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In Arabic, colors and certain physical descriptions do not behave like standard adjectives. Instead of simply adding a ة to make a word feminine, these adjectives use a fixed pattern based on their root consonants.

### The Pattern for Colors

Adjectives for colors follow the pattern أفعل for the masculine singular and فعلاء for the feminine singular. Notice that the masculine form always begins with the letter أ, while the feminine form ends with اء.

Here are the six basic colors using this pattern:

| Masculine (أفعل) | Feminine (فعلاء) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أحمر | حمراء | Red |
| أزرق | زرقاء | Blue |
| أخضر | خضراء | Green |
| أسود | سوداء | Black |
| أبيض | بيضاء | White |
| أصفر | صفراء | Yellow |

These words function exactly like normal adjectives: they follow the noun they modify, and they must agree with that noun in gender and definiteness.

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### Physical Traits

This same grammatical pattern applies to words describing inherent physical traits, such as skin complexion and hair color. 

For example, the adjective for "dark-skinned" is أسمر for masculine and سمراء for feminine. Similarly, "blonde" is أشقر for masculine and شقراء for feminine.

When describing a person's features, remember that the adjective must match the gender of the specific body part being described, not necessarily the gender of the person overall. For example, the words for "face" (وجه) and "hair" (شعر) are both masculine, so they always take the masculine أفعل pattern.

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Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

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

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)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
red	أحمرahmar
The red pen is on the table.	القلم الأحمر على الطاولة.al-qalamu al-ahmaru 'alâ at-tâwilati
This is a red car.	هذه سيارة حمراء.hâdhihi sayyâratun hamrâ'u
blue	أزرقazraq
The sea is very blue today.	البحر أزرق جدا اليوم.al-bahru azraqu jiddan al-yawma
I see a beautiful blue sky.	أرى سماء زرقاء جميلة.arâ samâ'an zarqâ'a jamîlatan
green	أخضرakhdar
The green grass is under the tree.	العشب الأخضر تحت الشجرة.al-'ushbu al-akhdaru tahta ash-shajarah
My bag is green and new.	حقيبتي خضراء وجديدة.haqibati khadrâ'u wa jadeedatun
black	أسودaswad
I do not like the black dog.	لا أحب الكلب الأسود.lâ uhibbu al-kalba al-aswad.
The professor wrote on the black board.	كتب الأستاذ على السبورة السوداء.kataba l-ustaadhu 'alaa s-sabbuurati s-sawdaa'i
white / pure (of heart)	أبيضabyad
Do you have a white house?	هل عندك بيت أبيض؟hal 'indaka baytun abyadu?
The nurse wears white clothes.	الممرضة تلبس ملابس بيضاء.al-mumarridatu talbasu malâbisa baydâ'a.
yellow	أصفرasfar
Where is the yellow notebook?	أين الدفتر الأصفر؟ayna ad-daftaru al-asfar?
The yellow flower is in the garden.	الزهرة الصفراء في الحديقة.az-zahratu as-safrâ'u fil-hadîqati
dark-skinned	أسمرasmar
My new colleague is a dark-skinned young man.	زميلي الجديد شاب أسمر.zamîlî al-jadîdu shâbbun asmaru.
The dark-skinned girl is playing with the dog.	البنت السمراء تلعب مع الكلب.al-bintu as-samrâ'u tal'abu ma'a al-kalbi
face	وجهwajh
hair	شعرsha'r
blonde	أشقرashqar
The child has a beautiful face and blonde hair.	الطفل عنده وجه جميل وشعر أشقر.at-tiflu 'indahu wajhun jamîlun wa sha'run ashqaru
The blonde woman is an intelligent doctor.	المرأة الشقراء طبيبة ذكية.al-mar'atu ash-shaqrâ'u tabîbatun dhakiyyatun
I wash my face and my hair in the morning.	أغسل وجهي وشعري صباحا.aghsilu wajhî wa sharî sabâhan
His face is white and he is very sick.	وجهه أبيض وهو مريض جدا.wajhuhu abyadu wa huwa marîdun jiddan
girl (young woman)	فتاةfatâh
The girl is blonde.	الفتاة شقراء.al-fatâtu shaqrâ'u
The girl's hair is black.	شعر الفتاة أسود.sha'ru al-fatâti aswad.
This is a dark-skinned girl.	هذه فتاة سمراء.hâdhihi fatâtun samrâ'u

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