Pronouns / الضَمائِر

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Pronouns in Arabic are indeclinable (not affected by noun cases). We differentiate two categories of pronouns in Arabic:

  • Detached pronouns / الضَمائِر المُنْفَصِلة
  • Attached pronouns / الضَمائِر المُتَّصِلة

Generally speaking, detached pronouns are assumed to be in the nominative case (even though they are indeclinable), whereas attached pronouns are rather in either the accusative or genitive cases.

Detached Pronouns / الضَمائِر المُنْفَصِلة

جَمْع
(plural)
مُثَنّى
(dual)
مُفْرَد
(singular)
نَحْنُ 
We/Us
أنا 
I/Me
المُتَكَلّم
(1st pers.)
أَنْتُم 
You
أَنْتُما 
You (two)
أنتَ 
You
المُذَكَّر
(Masculine)
المُخاطَب
(2nd pers.)
أَنْتُنَّ
You 
أَنتِ
You 
المُؤَنَّث
(Feminine)
هُم
They/Them 

هُما 
They/Them (two)
هُوَ
He/Him 
المُذَكَّر
(Masculine)
الغائب
(3rd pers.)

هُنَّ
They/Them 
هِيَ
Her 
المُؤَنَّث
(Feminine)

Note: The pronouns أَنْتُمْ and هُمْ both take a ḍamma instead of a sukūn when followed by a noun bearing the definite article ال

هُمُ الناجِحُونَ
They are the successful ones

Attached Pronouns / الضَمائِر المُتّصِلة

جَمْع
(plural)
مُثَنّى
(dual)
مُفْرَد
(singular)
ـنا
We/Us
ـِي
I/Me
المُتَكَلّم
(1st pers.)
ـكُمْ
You
ـكُما
You (two)
ـكَ
You
المُذَكَّر
Masculine
المُخاطَب
(2nd pers.)
ـكُنَّ
You 
ـكِ
You 
المُؤَنَّث
Feminine
ـهُمْ / ـهِمْ
They/Them 

ـهُما
They/Them (two)
ـهُ / ـهِ
He/Him 
المُذَكَّر
Masculine
الغائب
(3rd pers.)
ـهُنَّ / ـهِنَّ
They/Them 
ـها
Her 
المُؤَنَّث
Feminine

Note: The attached pronouns ـكُمْ and ـهُمْ work exactly as the detached one, which means they both take a ḍamma instead of a sukūn when followed by a noun bearing the definite article ال

Note 2: 3rd person pronouns ـهُمْ / ـهُنَّ / ـهُ all take the kasra if the word they are attached to is in genitive case or ends with a ي.

The book is at his houseالكِتابُ في بَيْتِهِ
There’s faith inside of themفِيهِمْ إِيمانٌ

Note 3: The first person singular pronoun ـِي erases the final short vowel of the noun or the preposition it is attached to and replace it by a kasra, except if the word ends with a long vowel. In the later case, the ي will have to bear the fatḥa

My restaurantمَطْعَمٌ + ـِي  = مَطْعَمِي
My levelمُستَوى + ـِي  = مُسْتوايَ
On meعَلى + ـِي  = عَليَّ

The attached pronouns work as suffixes which can follow:

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