Arabic sometimes takes a word that is already plural and gives it another plural shape. Traditional morphology calls this جمع الجمع, “the plural of a plural.” Examples include بيت → بيوت → بيوتات and قول → أقوال → أقاويل.
The name can be misleading for an English speaker. A plural of a plural is not a productive grammatical number meaning “very many.” In contemporary Modern Standard Arabic, the surviving forms are established vocabulary items. They may emphasize groups, distinguish kinds, or develop a specialized meaning. Learn each one as a word. It must also be kept separate from the traditional paucity–abundance classification.
What gets pluralized twice
A first plural can receive the sound feminine suffix ـات, or its internal pattern can be broken again. Both processes are attested, but neither licenses learners to create new forms freely.
| Singular | First plural | Plural of plural | Typical contemporary value |
|---|---|---|---|
| بَيْت bayt | بُيُوت buyūt | بُيُوتَات buyūtāt | notable houses, families, or lineages |
| قَوْل qawl | أَقْوَال ʾaqwāl | أَقَاوِيل ʾaqāwīl | reports, allegations, or repeated claims |
| طَرِيق ṭarīq | طُرُق ṭuruq | طُرُقَات ṭuruqāt | roads, lanes, or stretches of road |
| رَجُل rajul | رِجَال rijāl | رِجَالَات rijālāt | prominent men or male figures (formal) or (literary) |
In بيوتات، طرقات، رجالات, the outer ـات is visible. In أقاويل, the second plural changes the internal shape of أقوال. Historical structure explains the forms; present-day meaning determines where they sound natural.
تنتمي هذه الأسر إلى بيوتات معروفة في المدينة
tantamī hādhihi l-ʾusaru ʾilā buyūtātin maʿrūfatin fī l-madīna(h)
These families belong to well-known lineages in the city.
لا تكرر هذه الأقاويل من دون دليل
lā tukarrir hādhihi l-ʾaqāwīla min dūni dalīl
Do not repeat these allegations without evidence.
Neither example simply means “an unusually large number.” بيوتات selects the lineage sense of “houses,” while أقاويل often carries a dismissive sense such as “stories” or “unsupported claims.”
No third grammatical number
Arabic grammar still has singular, dual, and plural. The form طرقات is grammatically plural; it is not a fourth number category. It takes ordinary plural case marking and the ordinary agreement appropriate to its referent.
Compare the number series of طريق:
| Function | Form | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| singular | طَرِيقٌ ṭarīqun | one road/way |
| dual nominative | طَرِيقَانِ ṭarīqāni | exactly two |
| ordinary broken plural | طُرُقٌ ṭuruqun | roads, ways, methods |
| lexicalized outer plural | طُرُقَاتٌ ṭuruqātun | roads, lanes, stretches |
يصل إلى القرية طريقان
yaṣilu ʾilā l-qaryati ṭarīqān
Two roads lead to the village.
أغلقت الأمطار طرقا جبلية
ʾaghlaqati l-ʾamṭāru ṭuruqan jabaliyya(h)
The rain closed mountain roads.
أصلحت البلدية طرقات فرعية
ʾaṣlaḥati l-baladiyyatu ṭuruqātin farʿiyya(h)
The municipality repaired side roads.
طرق and طرقات overlap in contemporary usage. The second is an established form, not a calculation from the number of roads. For exactly two, طريقان remains the normal dual.
Outer shape controls case, not meaning
Once lexicalized, the outer form follows its own declension. Forms in ـات behave like the sound feminine plural for case: nominative ـاتٌ and accusative/genitive ـاتٍ when indefinite. A broken form may belong to another declension class.
| Case | طُرُقَات | أَقَاوِيل |
|---|---|---|
| nominative indefinite | طُرُقَاتٌ ṭuruqātun | أَقَاوِيلُ ʾaqāwīlu |
| accusative indefinite | طُرُقَاتٍ ṭuruqātin | أَقَاوِيلَ ʾaqāwīla |
| genitive indefinite | طُرُقَاتٍ ṭuruqātin | أَقَاوِيلَ ʾaqāwīla |
أقاويل is on the diptote pattern أفاعيل, so it normally lacks tanwīn and uses fatḥa for indefinite accusative and genitive. This is a property of its outer declension pattern, not proof that its meaning is “more plural.” Definite الأقاويل takes the regular genitive kasra.
