Third-Person ـه and Vowel Harmony | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

The masculine singular suffix ـه can mean “his,” “him,” or masculine “it,” depending on what it attaches to. In careful Modern Standard Arabic, the same written suffix has two connected pronunciations: usually -hu, but -hi after i or y. Thus له is lahu, while به is bihi and إليه is ʾilayhi.

This is phonological harmony, not a change of person or gender. The referent remains masculine singular in both forms, and ordinary unvocalized Arabic spells both with exactly the same ه. Readers recover the vowel from the host and the sentence's grammar.

The core -hu / -hi rule

Use -hi when the sound immediately before ه is i, long ī, or y. Use -hu after a, u, a long back vowel, or a consonant. The following forms show the rule across several hosts:

Environment	Vocalized form	Reading	Meaning
after u	كِتَابُهُ	kitābuhu	his book (nominative)
after a	كِتَابَهُ	kitābahu	his book (accusative)
after i	كِتَابِهِ	kitābihi	his book (genitive)
after a consonant	مِنْهُ	minhu	from him/it
after i	بِهِ	bihi	with/by him/it
after y	عَلَيْهِ	ʿalayhi	on him/it
after y	إِلَيْهِ	ʾilayhi	to him/it
after long ī	يُعْطِيهِ	yuʿṭīhi	he gives him/it

وصل كتابه إلى المكتبة اليوم.

waṣala kitābuhu ʾilā l-maktabati l-yawm.

His book arrived at the library today. (Nominative -u before -hu.)

أعدت كتابه إلى المكتبة اليوم.

ʾaʿadtu kitābahu ʾilā l-maktabati l-yawm.

I returned his book to the library today. (Accusative -a before -hu.)

تحدثت عن كتابه مع الناشر.

taḥaddathtu ʿan kitābihi maʿa n-nāshir.

I spoke about his book with the publisher. (Genitive -i triggers -hi.)

These three sentences have the same unvocalized كتابه. Case supplies the vowel before the suffix, and that vowel in turn determines -hu or -hi. Vowel harmony can therefore make an otherwise invisible case distinction audible.

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For ـه, look one sound to the left. If you hear i, ī, or y, use -hi; otherwise use -hu. Do not choose the vowel from the meaning “his” versus “him.”

The host selects the role

The suffix's translation depends on its host:

On a noun, it is a possessor: كتابه “his book.”
On a transitive verb, it is a direct object: قرأه “he read it.”
On a preposition, it is that preposition's complement: معه “with him,” به “with/by it.”

كتابه على الطاولة، وقد قرأته أمس.

kitābuhu ʿalā ṭ-ṭāwila(h), wa-qad qaraʾtuhu ʾams.

His book is on the table, and I read it yesterday.

The first ـه means “his”; the second means “it.” The suffix is not an abbreviated independent هو. Compare the free subject and the attached object:

هو راجع العقد صباحا.

huwa rājaʿa l-ʿaqda ṣabāḥā.

He reviewed the contract in the morning. (Independent subject huwa.)

راجعته صباحا.

rājaʿtuhu ṣabāḥā.

I reviewed it in the morning. (Attached object -hu.)

An independent pronoun occupies a syntactic position of its own. The suffix is licensed by a noun, verb, or preposition and cannot be detached from that host.

Prepositions make the alternation easy to hear

Compare منه and به. In مِنْهُ, a consonant directly precedes ه, so the vowel is u. In بِهِ, i directly precedes ه, so the vowel harmonizes to i.

وصلني منه تقرير، فاستعنت به في إعداد الخطة.

waṣalanī minhu taqrīrun, fa-staʿantu bihi fī ʾiʿdādi l-khuṭṭa(h).

I received a report from him, so I used it in preparing the plan.

The stems of إلى and على end in -ay- before suffixes, producing إليه ʾilayhi and عليه ʿalayhi:

أرسلت إليه العقد وطلبت منه التعليق عليه.

ʾarsaltu ʾilayhi l-ʿaqda wa-ṭalabtu minhu t-taʿlīqa ʿalayh.

I sent him the contract and asked him to comment on it.

The final عليه is at a natural pause, so its final short vowel is not pronounced: ʿalayh. The connected إليه العقد retains -hi. Pausal loss does not invalidate the underlying harmony rule; it simply removes the final vowel in that position.

Verb endings can change the suffix vowel

Because the immediately preceding sound controls the suffix, two identically spelled verb forms can reveal both the subject's gender and the -hu/-hi alternation.

هل أعطيته الكتاب يا خالد؟

hal ʾaʿṭaytahu l-kitāba yā khālid?

Did you give him the book, Khalid? (Masculine subject ending -ta + -hu.)

هل أعطيته الكتاب يا مريم؟

hal ʾaʿṭaytihi l-kitāba yā maryam?

Did you give him the book, Maryam? (Feminine subject ending -ti + -hi.)

The written أعطيته is identical, but the careful readings are ʾaʿṭaytahu and ʾaʿṭaytihi. The first difference, -ta/-ti, marks the gender of “you”; the second, -hu/-hi, follows automatically from the new preceding vowel. The object remains the same masculine “him.”

