābukumā your(both) book | يُـحِـبُّـــكُـمـا yuḥibbukumā he loves you (both) | مِـنْـــكُـمـا minkumā from you (both) | لـكِـنَّـــكُـمـا lākinnakumā but you (both)… |
| كِـتـابُــكُــمْ kitābukum your(m.p.) book | يُـحِـبُّـــكُــمْ yuḥibbukum he loves you (m.p.) | مِـنْـــكُــمْ minkum from you (m.p.) | لـكِـنَّـــكُــمْ lākinnakum but you (m.p.)… |
| كِـتـابُــكُــنَّ kitābukunna your(f.p.) book | يُـحِـبُّـــكُــنَّ yuḥibbukunna he loves you (f.p.) | مِـنْـــكُــنَّ minkunna from you (f.p.) | لـكِـنَّـــكُــنَّ lākinnakunna but you (f.p.)… |
| كِـتـابُــهُـمـا kitābuhumā their(both) book | يُـحِـبُّـــهُـمـا yuḥibbuhumā he loves them(both) | مِـنْــهُـمـا minhumā from them(both) | لـكِـنَّــهُـمـا lākinnahumā but they(both)… |
| كِـتـابُــهُـم kitābuhum their(m.p.) book | يُـحِـبُّــهُـم yuḥibbuhum he loves them(m.p.) | مِـنْــهُـم minhum from them(m.p.) | لـكِـنَّــهُـم lākinnahum but they(m.p.)… |
| كِـتـابُــهُـنَّ kitābuhunna their(f.p.) book | يُـحِـبُّــهُـنَّ yuḥibbuhunna he loves them(f.p.) | مِـنْــهُـنَّ minhunna from them(f.p.) | لـكِـنَّــهُـنَّ lākinnahunna but they(f.p.)… |
Other lessons in Level II: