Lebanese demonstratives point to an identifiable person or thing: هاد “this” with a masculine singular referent, هاي “this” with a feminine singular referent, and a plural such as هول “these.” English uses one singular this; Lebanese makes you hear the referent's gender.
This course starts production with short هاد and هاي. Urban Lebanese speakers also very commonly use هيدا and هيدي, while plural forms include هول/هولي and هيدول. The goal is not to pretend that every speaker uses one rigid list. It is to give you a stable beginner baseline and label the forms you will hear around it.
The course-compatible near baseline
| Referent | Beginner production | Common Lebanese recognition | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | هاد hād | هيدا hayda | هاد البيت “this house” |
| feminine singular | هاي hāy | هيدي hayde | هاي القهوة “this coffee” |
| plural | هول hōl | هولي hawle، هيدول haydōl | هول الناس “these people” |
All are informal, meaning ordinary spoken usage rather than “slang.” هول/هولي/هيدول are common Lebanese plural choices; هدول hadōl is widespread in Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and some Lebanese usage (regional). Learn regional bundles rather than randomly replacing one row at a time.
هاد البيت قريب من هون.
hād el-bēt ʾrīb min hōn.
This house is close to here. (informal; masculine singular)
هاي القهوة سخنة كتير.
hāy el-ʾahwe sokhne ktīr.
This coffee is very hot. (informal; feminine singular)
هول رفقاتنا من الجامعة.
hōl rfaʾātna min el-zhēmʿa.
These are our friends from university. (informal Lebanese; plural demonstrative used independently)
Agreement follows the noun, not the speaker
The noun's grammatical gender selects the singular demonstrative. It does not matter whether the speaker or owner is male or female. قهوة “coffee” and مي “water” are feminine; بيت “house” and تلفون “phone” are masculine.
هاي المي باردة، بس هاد الشاي بعده سخن.
hāy el-mayy bārde, bass hād esh-shāy baʿdo sokhon.
This water is cold, but this tea is still hot. (informal; feminine مي versus masculine شاي)
هاد التلفون جديد، وهاي الكاميرا قديمة.
hād et-telefōn zhdīd, w-hāy el-kāmīra ʾdīme.
This phone is new, and this camera is old. (informal; noun gender controls both demonstrative and adjective)
Plural هول itself does not distinguish masculine and feminine. Human plural predicates normally show plural agreement, while nonhuman plurals may show feminine-singular or plural agreement depending on how the group is construed; that larger agreement system is not caused by the demonstrative.
Before a noun versus standing alone
A full demonstrative can appear before a definite noun:
بدي هاي الشنطة الزغيرة.
badde hāy esh-shanṭa z-zghīre.
I want this small bag. (informal; demonstrative plus definite noun and adjective)
The noun normally keeps الـ because the demonstrative identifies it. English says this bag, not “this the bag,” so dropping the Lebanese article is a major transfer error.
The demonstrative can also stand independently when the noun is understood:
شو هاد؟ أول مرة بشوفه هون.
shū hād? awwal marra bshūfo hōn.
What's this? It's the first time I've seen it here. (informal; independent masculine demonstrative)
هاي لإلي ولا لإلك؟
hāy la-ile walla la-ilak?
Is this one mine or yours? (informal; independent feminine demonstrative)
This creates an important contrast:
- هاد البيت means “this house”: demonstrative + definite noun.
- هاد بيت means “this is a house”: independent demonstrative + indefinite predicate.
هاد بيت، مش مكتب.
hād bēt, mish maktab.
This is a house, not an office. (informal; classification, not ‘this house’)
Near and far contrasts
Near and far are not only physical distance; far forms can also contrast an item farther away or retrieve something less immediate in the conversation. For now, use the common urban Lebanese far forms as recognition partners.
| Referent | Near baseline | Far Lebanese |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | هاد hād | هيداك haydāk |
| feminine singular | هاي hāy | هيديك haydīk |
| plural | هول hōl | هيدوليك haydōlīk |
Short far forms هداك، هديك، هدوليك are widespread elsewhere in the Levant and occur for some Lebanese speakers (regional). The dedicated far demonstratives page develops physical and discourse distance.
هاد الكرسي مريح، بس هيداك أوسع.
hād el-kerse mrīḥ, bass haydāk awsaʿ.
This chair is comfortable, but that one is roomier. (informal; masculine near/far contrast)
هاي الصورة جديدة، وهيديك من السنة الماضية.
hāy eṣ-ṣūra zhdīde, w-haydīk min es-sane l-māḍye.
This picture is new, and that one is from last year. (informal; feminine near/far contrast)
هول طلبات اليوم، وهيدوليك تبع مبارح.
hōl ṭalabāt el-yōm, w-haydōlīk tabaʿ mbēreḥ.
These are today's orders, and those are yesterday's. (informal; plural near/far contrast)
A deictic mini-dialogue
أي فنجان بدك، هاد هون ولا هيداك حد الشباك؟
ayy finzhēn baddak, hād hōn walla haydāk ḥadd esh-shobbēk?
Maya: Which cup do you want, this one here or that one by the window? (informal; visible masculine contrast)
هاد هون، وحطيلي فيه شوي قهوة.
hād hōn, w-ḥoṭṭīle fī shwayy ʾahwe.
Rami: This one here, and put a little coffee in it for me. (informal Beirut; demonstrative followed by recipient and prepositional clitics)
Demonstratives with relative clauses
A demonstrative can identify the noun that a يلي clause modifies. If the noun is the complement of a preposition or a possessor inside that relative clause, Lebanese normally keeps a resumptive suffix where English leaves a gap.
هاي البناية يلي حكيتلك عنها قريبة.
hāy el-binēye yalle ḥkēt-lak ʿanna ʾrībe.
This building I told you about is close. (informal Beirut; feminine resumptive after عن)
هاد الشب يلي أخوه بيشتغل معنا ساكن هون.
hād esh-shabb yalle akhū byishtaghel maʿna sāken hōn.
This guy whose brother works with us lives here. (informal; possessive resumptive on أخوه)
The demonstrative does not replace ـها in عنها or ـه in أخوه. It points to the whole noun phrase; the clitic marks that noun's role inside the relative clause.
Common Mistakes
Using one singular demonstrative for every gender
❌ هاد القهوة سخنة.
Incorrect—قهوة is feminine.
✅ هاي القهوة سخنة.
hāy el-ʾahwe sokhne.
This coffee is hot. (informal; feminine agreement)
Dropping the article in “this noun”
❌ بدي هاي شنطة الزغيرة.
Incorrect for ‘this small bag’—the identified noun and its adjective are definite.
✅ بدي هاي الشنطة الزغيرة.
badde hāy esh-shanṭa z-zghīre.
I want this small bag. (informal; demonstrative plus definite phrase)
Copying English relative-pronoun omission after a preposition
❌ هاي البناية حكيتلك عن قريبة.
Incorrect—the relative needs يلي, and عن needs a feminine resumptive suffix.
✅ هاي البناية يلي حكيتلك عنها قريبة من الجامعة.
hāy el-binēye yalle ḥkēt-lak ʿanna ʾrībe min el-zhēmʿa.
This building I told you about is close to the university. (informal Beirut; relative marker and resumption)
Dropping a possessive resumptive
❌ هاد الشب يلي أخو بيشتغل معنا.
Incorrect for ‘the guy whose brother works with us’—أخو needs a suffix resuming الشب.
✅ هاد الشب يلي أخوه بيشتغل معنا.
hād esh-shabb yalle akhū byishtaghel maʿna.
This is the guy whose brother works with us. (informal; possessive resumptive ـه)
Treating every plural form as freely interchangeable
❌ هاد وهاي وهيدول هن نفس السلسلة بكل بلاد الشام.
Incorrect claim—plural choices vary by Lebanese speaker and across Syrian, Palestinian, and Jordanian varieties.
✅ منبلش بهاد وهاي، ومنتعلم هول وهيدول كأشكال لبنانية.
mnaballesh b-hād w-hāy, w-mintaʿallam hōl w-haydōl ka-ashkāl libnēniyye.
We start with had and hay, and learn hol and haydol as Lebanese forms. (informal; explicitly labeled learning sequence)
Key Takeaways
Use beginner هاد for masculine singular and هاي for feminine singular. Recognize هول/هولي/هيدول as common Lebanese plural forms and هدول as a widespread regional form. Before an identified noun, keep the noun definite: هاد البيت، هاي القهوة. A demonstrative may also stand alone, but هاد بيت then means “this is a house.” Finally, a demonstrative identifies a relative-clause head; it never replaces a required resumptive suffix inside the relative clause.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- The هيدا, هيدي, هول Demonstrative SeriesA2 — Use the common urban Lebanese هيدا, هيدي, and هول forms independently and before definite nouns, with clear near–far contrasts.
- The هاد and هاي SeriesA2 — Use هاد and هاي accurately, match demonstratives to gender and number, and recognize where the short series fits within Lebanese and wider Levantine speech.
- Far and Contrastive DemonstrativesB1 — Choose Lebanese far demonstratives for physical distance, remembered referents, and discourse contrast without flattening regional systems.
- Demonstratives before and after the NounB1 — Distinguish neutral prenominal demonstratives, reduced هالـ phrases, and emphatic Lebanese framing around a noun.
- Building a Definite Noun PhraseA1 — Build Lebanese definite phrases with repeated articles, demonstratives, possessors, proper names, and matching adjectives.
- Masculine and Feminine NounsA1 — Learn how Lebanese nouns belong to masculine or feminine gender and how demonstratives and agreement reveal that gender.