Grammar : demonstrative arabic pronouns

Definite or indefinite pronouns :

Here is a girl هذة بنت
Here a boy هذا ولد

In Arabic, a word can be defined thanks to the article الـ which is joined at the beginning. When a word is not defined, there is no article. The article الـ can be used both in the feminine and in the masculine, in the plural as well as in the singular. A girl بنتThe girl البنت

Expressing the origin through relational adjectives

In the second dialogue, the headmaster says :

- here is Karima Abbass هذه كريمة عباس
- she comes from Morocco هي من المغرب
The preposition من (min) indicates her origin, where she comes from : she is from
He is from Kuwait : هو من الكويت
You can make up a relational adjective to indicate the origin, the nationality …
- either by specifying the country, the town, the area of origin
- or by adding at the end :

يّ for the masculine

يّة for the feminine

Examples :

كويتيّ
a kuwaiti for the masculine
كويتيّة
a kuwaiti for the feminine

Note that many countries' names end with an Alif (long vowel). As for instance in : (Sûryâ) سوريا (Rûsiâ') روسيا (Isbânyâ)اسبانيا (Amirîkâ) امريكاIn such a case, to add a suffix يّة or يّ to the word, you just have to omit the final alif.

An American (man) امريكي ّamirîkî
An American (woman) امريكيّة amirîkiyya

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