Dual and plural / المُثَنّى والجَمْع

Arabic dialects map

Arabic nouns and adjectives are inflected for three numbers:

  • Singular / المُفْرَِد
  • Dual / المُثَنّى
  • Plural / الجَمْع

Dual and plural in Arabic have different specificities which we’ll learn here.

Dual / المُثَنّى

When referring to two items or individuals, the dual is used – between the singular (for one thing/person) and plural (three or more things/people). To form a dual noun in Arabic, simply replace the singular ending with one of these suffixes: 

  • In the nominative case (مَرْفُوع)

🢡 ـانِ… /āni/

  • In the accusative (مَنْصوب) and genitive cases (مَجْرور)

🢡 ـَيْنِ… /ayni/ 

Dual nominative
(المُثَنّى المَرْفُوع)
Dual accusative/genitive
(المُثَنّى المَنْصُوب/المَجْرور)
Singular
(المُفْرَد)
كِتابانِ 
two books
كِتابَيْنِ
two books
كِتاب 
a book
وَلَدانِ 
two boys
وَلَدَيْنِ 
two boys
وَلَد 
a boy

Note: The final tā marbūṭa (ة …ـة…) in singular nouns, is replaced by a regular ـتـ /t/ in dual endings:

Dual nominative
(المُثَنّى المَرْفُوع)
Dual accusative / genitive
(المُثَنّى المَنْصُوب / المَجْرور)
Singular
(المُفْرَد)
مَدْرَسَتانِ 
two schools
مَدْرَسَتَيْنِ 
two schools
مَدْرَسَةٌ 
a school

Noun modifications

In some cases, when the root of a word is weak or finishes with ي, و or hamza, its ending transforms before adding the dual suffix.

Words ending with اء

  • 🢡 If the ending اء is the mark of the feminine, the hamza turns into و :  
Dual (المُثَنّى)Singular (المُفْرَد)
صَحْراوانِ
two deserts
صَحْراء
a desert
رِجْلانِ حَمْراوانِ
two red legs
رِجْل حَمْراء
a red leg
  • 🢡 If the ending in اء is the mark of a weak root, the hamza is maintained or sometimes turns into و
Dual (المُثَنّى)Singular (المُفْرَد)
كِساءان 
two pieces of clothes
كِساء 
a piece of clothing
لِقاءان (not لِقاوانِ)
two meetings
لِقاء
a meeting

If a singular noun ends with a ى, it will become a ي:

Dual (المُثَنّى)Singular (المُفْرَد)
مُسْتَشْفَيانِ 
two hospitals
مُسْتَشْفى  
a hospital
صَدَيانِ 
two echoes
صَدى 
an echo 

Plural / الجَمْع

There are two types of plural in Arabic: 

  • The sound plural (الجَمْعُ السالِمُ) which can be compared to the English regular plural.
  • The broken plural (جَمْعُ التَكْسِيرِ) which can be compared to the English irregular plural.

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