2
Possessive endings: our, their
Arabic A2 · Unit 4
GoalSay “our, your (pl.) and their” with the endings ـنَا, ـكُم, ـهُم and ـهُنَّ.
New words
كِتَابُنَا (kitābunā) · our bookكِتَابُكُم (kitābukum) · your (pl.) bookكِتَابُهُم (kitābuhum) · their book (m.)كِتَابُهُنَّ (kitābuhunna) · their book (f.)مَدْرَسَتُنَا (madrasatunā) · our schoolسَيَّارَتُهُم (sayyāratuhum) · their carحَدِيقَتُكُم (ḥadīqatukum) · your (pl.) garden
Explanation
For “we” the ending is ـنَا, and for “you” (plural) it is ـكُم. For “they” use ـهُم for men or a mixed group, and ـهُنَّ for women only. So كِتَابُنَا is “our book” and كِتَابُهُم is “their book”. A noun that ends in ة changes it to ت before an ending: مَدْرَسَة becomes مَدْرَسَتُنَا. The same happens with the endings of lesson 1: مَدْرَسَتِي is “my school”.
| Who | Ending | Example | Say |
|---|---|---|---|
| we | ـنَا | كِتَابُنَا | kitābunā |
| you (pl.) | ـكُم | كِتَابُكُم | kitābukum |
| they (m.) | ـهُم | كِتَابُهُم | kitābuhum |
| they (f.) | ـهُنَّ | كِتَابُهُنَّ | kitābuhunna |
| noun with ة | ة → ت | مَدْرَسَة → مَدْرَسَتُنَا | madrasa → madrasatunā |
Worked examples
Hassan
هَل هَذِهِ سَيَّارَتُكُم؟
Mona
نَعَم، هَذِهِ سَيَّارَتُنَا.
Hassan
هِيَ جَمِيلَة!
Our school, their school. Listen and repeat.
Women only: the ending ـهُنَّ.
Class activity
Our family and their family. Say five things that are yours as a group (our house, our school, our city…). Then say five things of another group of people (their house, their car…). Look at each noun: if it ends in ة, say the ت before the ending. Write the ten phrases and circle every ة that became ت.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the ending “our” or “their”?
Our: غُرْفَتُنَا (ghurfatunā). The ending ـنَا means “our”.
2
Write in Arabic: “your (pl.) phone”.
هَاتِفُكُم
3
The picture shows a car. Write “our car”.
سَيَّارَتُنَا (sayyāratunā)
4
The picture shows a house that belongs to two women. Write “their house”.
بَيْتُهُنَّ (baytuhunna)
5
What happens to the ة of مَدْرَسَة when you add an ending?
It becomes ت: مَدْرَسَتُنَا.