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### The Dual Form and Cases

In Arabic, when you refer to exactly two of something, you use the dual form. Unlike singular nouns, which use short vowels to show their grammatical case, dual nouns show their case by changing their letter suffix.

### The Nominative Dual (ـان)

When a dual noun acts as the subject or predicate of a sentence, it is in the Nominative case. You form the Nominative dual by adding the suffix ـان to the end of the singular noun.

{{item:1120465}}

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Notice in the first sentence that both the subject (المتجران) and its predicate (مفتوحان) take the Nominative ـان ending to match.

### The Accusative and Genitive Dual (ـين)

If the dual noun is the direct object of a verb, it is in the Accusative case. For the Accusative, the suffix changes from ـان to ـين.

{{item:1120472}}

Just like in the Nominative case, any adjectives describing the noun must match it. An adjective describing an Accusative dual noun will also take the ـين suffix.

{{item:1120476}}

The exact same ـين suffix is used for the Genitive case, which is required when a noun immediately follows a preposition.

{{item:1120483}}

### Contrasting the Cases

When using dual nouns, always identify whether the noun is doing the action (Nominative) or receiving the action (Accusative). Compare these two sentences to see how the noun changes based entirely on its grammatical role:

{{item:1120489}}

{{item:1120490}}

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

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)

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
store	متجرmatjar
The two stores are open today.	المتجران مفتوحان اليوم.al-matjarâni maftûḥâni al-yawma.
customer	زبونzabûn
The two customers are in the restaurant.	الزبونان في المطعم.az-zabunâni fil-mat'ami.
Are the two customers ready?	هل الزبونان جاهزان؟hal azzabûnâni jâhizân
shirt	قميصqamîs
The two shirts are clean.	القميصان نظيفان.al-qamîsâni nazîfâni
to sell	باعbâ'a
Did the man sell the two stores?	هل باع الرجل المتجرين؟hal bâ'a ar-rajulu al-matjarayni?
No, the manager sold two cars.	لا، باع المدير سيارتين.lâ, bâa al-mudîru sayyâratayni
Why did you buy two shirts?	لماذا اشتريت قميصين؟limâdhâ ishtarayta qamîsayni?
shoe	حذاءhithâ'
I bought two new shoes.	اشتريت حذاءين جديدين.ishtaraytu hithâ'ayni jadîdayni
I did not find the two shoes.	ما وجدت الحذاءين.mâ wajadtu al-hidhâ'ayni
sock	جوربjawrab
When did you find the two socks?	متى وجدت الجوربين؟matâ wajadta l-jawrabayni
The two socks are in the room.	الجوربان في الغرفة.al-jawrabâni fi l-ghurfah
coat	معطفmi'taf
The two coats are very heavy.	المعطفان ثقيلان جدا.al-mi'tafâni thaqîlâni jiddan
We found the money in the two coats.	وجدنا المال في المعطفين.wajadnâ al-mâla fî al-mi'ṭafayn
opinion	رأيra'y
I heard two opinions today.	سمعت رأيين اليوم.sami'tu ra'yayni al-yawma
different	مختلفmukhtalif
The two opinions are very different.	الرأيان مختلفان جدا.ar-ra'yâni mukhtalifâni jiddan
option	خيارkhiyâr
You have two different options.	عندك خياران مختلفان.'indaka khiyârâni mukhtalifân
I did not understand the two options.	ما فهمت الخيارين.mâ fahimtu al-khiyârayn
expensive	غاليghâli
The expensive coat is beautiful.	المعطف الغالي جميل.al-mi'tafu al-ghâlî jamîl.
These shoes are very expensive.	هذه الأحذية غالية جدا.hâdhihi al-aḥdhiyatu ghâliyatun jiddan.
The customer bought the expensive shirt.	اشترى الزبون القميص الغالي.ishtarâ az-zabunu al-qamisa al-ghaliya
to put on, to wear	ارتدىirtadâ
The boy put on the coat.	ارتدى الولد المعطف.irtadâ al-waladu al-mi'ṭafa.
What are you wearing today?	ماذا ترتدي اليوم؟mâdhâ tartadî al-yawma?
The girl wore two different socks.	ارتدت البنت جوربين مختلفين.irtadati al-bintu jawrabayni mukhtalifayni
as for, regarding (with لـ)	بالنسبةbinnisbati
As for me, this option is better.	بالنسبة لي، هذا الخيار أفضل.bin-nisbati lî, hâdhal khiyâru afdal.
For the customer, the price is important.	بالنسبة للزبون، السعر مهم.bi-n-nisbati li-z-zabûni, as-si'ru muhimmun

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