Dual nouns

A word about Number

In Arabic there are 3 numbers: singular, dual and plural. While singular denotes ONE, plural denotes THREE or more (not two or more). What remains is TWO, which is indicated by Dual. Therefore, the English plural is either dual or plural in Arabic.

Forming Dual nouns

To form the dual of a noun, you simply suffix the singular form with اْنِ. This is done after replacing any vowel on the last letter with a ــَـ before adding the ان. Eg:

Dual nouns

Dual	Singular
ولدَانِ	ولدٌ
بنتَانِ	بنتٌ
سيارتَانِ	سيارةٌ
الولدَانِ	الولدُ
البنتَانِ	البنتُ

Forming Dual adjectives

The same thing applies to an adjective, i.e. you add انِ to make it dual.

Dual adjectives

Dual	Singular
جميلتَانِ	جميلةٌ
جديدَانِ	جديدٌ
طويلتَانِ	طويلةٌ

The ا before the final ن sometimes changes into a ي, which then makes the noun end in ين, with a ــَـ before the ي. This happens in a number of cases, such as when a dual noun:

• is preceded by a preposition
• is a direct object

In technical terms, this occurs when a Dual is in the accusative or genitive case. This will be dealt with in a coming lesson.

Summary

• Dual denotes two, plural three or more
• To make a noun dual, add انِ to its singular
• Before adding the ان change the last vowel to a ــَـ because of the alif; before a middle/final alif there must be a ــَـ.

Vocabulary

English	Arabic
two	اِثْنانِ
other	آخَر
year	سَنَة
society	مُجْتَمَع
reason	سَبَب

Exercise

Form the dual of the nouns/adjectives you learned so far.

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Other topics availabe on this site:

Arabic alphabet — Indefinite nouns — Definite nouns — Nominal sentences
Adjectives — Feminine — Singular pronouns — Dual nouns — Dual pronouns
Basic declension of nouns — Demonstrative: This — Demonstrative: That
Plural — Plural pronouns — Preposition — There is/are — To have
Possessive case — Broken Plural — Possessive Adjectives