حذر المتحدث من أقاويل مضللة
ḥadhdhara l-mutaḥaddithu min ʾaqāwīla muḍallilatin
The spokesperson warned against misleading allegations.
The preposition requires genitive case. أقاويلَ shows the diptote genitive in fatḥa, while its regular adjective مضللةٍ shows kasra. The sentence intentionally pronounces both endings because case is the point.
Agreement follows the referent
The ending ـات does not automatically demand feminine-plural agreement. Nonhuman طرقات takes feminine-singular agreement, just as other nonhuman plurals do.
الطرقات الجديدة مزدحمة
aṭ-ṭuruqātu l-jadīdatu muzdaḥima(h)
The new roads are congested.
انتشرت الأقاويل الكاذبة بسرعة
ʾintasharati l-ʾaqāwīlu l-kādhibatu bi-surʿa(h)
The false allegations spread quickly.
By contrast, رجالات denotes male humans and can take masculine-plural agreement despite its outer ـات.
شارك في الندوة رجالات معروفون من الفكر والثقافة
shāraka fī n-nadwati rijālātun maʿrūfūna mina l-fikri wa-th-thaqāfa(h)
Prominent figures from intellectual and cultural life took part in the symposium. (formal or literary)
The verb is singular شارك because it precedes its overt human plural subject; the adjective is masculine plural معروفون because the referents are men. Again, lexical shape, agreement, and verb order answer different questions.
Semantic specialization matters most
The ordinary first plural often remains broader. أقوال neutrally means “statements, sayings, or words”; أقاويل frequently suggests circulating reports or allegations. بيوت means houses or homes; بيوتات commonly refers to socially recognized houses or lineages (formal). These are tendencies encoded in vocabulary, not automatic effects of “pluralizing twice.”
جمع الباحث أقوال الشهود في ملف واحد
jamaʿa l-bāḥithu ʾaqwāla sh-shuhūdi fī malaffin wāḥid
The researcher collected the witnesses' statements in one file.
Replacing أقوال with أقاويل would add an evaluative flavor—suggesting stories or dubious claims—that may be inappropriate in a neutral evidentiary context.
Common Mistakes
Coining a plural of every plural
❌ اشتريت كتوبات جديدة
Incorrect — كتوبات is not the standard plural of كتاب; a second plural cannot be invented freely.
✅ اشتريت كتبا جديدة
ʾishtaraytu kutuban jadīda(h)
I bought new books.
Treating the outer plural as ‘a very large number’
❌ أقاويل تعني دائما أقوالا كثيرة جدا
Incorrect — أقاويل is lexicalized and often differs in tone or meaning, not exact quantity.
✅ رفض الوزير أقاويل بلا دليل
rafaḍa l-wazīru ʾaqāwīla bilā dalīl
The minister rejected unsupported allegations.
Giving a nonhuman form in ـات feminine-plural agreement
❌ الطرقات الجديدات مزدحمات
Incorrect — roads are nonhuman, so feminine-singular agreement is normal.
✅ الطرقات الجديدة مزدحمة
aṭ-ṭuruqātu l-jadīdatu muzdaḥima(h)
The new roads are congested.
Guessing gender from the ending of a human word
❌ رجالات مشهورات
Incorrect — رجالات denotes male humans despite ending in ـات.
✅ رجالات مشهورون
rijālātun mashhūrūn
prominent men
Using a numeral plus plural for exactly two
❌ اثنان طرق يصلان إلى القرية
Incorrect — the normal expression for exactly two uses the dual.
✅ طريقان يصلان إلى القرية
ṭarīqāni yaṣilāni ʾilā l-qarya(h)
Two roads lead to the village.
Key Takeaways
- A plural of a plural is a historically layered word, not a productive “superplural.”
- Some outer plurals add ـات; others change the internal pattern again.
- Learn the modern meaning and register of each established form.
- The outer form determines case behavior, while human versus nonhuman reference determines agreement.
- Arabic still has only singular, dual, and plural; exactly two normally uses the dual noun.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Plurals of Paucity and AbundanceB1 — Understand the traditional Arabic distinction between plurals of paucity and abundance—and why modern usage is mainly lexical rather than mechanically numerical.
- Sound Masculine Plural ـون/ـينA2 — Form and decline the sound masculine plural, identify the human nouns that permit it, and drop nūn in the construct state.
- Masculine and Feminine NounsA1 — Understand Arabic's two grammatical genders and how gender controls agreement across singular, human-plural, and nonhuman-plural phrases.