Plural Noun and Its Types in Arabic ( الجمع وأقسام الجمع )

 Plural Noun and Its Types in Arabic (الجمع وأقسام الجمع  )

By: Yusuf Basirat Bolanle

In our previous lessons, we have discussed the singular, the dual and the plural together in Arabic language.

In this lesson, Insha Allah, we are going to discuss the plural in Arabic nouns separately and its classifications as well as given examples to illustrate our explanations.

What is the plural in Arabic language?

Plural in Arabic language is known as (الجمع). they are the entities or items which are more than two in number. Plural in Arabic language, unlike that of English language, which contains items starting from two upward, it is rather the items starting from three and more than two. so, the plural items in Arabic language are therefore the items starting from three in number and not two as it is in English language.

Types of plurals in Arabic language (أقسام الجمع)

There are three main types of plural nouns in Arabic language. They are:

1- The Sound Masculine Plural (جمع المذكر السالم)

2- The Sound Feminine Plural (جمع المؤنث السالم)

3- The Broken Plural (جمع التكثير)

Now, let us look into the brief explanation of each of the types of the classes.

1-   The Sound Masculine Plural (جمع المذكر السالم)

The masculine plural in known as (جمع المذكر السالم). it is the type of plural for males nouns with sound or healthy ends. It centers on male nouns that are more than two in numbers. It always ends with waw and nun (و، ن). examples are the following:

جمع المكر السالم	المفرد
Sound Masculine Plural	Singular

فلاحون Many farmers	فلاح a farmer
مدرسون Many teachers	مدرس a teacher
مسلمون many muslims	مسلم a muslim
مهندسون many engineers	مهندس An engineer

2- The Sound Feminine Plural (جمع المؤنث السالم)

The sound feminine plural is the plural for female names or nouns that are more than two in number. they are referred to as (جمع المؤنث السالم) in Arabic language. The feminine plural with sound or healthy ends always ends with alif and open taa (ا، ت). examples are: 

جمع المؤنث السالم	المفردة
Sound Feminine Plural	Singular
بنات many girls	بنت a girl
مسلمات many female Muslims	مسلمة a female Muslim
غرف many rooms	غرفة a room
طبيبات many female doctors	طبيبة a female doctor
نساء many women	امرأة a woman
ساعات many watches	ساعة a watch
والدات many mothers	والدة a mother
لعبات many play toys	لعبة a play toy
مدرسات many female teachers	مدرسة a female teacher
طالبات many female students	طالبة a female student
مدارس many schools	مدرسة a school

3-  The Broken Plural (جمع التكثير)

This is the type of plural that is neither sound masculine nor sound feminine plural. The are the type of plural that occur as a result of the internal changes in the structure of the nouns. The changes that happens to a broken plural nouns has nothing to do with the end of the noun, the changes affect only the internal structures of the nouns. The broken plural unlike sound masculine and feminine plurals has no ending sign of waw and nun nor alif and taa. this is because the changes that happened is only internal, that is, the middle of the noun,and not the end.   Examples are:

جمع التكثير	المفرد
Plural	Singular
كتب many books	كتاب a book
أولاد many boys	ولد a boy
رجال many men	رجل a man
بيوت many houses	بيت a house
أقلام many pens	قلم a pen
ِكلاب many dogs	كلب a dog
َكراسي many chairs	كرسي a chair
عيون many eyes	عين an eye
ِمساجد many mosques	مسجد a mosque
أكواب many cups	كوب a cup
ِمكاتب many tables	مكتب a table