Modern Standard Arabic 2.3. Gender

Each noun and adjective in Arabic has a gender. A noun or adjective in Arabic can have one of two genders: مُـذَكَّــر (mudhakkar) ‘masculine’ or مُـؤَنَّـث (mu’annath) ‘feminine.’ There is no neuter gender.

Gender Rules in Arabic

The adjective follows the noun it describes in gender and number. Luckily, some general rules can help us determine the gender of a noun or adjective in Arabic. However, remember that these are general rules, and there are some exceptions.

Of course, there will be some obvious masculine and feminine nouns. For instance, we can deduce that رَجُــل (rajul) ‘man’ and أَمــيـــر (’amīr) ‘prince’ are masculine, regardless of any rules. Similarly, words that refer to a female person are feminine, e.g., أُمّ (’umm) ‘mother,’ حـامِــل (ḥāmil) ‘pregnant,’ أُخْـــت (’ukht) ‘sister,’ بِـنْـــت (bint) ‘girl,’ etc.

Words that are Likely Feminine in Arabic

In Arabic, a noun or adjective is likely feminine if it falls under one of the following categories:

1. Nouns ending with ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t’ are likely feminine, such as:

There are a few exceptions to this rule:

• Some male names, such as أُســامَــة (’usāmah), خَـلـيـفَـة (khalīfah), عُـبَـيْـدَة (‘ubaydah), and طَـلْـحَـة (ṭalḥah).
• Some exaggeration words, such as رَحَّـالَـة (raḥḥālah) ‘frequent traveler,’ نـابِـغَـة (nābighah) ‘genius,’ and عَـلّامَــة (‘allāmah) ‘very knowledgeable,’ which can be masculine or feminine.

2. Colors and deformities ending with اء (ā’) are likely feminine. Here are some examples of colors in Arabic:

Here are two common examples of deformities that follow the same pattern:

^* As an exception, we replace the expected “ay” at the end of the word with ى (’alif maqṣūrah) pronounced /ā/.

Most other nouns and adjectives ending with اء (ā’) are masculine, such as: دَواء (dawā’) ‘medication,’ هَــواء (hawā’) ‘air,’ and مــاء (mā’) ‘water.’

However, there are also a few feminine words like: سَــمــاء (samā’) ‘sky,’ صَــحْــراء (ṣaḥrā’) ‘desert,’ and رَمْــضــاء (ramḍā’) ‘scorching ground.’

3. Adjectives ending with ى (’alif maqṣūrah), and whose masculine form ends with ـان (-ān), are feminine. For example:

This rule also applies to some feminine adjectives ending with ى (’alif maqṣūrah) following the pattern:

Note that the masculine forms of the adjectives above are used to express comparatives and superlatives in Arabic.

4. Most names of cities and countries are feminine. For example:

The following seven Arab countries are exceptions to the rule and are masculine:

5. Many nouns that are related to nature are feminine, such as:

However, there are exceptions to this rule like:

6. Most body parts that come in pairs are feminine, whereas most other body parts are masculine. Here are some examples:

Some exceptions include:

Even though these rules are quite helpful in guiding you most of the time, it is not possible to encompass all nouns and adjectives. There are a few feminine nouns that do not fall under any of the six categories, such as:

Use of ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t’ as a Feminine Marker

Finally, many nouns and adjectives can be made feminine by adding a ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t’ to the end of the masculine form. For example:

Next: Personal Pronouns

Back to: Double Vowel Ending – تَـنْويـن (Tanwīn)

Other lessons in Level II: