Masculine and Feminine Adjective Forms | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

Arabic singular adjectives have masculine and feminine forms because they agree with the grammatical gender of the noun they describe. The masculine form is usually the dictionary form: جديد “new,” طويل “tall/long,” مشغول “busy.” For a very large group of adjectives, the feminine is formed by adding ة: جديدة, طويلة, مشغولة.

That pattern is productive, but it is not universal. Some feminine adjectives use a different pattern, some forms do not change, and a noun's gender cannot always be guessed from its ending or English meaning. The reliable method is to learn each noun with its gender and check an unfamiliar adjective's feminine form rather than inventing one mechanically.

For the full four-feature system, see Adjective Agreement. This page isolates gender formation and selection.

The main pattern: masculine + ة

For many singular adjectives, add ة to the masculine base. At pause, this ending is normally pronounced -a(h); with a following case ending it is pronounced -at-, as in جديدةٌ jadīdatun.

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
جديد	جديدة	new
صغير	صغيرة	small / young
طويل	طويلة	tall / long
مشغول	مشغولة	busy
ممتاز	ممتازة	excellent

هذا متجر جديد في الحي.

hādhā matjarun jadīdun fī l-ḥayy.

This is a new shop in the neighborhood.

هذه مكتبة جديدة قرب الجامعة.

hādhihi maktabatun jadīdatun qurba l-jāmiʿa(h).

This is a new library near the university.

أخي مشغول هذا المساء.

ʾakhī mashghūlun hādhā l-masāʾ.

My brother is busy this evening.

أختي مشغولة هذا المساء.

ʾukhtī mashghūlatun hādhā l-masāʾ.

My sister is busy this evening.

The adjective agrees whether it is attributive (“a new library”) or predicative (“my sister is busy”). Position and definiteness distinguish those jobs; gender agreement applies to both.

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Learn adjective pairs aloud: جديد / جديدة, مشغول / مشغولة. Hearing the feminine ending as -at- before a case vowel and as pausal -a(h) prevents the written ة from becoming a silent visual detail.

A four-way agreement set

Gender interacts with definiteness. An attributive adjective is indefinite with an indefinite noun and definite with a definite noun:

فاز طالب متفوق بالجائزة.

fāza ṭālibun mutafawwiqun bi-l-jāʾiza(h).

An outstanding male student won the prize.

فازت طالبة متفوقة بالجائزة.

fāzat ṭālibatun mutafawwiqatun bi-l-jāʾiza(h).

An outstanding female student won the prize.

هنأت الطالب المتفوق.

hannaʾtu ṭ-ṭāliba l-mutafawwiq.

I congratulated the outstanding male student.

هنأت الطالبة المتفوقة.

hannaʾtu ṭ-ṭālibata l-mutafawwiqa(h).

I congratulated the outstanding female student.

The pair طالب / طالبة changes for natural gender, and متفوق / متفوقة follows it. In the definite examples, الـ appears on both noun and adjective. In fully inflected formal speech, their case endings also agree.

Grammatical gender is not English sex or meaning

With people, natural gender usually aligns with the noun and adjective: رجل كريم “a generous man,” امرأة كريمة “a generous woman.” With objects and ideas, gender is grammatical. A car is feminine because سيارة is feminine; a book is masculine because كتاب is masculine.

السيارة السريعة جاهزة للرحلة.

ʾas-sayyāratu s-sarīʿatu jāhizatun li-r-riḥla(h).

The fast car is ready for the trip.

الكتاب الطويل مناسب للمقرر.

ʾal-kitābu ṭ-ṭawīlu munāsibun li-l-muqarrar.

The long book is suitable for the course.

Several common feminine nouns do not end in ة, including شمس “sun,” أرض “land/earth,” دار “house,” نار “fire,” and حرب “war.” Their adjectives are still feminine:

كانت الأرض جافة بعد الصيف.

kānati l-ʾarḍu jāffatan baʿda ṣ-ṣayf.

The ground was dry after the summer.

اندلعت حرب طويلة في المنطقة.

ʾindalaʿat ḥarbun ṭawīlatun fī l-minṭaqa(h).

A long war broke out in the region.

Conversely, masculine personal names such as حمزة and أسامة end in ة but refer to men and take masculine agreement.

حمزة مستعد للاجتماع.

Ḥamzatu mustaʿiddun li-l-ijtimāʿ.

Hamza is ready for the meeting.

The final letter is a clue, not a complete gender algorithm.

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Memorize gender with a demonstrative: هذه أرض, هذه شمس, but هذا حمزة when referring to a man named Hamza. The English translation and the final letter can both mislead you.

Important patterns that do not simply add ة

Some adjective families form the feminine differently. These are genuine morphological patterns, not spelling variants:

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning	Note
أحمر	حمراء	red	أفعل / فعلاء color pattern
أعرج	عرجاء	lame	أفعل / فعلاء physical-defect pattern
عطشان	عطشى	thirsty	فعلان / فعلى pattern
سكران	سكرى	drunk	فعلان / فعلى pattern
أكبر	أكبر	older / bigger	elative remains unchanged in this use

أمي عطشى بعد المشي الطويل.

ʾummī ʿaṭshā baʿda l-mashyi ṭ-ṭawīl.

My mother is thirsty after the long walk.

أختي أكبر مني بثلاث سنوات.

ʾukhtī ʾakbaru minnī bi-thalāthi sanawāt.

My sister is three years older than me.

Colors and physical-defect adjectives have enough special behavior to merit their own page. At this stage, the practical lesson is simple: do not produce أحمرة or عطشانة by blindly adding ة in formal MSA. Look up and learn حمراء and عطشى.

One lexical exception is حامل “pregnant,” used in امرأة حامل without ة. The regularly formed حاملة exists in meanings such as “female bearer/carrier” or “carrying,” so the difference is lexical, not a ban on the form.

المريضة حامل في شهرها الخامس.

ʾal-marīḍatu ḥāmilun fī shahrihā l-khāmis.

The patient is five months pregnant.

This is one of the places where there is no safe shortcut: memorize the adjective as part of the expression.

Phrase versus predicate

Gender agreement remains the same in a phrase and a sentence; definiteness changes:

الحديقة الجميلة

ʾal-ḥadīqatu l-jamīla(h)

The beautiful garden. (One noun phrase.)

الحديقة جميلة.

ʾal-ḥadīqatu jamīla(h).

The garden is beautiful. (A complete sentence.)

Both adjectives are feminine. Only the attributive adjective carries الـ because it belongs inside the definite noun phrase.

A preview of plural agreement

Human plurals normally take plural adjectives, while nonhuman plurals normally take feminine singular adjectives. This semantic split matters even though a later page treats plural formation in full.

الطلاب المتفوقون حضروا مبكرا.

ʾaṭ-ṭullābu l-mutafawwiqūna ḥaḍarū mubakkirā.

The outstanding male students arrived early.

الطالبات المتفوقات حضرن مبكرا.

ʾaṭ-ṭālibātu l-mutafawwiqātu ḥaḍarna mubakkirā.

The outstanding female students arrived early.

السيارات السريعة مكلفة.

ʾas-sayyārātu s-sarīʿatu mukallifa(h).

Fast cars are expensive.

The nonhuman plural السيارات takes feminine singular السريعة and مكلفة. Its plural ending does not trigger a plural adjective.

Gender can reveal scope after an iḍāfa

When an adjective follows a two-noun iḍāfa, gender may identify which noun it modifies:

زرنا حديقة القصر الجميلة.

zurnā ḥadīqata l-qaṣri l-jamīla(h).

We visited the palace's beautiful garden. (Feminine adjective modifies ḥadīqa.)

زرنا حديقة القصر الجميل.

zurnā ḥadīqata l-qaṣri l-jamīl.

We visited the garden of the beautiful palace. (Masculine adjective modifies al-qaṣr.)

Agreement is doing semantic work: الجميلة points to feminine حديقة, while الجميل points to masculine القصر.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the regular feminine ending

❌ الطالبة متفوق في العلوم.

Incorrect — a singular feminine subject requires the feminine adjective mutafawwiqa.

✅ الطالبة متفوقة في العلوم.

ʾaṭ-ṭālibatu mutafawwiqatun fī l-ʿulūm.

The female student is outstanding in science.

Guessing gender from English meaning

❌ السيارة سريع جدا.

Incorrect — sayyāra is grammatically feminine.

✅ السيارة سريعة جدا.

ʾas-sayyāratu sarīʿatun jiddā.

The car is very fast.

Trusting ة more than natural gender in a man's name

❌ حمزة مجتهدة في عمله.

Incorrect — the male name Ḥamza takes masculine agreement.

✅ حمزة مجتهد في عمله.

Ḥamzatu mujtahidun fī ʿamalih.

Hamza is diligent in his work.

Forgetting definiteness on an attributive adjective

❌ زرت المكتبة جديد.

Incorrect for ‘I visited the new library’ — the adjective must agree in gender and definiteness.

✅ زرت المكتبة الجديدة.

zurtu l-maktabata l-jadīda(h).

I visited the new library.

Using plural agreement for nonhuman things

❌ السيارات السريعات مكلفات.

Incorrect — a nonhuman plural normally takes feminine singular agreement.

✅ السيارات السريعة مكلفة.