A verb ending in long ī likewise selects -hi:

يعطيه المدير وقتا إضافيا كل أسبوع.

yuʿṭīhi l-mudīru waqtan ʾiḍāfiyyan kulla ʾusbūʿ.

The director gives him extra time every week.

💡

Do not memorize a whole word as an unexplained exception. Segment أعطيتِهِ as verb + feminine subject -ti + masculine object -hi. The grammar creates the phonological environment.

The rest of the third-person h-family

Masculine singular ـه is the only form here whose suffix consists of h + a short alternating vowel, but the same fronting appears at the start of the h-initial dual and plural third-person forms in careful MSA.

Referent	Elsewhere	After i or y	Example after بـ
him / masculine it	-hu	-hi	به bihi
her / feminine it	-hā	-hā	بها bihā
them two	-humā	-himā	بهما bihimā
them (m.pl.)	-hum	-him	بهم bihim
them (f.pl.)	-hunna	-hinna	بهن bihinna

There is no gender distinction in the dual suffix ـهما. The fuller person-number paradigms and their host behavior are covered on Dual and Plural Pronoun Suffixes.

مررت بهم في الممر، ثم جلست معهم في القاعة.

marartu bihim fī l-mamarri, thumma jalastu maʿahum fī l-qāʿa(h).

I passed them in the corridor, then sat with them in the hall. (Masculine plural or mixed group.)

Here bi- triggers bihim, while maʿa gives maʿahum. The referent is unchanged; only the phonological host differs.

Null subjects and antecedents

In قرأته, the verb's ـتُ marks “I,” so Arabic needs no independent أنا. The following ـهُ marks the object “it.” One word therefore contains two different pronoun relations.

قرأته في القطار وأعدته إلى صاحبه مساء.

qaraʾtuhu fī l-qiṭāri wa-ʾaʿadtuhu ʾilā ṣāḥibihi masāʾ.

I read it on the train and returned it to its owner in the evening.

In a relative clause, an object suffix resumes the antecedent:

هذا هو المقال الذي قرأته في القطار.

hādhā huwa l-maqālu lladhī qaraʾtuhu fī l-qiṭār.

This is the article that I read on the train.

The suffix must agree with the antecedent and must also be unambiguous in context. Because ـه can retrieve any grammatically masculine singular noun, two nearby masculine nouns can compete as antecedents.

Register and pausal pronunciation

The -hu/-hi distinction described here is the careful formal MSA norm. In natural sentence-final pause, either final short vowel can be dropped: connected معه اليوم maʿahu l-yawm contrasts with final معه maʿah. Fully inflected reading, formal broadcasting, and deliberate instruction make the vowel more audible; many regional spoken varieties have their own clitic-vowel systems and should not be silently substituted into MSA.

تحدثت معه اليوم، وسأتصل به غدا.

taḥaddathtu maʿahu l-yawma, wa-sa-ʾattaṣilu bihi ghadā.

I spoke with him today, and I will call him tomorrow.

Common Mistakes

Losing second-person gender—and therefore the harmony environment

❌ هل سلمته الملف يا مريم؟

hal sallamtahu l-milaffa yā maryam

Incorrect if sallamtahu is pronounced — one female addressee requires -ti-, which then selects -hi.

✅ هل سلمته الملف يا مريم؟

hal sallamtihi l-milaffa yā maryam?

Did you hand him the file, Maryam?

Writing the suffix separately

❌ استعنت ب ه أمس.

Incorrect — the preposition and suffix form one written word.

✅ استعنت به أمس.

ʾistaʿantu bihi ʾams.

I made use of it yesterday.

Copying English possessor order

❌ ه كتاب على الطاولة.

Incorrect — bound -hu cannot precede a noun like English ‘his.’

✅ كتابه على الطاولة.

kitābuhu ʿalā ṭ-ṭāwila(h).

His book is on the table.

Omitting the resumptive object

❌ هذا هو العقد الذي راجعت صباحا.

Incorrect for ‘the contract that I reviewed’ — the relative clause needs an object suffix resuming al-ʿaqd.

✅ هذا هو العقد الذي راجعته صباحا.

hādhā huwa l-ʿaqdu lladhī rājaʿtuhu ṣabāḥā.

This is the contract that I reviewed in the morning.

Leaving two possible masculine antecedents

❌ وضع سامر الكتاب بجانب الملف ثم حمله.

Potentially unclear — -hu may retrieve either the book or the file.

✅ وضع سامر الكتاب بجانب الملف ثم حمل الملف.

waḍaʿa sāmirun al-kitāba bi-jānibi l-milaffi thumma ḥamala l-milaff.

Samer put the book beside the file and then carried the file.

Key Takeaways

The written suffix ـه is masculine singular whether it means “his,” “him,” or masculine “it.”
Pronounce it -hi after i, long ī, or y; pronounce -hu elsewhere in connected careful MSA.
The host determines the suffix's grammatical role, and case can determine the vowel immediately before it.
Natural pause can remove the final short vowel, while connected speech reveals the harmony pattern.
Relative and topicalized clauses use the suffix to resume an antecedent; repeat a noun when two masculine singular antecedents would compete.

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