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 house	الكِتابُ في بَيْتِهِ
There’s faith inside of them	فِيهِمْ 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 restaurant	مَطْعَمٌ + ـِي  = مَطْعَمِي
My level	مُستَوى + ـِي  = مُسْتوايَ
On me	عَلى + ـِي  = عَليَّ

The attached pronouns work as suffixes which can follow:

[mepr-show rules=”29464″ unauth=”both”]

• Nouns (as 2nd terms of annexation)
• Verbs (as complements or objects)
• Prepositions or adverbs 

Pronouns attached to nouns / الضَمائر المُتَّصَلة بالأَسْماء

[restrict]

• When attached to a noun, pronouns work as 2nd term of annexation.

• When attached to a noun, pronouns are considered possessive pronouns.

نَظَرْتُ إِلى جُرْحِكَ

I looked at your wound

Pronouns attached to verbs / الضَمائر المُتَّصَلة بالأَفْعال

• When attached to a verb 3rd person plural masculine in the past tense the final alif ا of the verb drops.

سَأَلُوا + ه = سَأَلُوهُ

They asked him

• When attached to a verb 2nd person plural masculine in the past tense, we add a و to facilitate pronunciation.

سَاَلْتُمْ + ها = سَأَلْتُموها

You asked her

• When the 1st person singular pronoun ـِي is attached to a verb the letter ن of protection should be added before ـِي so it becomes نِي

لَكَمَ + ـِي = لَكَمَنِي

He punched me

Pronouns attached to prepositions / الضَمائر المُتَّصَلة بحُروف الجَرّ

• When attached to the preposition لِ its kasra becomes a fatḥa (except for the 1st person singular pronoun ـِي )    🢡 لَهُ (for him)

• When the 1st person singular pronoun ـِي is attached to the prepositions مِنْ and عَنْ the letter ن should be added before ـِي so it becomes =>    عَنْ + ني = عَنِّي   / مِنْ + نِي = مَنِّي

طَلَبَ مِنِّي أَرْبَعَةَ دينارٍ

He asked [from] me 4 dinars.

• Suffix pronouns can also be used with particle إيّا mainly used verbs having two direct complements like أَعْطى (to give). Used alone particle إيّا is used to warn.

He gave it to her	أعْطاها إيّاه
I warn you not to be lazy!	إِيّاكَ والكَسَل