Here’s what you’ve learned so far: Arabic is a gendered language, and every noun will affect the way other words (usually adjectives) interact with it. By “interact,” we essentially mean the endings of these adjectives.
Luckily for you, there are only two genders (not to get political or anything).
This is unlike English, which has none, and German, which (including the neutral) has three.
If you are studying Standard Arabic, there are also those pesky “cases” that you have to worry about. We can’t help you there. The grammar in formal, “university” Arabic is one of the most difficult things you will face.
The grammar in Egyptian Arabic, however, is far more forgiving.
We told you in Part One that it’s a good move to write down the gender of a noun when you learn it. This might be the best defense you have against a lifetime of insanity caused by constant grammatical mistakes. Just do it. It takes an extra half second, and saves hours of rewiring your brain down the line.
Something you will also have to get used to is the fact that Arabic doesn’t have the word “is.” This is not directly related to our lesson for today, but it clears things up for some of our examples.
We will be doing a lesson on it (punny) in the future. For now, though, the absence of the word is all you need to know.
So now, the million dollar question: how exactly does this gender business affect “adjective + noun” or “noun + adjective” pairings?
This is really the most important thing to know.
You secret weapon in this fight is our old friend, the letter “tamrabootuh.” We have mentioned it before, but here is a reminder: ة.
If this is the last letter of a noun, it is a feminine noun 99% of the time. In this case, it will look just like the letter above, or connected to the second to last letter, like these two words below (“the car is fast”):
.العربية سريعة
The tricky part comes in remembering which gender a noun is (masculine nouns which don’t have consistent endings, and feminine nouns that don’t end in a “tamrabootuh”) because that will inform how you craft your sentences.
Let’s see this in action.
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Examples
The girl (feminine noun) is beautiful. : “El bent guhMEEluh.”
.البنت جميلة.
The beautiful girl (feminine noun) is here. : “Elbent elgumEEluh HEnuh.”
.البنت الجميلة هنا
The house (masculine noun) is beautiful. : “El bate guMEEL.”
.البيت جميل
The beautiful house (masculine noun) is here. : “El bate elguhMEEL HEnuh.”
.البيت الجميل هنا
The car (feminine noun) is fast. : “El areuhBAYuh sawREEuh.”
.العربية سريعة
I like the fast car (feminine noun). : “Ana bawHEB el areuhBAYuh elsawREEuh.”
.انا بحب العربية السريعة
The dog (masculine noun) is small. : “El KElb sooGHEYEurr.”
.الكلب صغير
I see the small dog (masculine noun). : “Ana bawSHOOF elkelb elsooGHEYEurr.”
.انا بشوف الكلب الصغير
My sister (feminine noun) is smart. : “OKHtee SHAWtruh.”
.اختي شاطرة
My brother (masculine noun) is smart. : “UhKHOOyuh SHAWtrr.”
.اخويا شاطر
I have a bad/shitty problem (feminine noun). : “AWNdee mooshKEHluh wEHshuh.”
.عندي مشكلة وحشة
I know an old man (masculine noun). : “Ana AW’ruff RAWgll kuhBEER.”
.انا عارف راجل كبير
(If you are confused with the use (or non-use) of the “al” (ال), don’t worry too much. We will be covering that later. For now, keep your eyes on the adjective endings.)
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In summary: adjectives are not gendered (think of them as “neutral”, waiting to be told what to do), but became either masculine or feminine based off of whatever noun they are paired with. All nouns are either masculine or feminine, and can only be learned (like almost all “gendered” languages) by rote memorization.
This is a controversial method (some claim there are “systems” that can help you remember a noun’s gender once forgotten), but it’s the only one we can in good conscience recommend.
“Systems” with cool little tricks might work most of the time, but they aren’t guaranteed.
You know what is guaranteed? Pounding that gender into your brain like a freaking pancake until it never leaves again. What a wonderful metaphor. You heard it here first.
We’ll be honest: the above-mentioned examples are easy. It’s not always as easy as “tamrabootuh = feminine noun, no tamrabootuh = masculine noun.” We just wanted you to get a grasp for how this whole thing works.
As you continue to read our content, we will be putting out more and more complicated sentences. This will include a list of the most common nouns, along with their genders. But now that you have the basics down, these are rules that can be applied far and wide.
Smash the gender like a pancake (too good to only say once), and then you are forever free to correctly pair nouns and adjectives in ever more complicated sentences.
Enjoy this new power.
