Modern Standard Arabic 3.6. Adjectives in Arabic

In this lesson, we cover adjectives in Arabic. Adjectives in Arabic agree in gender, number, and grammatical case with the noun they describe.

Table of Contents

• Adjective Patterns in Arabic
• Participles as Adjectives in Arabic
• Relative Adjectives in Arabic
• Diminutives
• Level III – Intermediate I (B1)

Adjective Patterns in Arabic

The most common adjective patterns in Arabic are:

Here are some examples that follow the different adjective patterns outlined above:

Note that the feminine forms of the patterns فَـعْـلان (fa‘lān) and أَفْـعَـل (’af‘al) often follow the patterns فَـعْـلى (fa‘lā) and فَـعْـلاء (fa‘lā’), respectively.

Participles as Adjectives in Arabic

In addition to the above ten patterns, we will learn in Level IV, Lesson 7 about active and passive participles, which can also function as adjectives. The most common pattern of an active participle is فــاعِــل (fā‘il). For instance, from the verb لَـمَـعَ (lama‘a) ‘he/it shone,’ we derive the active participle لامِـع (lāmi‘) ‘shining.’

Similarly, the most common pattern of a passive participle is مَـفْـعـول (maf‘ūl). For example, from the verb كَـتَـبَ (kataba) ‘he wrote,’ we derive the passive participle مَـكْـتـوب (maktūb) ‘written.’

Relative Adjectives in Arabic

Relative adjectives in Arabic are formed by adding the masculine suffix ـيّ (-iyy) or the feminine suffix ـيَّـة (-iyyah) to the noun. This is similar to the use of the suffix “-al” in “central,” “-ic” in “Islamic,” or “-i” in “Iraqi” in English.

Here are some examples of relative adjectives:

If the noun ends with a ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t,’ it is dropped after adding the suffix ـيّ (-iyy) or ـيَّـة (-iyyah). For example:

The suffixes ـيّ (-iyy) and ـيَّـة (-iyyah) are often used with nationalities. For example:

In daily speech, an adjective ending with the masculine suffix ـيّ (-iyy) is pronounced ـي (-ī) in most spoken dialects, e.g., جَـزائِـري (jazā’irī) ‘Algerian,’ ذَهَـبـي (dhahabī) ‘golden,’ etc.

Diminutives

In the English language, we sometimes form the diminutive by suffixing “-ie” or “-y,” as in “doggie” for “dog” and “kitty” for “kitten,” indicating small size and sometimes the state or quality of being familiarly known, lovable, pitiable, or contemptible. Sometimes other suffixes are used, such as “-ette” in “kitchenette” and “novelette,” “-let” in “booklet” and “droplet,” and “-ling” in “duckling.”

In Arabic, diminutives are less common, especially in daily spoken language.

The general pattern of the diminutive in Arabic is فُـعَـيْـل (fu‘ayl) for masculine and فُـعَـيْـلَـة (fu‘aylah) for feminine nouns.

Here are some examples:

The pattern فُـعَـيِّـل (fu‘ayyil) for masculine or فُـعَـيِّـلَـة (fu‘ayyilah) for feminine is used when the second radical is followed by a long vowel. For example, the diminutive of كِـتـاب (kitāb) ‘book’ is كُـتَـيِّـب (kutayyib) ‘booklet.’

Next: Cardinal Numbers

Back to: Past Tense

Other lessons in Level III: