Possessive Subject Pronoun: Learn Arabic Grammar #2

In the previous lesson, we learn about the Subject pronouns. Unlike the words like I (أنا) or You (أنت) the words like “My” and “Your” doesn’t have a direct word replacement in Arabic. Instead of a word, a suffix is added to a verb to convey the same meaning. For example, the phrase “My book” will be written as “كتابي – (Kitabi” and the phrase “Your book” will be written as “كتابك – Kitabuka”. The Arabic word for “Book” is “Kitab” and the suffix “i” and “uka” has been added to the verb to mean “My” and “Your” respectively!

The suffix added to the verb is known as the Possessive Subject pronoun. These pronouns conjugate the verbs and appear at the end of the words. Possessive pronouns are very common and represent ownership of a possession. If you have been learning basic words and phrases, and trying to notice them when hearing a conversation, you might have come across words that seem familiar but still different. This is because these words, like most Arabic words, have a suffix and prefix attached to them. These suffixes are common in most places and play a crucial role in everyday communication. Over the next few lessons, we will learn these words and how to use them.

Possessive Subject Pronoun

English Arabic Suffix Transliteration My ـي “ee” Our (Plural) ــنا “na” Your (Singular, Masculine) ـكَ “ka” Your (Plural, Masculine) ـكم “Kum” Your (Singular, Feminine) ـكِ “ki” Your (Plural, Feminine) ـكن “Kunna” Your (Dual) ـكما “Kuma” His ـه “Hu” Her ـها “Ha” Their (Plural, Masculine) ـهم “Huma” Their (Plural, Feminine) ـهن “Hunna” Their (Dual) ـهما “Humaa”

Example of Attached Subject Pronoun:

English Arabic Translation Transliteration My Book كتابي Kitabee Our Book كتابنا Kitabuna Your Book (Singular, Masculine) كتابكَ kitabuka Your Book (Plural, Masculine) كتابكم Kitabukum Your Book (Singular, Feminine) كتابكِ Kitabuki Your Book(Plural, Feminine) كتابكن Kitabukunna Your Book (Dual) كتابكما Kitabukuma His Book كتابهُ Kitabuhu Her Book كتابها Kitabuha Their Book (Plural, Masculine) كتابهم Kitabuhuma Their Book (Plural, Feminine) كتابهن Kitabuhunna Their Book (Dual) كتابهما Kitabuhumaa

Learn Arabic Grammar

These suffixes are very common and will come very handy. The word “Habib” means ‘Beloved’ and the last ‘I’ in the ‘Habibi’ in the image above is the possessive pronoun, and the word means ‘My Beloved’. Learning a language is not only about the vocabulary but also about knowing the grammar. The vocabulary we have been learning until now might seem alien when used as a conjugate verb, and knowing these suffix will make it easier for you to understand these words. Since most Arabic words contain a prefix and suffix of some sort, we will learn the most used prefix and suffix over the next few lessons.

The Arabic Language

The word and sentence structure in Arabic is different from English and might seem odd at first, but it becomes very easy once you get used to it. At SAIOI, our teachers take special care to ensure that you enjoy your learning process and customize the process to suit your needs. If you were planning to learn Arabic for a long period of time, then you should Book your Free session now and enjoy our teacher explaining the intricacies of the language on Skype!