GoalUse the plural pronouns we, you (group) and they.
New words
نَحْنُ (naḥnu) · weأَنْتُم (ʾantum) · you (men, or a mixed group)أَنْتُنَّ (ʾantunna) · you (women)هُم (hum) · they (men, or a mixed group)هُنَّ (hunna) · they (women)طُلَّاب (ṭullāb) · students
Explanation
To speak about three or more people, use the plural pronouns (Arabic has special forms for exactly two, which come later). Naḥnu means “we” and is the same for everyone. For “you” to a group there are ʾantum, for men or for men and women together, and ʾantunna, for women only. For “they” there are hum and hunna in the same way. The sentences work as before, with no verb: naḥnu ṭullāb, “we are students”. Ṭullāb is the plural of ṭālib; plurals have many patterns, so learn each one as a word.
One
More than one
أَنَا
نَحْنُ
أَنْتَ، أَنْتِ
أَنْتُم، أَنْتُنَّ
هُوَ، هِيَ
هُم، هُنَّ
Worked examples
Three short sentences. Each one is a pronoun and a word, with no word for “are”.
Tariq
نَحْنُ طُلَّاب
Hind
نَحْنُ طُلَّاب أَيْضًا
Tariq and his friends are students. Tariq says naḥnu ṭullāb, and Hind says the same about her group.
Three girls are hunna. Two boys and a girl together are hum, because a mixed group takes the masculine word.
Class activity
Pronoun hunt. Look at a photo of a group, a class or a team. Decide: is it all girls (hunna), all boys (hum) or mixed (hum)? Then imagine you are in the photo and say naḥnu. Say three sentences like naḥnu hunā, hum fī l-madrasa.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is it a boy's name or a girl's name?
…
A girl's name: سَلْمَى (Salmā).
2
You speak to three women. Which “you” do you use: أَنْتُم or أَنْتُنَّ?
