Adjectives and Gender Agreement
In Arabic, adjectives always come after the noun they modify. To say "a smart man," you literally say "a man smart."
Adjectives must also agree with the gender of the noun. Most adjectives are made feminine simply by adding the suffix ة (taa' marbuuTa) to the end of the masculine form.
| This is a smart man. | هذا رجل ذكي.hâdhâ rajulun dhakiyyun |
| This is a smart woman. | هذه امرأة ذكية.hâdhihi imra'atun dhakiyyatun. |
| This is an interesting story. | هذه قصة ممتعة.hâdhihi qissatun mumti'ah |
Definiteness Agreement
Attributive adjectives (adjectives that directly describe a noun) must also agree with the noun in definiteness.
If the noun has the definite article ال (the), the adjective must also attach ال. If the noun is indefinite (no ال), the adjective must remain indefinite as well. Notice how this matching behaves for both definite phrases and indefinite phrases within the same sentence:
| The hardworking boy is a new student. | الولد المجتهد طالب جديد.al-waladu al-mujtahidu tâlibun jadîdun. |
| The smart man is in the office. | الرجل الذكي في المكتب.ar-rajulu adh-dhakiyyu fi al-maktabi |
| The interesting story is in the new book. | القصة الممتعة في الكتاب الجديد.al-qissatu al-mumti'atu fi al-kitâbi al-jadîd. |
When pairing multiple nouns and adjectives together, each adjective independently matches its specific noun in both gender and definiteness.
| The little boy and the little girl are here. | الولد الصغير والبنت الصغيرة هنا.al-waladu as-saghiru wa-l-bintu as-saghiratu huna |