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Whether you are building a stamp collection or swapping hobby supplies, you will often need to talk about having "a few" or "several" items. In Arabic, this is expressed using **بِضْع** and **بِضْعَة**.

### Reverse-Gender Agreement

These words indicate an unspecified number between three and nine. They behave exactly like the numbers 3 through 9, taking **reverse-gender agreement**:

- If the noun is **feminine** in its singular form, use the masculine **بِضْع**.
- If the noun is **masculine** in its singular form, use the feminine **بِضْعَة**.
- The counted noun must be plural and in the genitive case (مجرور).

### Using Masculine بِضْع (For Feminine Nouns)

Words like "copies" (نسخ, singular: نسخة) and "coins" (عملات, singular: عملة) are feminine in their singular forms, so they pair with the masculine **بِضْع**.

{{item:1165401}}

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### Using Feminine بِضْعَة (For Masculine Nouns)

If the item is masculine in its singular form, use the feminine **بِضْعَة**. This applies to words like "editions" (إصدارات, singular: إصدار) and "stamps" (طوابع, singular: طابع). Even if a plural ends in an ات suffix, its gender is still determined by its singular form.

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### Mixed Contexts

Notice how the gender correctly flips depending on the singular root of each item in these sentences:

{{item:1165405}}

{{item:1165417}}

A few and several (بِضْع / بِضْعَة)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
to acquire, to possess	اقتنىiqtanâ
album	ألبومalbûm
The researcher always acquires a few copies for the new album.	يقتني الباحث دائما بضع نسخ للألبوم الجديد.yaqtani albahithu da'iman bida nusakhin lil'albumi aljadid
a few, several (for masculine nouns)	بضعةbid'atun
edition, issue	إصدارisdâr
A few rare editions were very expensive.	كانت بضعة إصدارات نادرة غالية جدا.kânat bid'atu isdârâtin nâdiratin ghâliyatan jiddan
She bought several rare coins a few days ago.	اشترت بضع عملات نادرة قبل بضعة أيام.ishtarat bida umulâtin nâdiratin qabla bidati ayyâmin
case, folder	حافظةhâfiza
I put a few valuable stamps in the folder.	وضعت بضعة طوابع ثمينة في الحافظة.wada'tu bid'ata tawâbi'a thamînatin fî al-hâfizati
This album contains a few new editions.	يحتوي هذا الألبوم على بضعة إصدارات جديدة.yahtawî hâdhâ al-albûmu 'alâ bid'ati isdârâtin jadîdatin.
swap, barter	مقايضةmuqâyada
incomplete, missing	ناقصnâqis
completion	اكتمالiktimâl
I made a swap to get a few missing pieces for the completion of the collection.	قمت بمقايضة لأحصل على بضع قطع ناقصة لاكتمال المجموعة.qumtu bimuqâyadatin li'ahsula alâ bidi qitain nâqisatin liktimâli almajmûati
Did you acquire a few rare folders through a swap?	هل اقتنيت بضع حافظات نادرة عن طريق مقايضة؟hal iqtanayta bid'a hâfizâtin nâdiratin 'an tarîqi muqâyadatin?
model, figurine	مجسمmujassam
The artist built this model a few years ago.	بنت الفنانة هذا المجسم قبل بضع سنوات.banati al-fannânatu hâdhâ al-mujassama qabla bid'i sanawâtin
After the completion of the first album, he started a few new albums.	بعد اكتمال الألبوم الأول، بدأ بضعة ألبومات جديدة.ba'da iktimâli al-albûmi al-awwali, bada'a bid'ata albûmâtin jadîdatin.
I bought a few models and a few missing pieces.	اشتريت بضعة مجسمات وبضع قطع ناقصة.ishtaraytu bid'ata mujassamâtin wa bid'a qita'in nâqisatin.
antique	أثريathariyy
She bought a few antique coins from one of the shops.	اشترت بضع عملات أثرية من أحد المتاجر.ishtarat bida umulâtin athariyyatin min ahadi al-matâjir
souvenir	تذكارtidhkâr
He liked the exhibition, so he kept several souvenirs from it.	أعجبه المعرض، فاحتفظ ببضعة تذكارات منه.a'jabahu al-ma'ridu, fahtafaza bibid'ati tadhkâratin minhu.
I searched, I searched for a few rare artifacts.	بحثت، بحثت عن بضع تحف نادرة.bahathtu, bahathtu an bidi tuhafin nâdiratin
She put several antique models in one of the cabinets.	وضعت بضعة مجسمات أثرية في إحدى الخزائن.wadha'at bidh'ata mujassamâtin athariyyatin fî ihdâ al-khazâ'ini
item (element, component)	عنصر'unsur
Tariq collected a few coins and several rare items.	جمع طارق بضع عملات وبضعة عناصر نادرة.jama'a târiqun bid'a 'umulâtin wa bid'ata 'anâsira nâdiratin
Maryam found several missing items and a few souvenirs.	وجدت مريم بضعة عناصر ناقصة وبضعة تذكارات.wajadat maryamu bid'ata 'anâsira nâqisatin wabid'ata tidhkârâtin