The Arabic five nouns, are particular nouns that see their case vowels (fatḥa, ḍamma and kasra) become, respectively, letters ا and و and ي positioned as 1st term of annexation (مُضاف). This only happens when their 2nd term of annexation (المُضاف إِليه) isn’t the 1st person singular pronoun ي (I/me).
Those are the five nouns:
أَب | أَخ | حَم | فُو | ذُو |
father | brother | Father-in-law (of the wife) | mouth | the one that possess |
- In the nominative case (مَرْفُوع) those nouns are going to end with the و
| Abu Bakr is brave | أَبُو بَكْرٍ شُجاع |
| The teacher’s brother is young | أَخُو المُعَلِّمِ صَغِيرٌ |
| Latifa’s father-in-law is in the house | حَمو لَطِيفةَ في البَيْتِ |
| The mouth of the man is open | فو الرَجُلِ مَفْتوحٌ |
| The man that possess knowledge is wise | الرَجُلُ ذو العِلْمِ حَكِيم |
- In the accusative case (مَنْصُوب) those nouns are going to end with the ا
| I saw Abu Bakr | رَأَيْتُ أَبا بَكْرٍ |
| I waited for the teacher’s brother | اِنْتَظَرْتُ أَخِا المُعَلِّمِ |
| I welcomed Latifa’s father-in-law | رَحَّبْتُ حَما لَطِيفةَ |
| I opened the lion’s mouth | فَتَحْتُ فا الأَسَدِ |
| I respect the one that has knowledge | أَحْتَرِمُ ذا العِلْمِ |
- In the genitive case (مَجْرُور) those nouns are going to end with the ي
| I talked with Abu Bakr | تَكَلَّمْتُ مَعَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ |
| I play with the teacher’s brother | ألْعَبُ مَعَ أَخِي المُعَلِّمِ |
| The book belongs to Latifa’s father-in-law | الكِتابُ لِحَمِي لَطِيفةَ |
| The smell is from the lion’s mouth | الرائِحةُ من في الأَسَدِ |
| I am learning from the one with knowledge | أَتَعَّلَمُ مِنْ ذي العِلْمِ |
Note: These rules are not applicable to dual and plural forms of the five nouns.
Note 2: فو is only used as a 1st term of annexation (مُضاف), for other usage we’ll prefer it’s equivalent فُمّ.
Note 3: ذو has only 2 different forms for each the dual and plural forms.
Masculine
Feminine
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