Adjectives for people
These adjectives follow the noun and agree with it, like every Arabic adjective: add ة for a woman.
| man | woman | |
|---|---|---|
| nice, kind | لطيف | لطيفة |
| ugly | قبيح | قبيحة |
| crazy | مجنون | مجنونة |
| The teacher is kind to the children. | المعلم لطيف مع الأطفال.al-mu'allimu latiifun ma'a al-atfaali. |
| The actor is handsome and nice. | الممثل وسيم ولطيف.al-mumaththilu wasîmun wa laṭîfun |
وسيم(wasîm) is said of men; for a woman, use جميلة. عجوز(ajûz) is an old person and has no feminine form: the same word serves for an old man and an old woman. فتى(fatâ) is a lad, and its feminine is the فتاة you already know.
| The kind old woman helps her neighbors. | العجوز اللطيفة تساعد جيرانها.al-'ajûzu l-latîfatu tusâ'idu jîrânahâ. |
One feature: طويل القامة
To describe a person by ONE feature, put the adjective first and the feature after it, with ال: طويل القامة is tall of stature, كثير الكلام much of talk, a chatterbox. The adjective agrees with the PERSON, not with the feature:
| person | description |
|---|---|
| أخي | طويل القامة |
| جارتنا | قصيرة القامة |
| الفتى | قليل الكلام |
| My brother is tall of stature. | أخي طويل القامة.akhee taweelu l-qâmah |
| Our neighbor is a woman short of stature. | جارتنا امرأة قصيرة القامة.jâratunâ imra'atun qaṣîratu l-qâmati |
The feature keeps its ال even when the person is indefinite: رجلا أسود الشعر, a black-haired man.
| I saw a black-haired man. | رأيت رجلا أسود الشعر.ra'aytu rajulan aswada ash-sha'ri. |
One favourite: خفيف الظل, light of shadow, is a person who is good company.
| My friend is good company (lit. light of shadow). | صديقي خفيف الظل.sadîqî khafîfu adh-dhilli. |
Strength
قوة(quwwa) is the noun behind قوي strong. With ذو / ذات it describes a person:
| This lad has great strength. | هذا الفتى ذو قوة كبيرة.hâdhâ al-fatâ dhû quwwatin kabîratin |
