Arabic A1, Unit 10: Masculine and feminine nouns

Masculine and feminine nouns

Arabic A1 · Unit 10

GoalTell masculine from feminine nouns for people and say both forms of a few everyday words.

New words

وَلَد (walad) · boyبِنْت (bint) · girlرَجُل (rajul) · manاِمْرَأَة (imraʾa) · womanمُعَلِّم (muʿallim) · teacher (man)مُعَلِّمَة (muʿallima) · teacher (woman)طَالِب (ṭālib) · student (boy or man)طَالِبَة (ṭāliba) · student (girl or woman)

Explanation

Every Arabic noun is either masculine or feminine. For people it is natural: a boy and a man are masculine, a girl and a woman are feminine. Many feminine words are made from the masculine word by adding ة at the end: مُعَلِّم is a male teacher and مُعَلِّمَة is a female teacher. Some pairs are two different words, such as وَلَد (boy) and بِنْت (girl). مُعَلِّم is another common word for a teacher, like مُدَرِّس from unit 8. Arabic has no word for “a” or “an”: رَجُل means “man” or “a man”. Learn every new noun together with its gender.

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
وَلَد	بِنْت	boy / girl
رَجُل	اِمْرَأَة	man / woman
مُعَلِّم	مُعَلِّمَة	teacher
طَالِب	طَالِبَة	student

Worked examples

Separate words for a boy and a girl, and for a man and a woman.

Add ة to make the feminine: a female teacher and a female student. Listen to the a at the end.

He and she, with the matching noun. Listen to the two endings.

Class activity

Two columns. Fold a page in half. Write the masculine words on the right and the feminine words on the left: مُعَلِّم on the right and مُعَلِّمَة on the left, then طَالِب and طَالِبَة. Say each pair aloud. Then think of a friend and of a relative, and say whether the Arabic word for each of them is masculine or feminine.

Practice

Press Listen. Is the word masculine or feminine?

Which ending often marks a feminine noun?

Read aloud and say if it is masculine or feminine: بِنْت.

The picture shows a girl. Which word is it: وَلَد or بِنْت?

Make the feminine form of طَالِب (student).

Masculine and feminine, the article

Masculine and feminine nouns