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### Regular Masculine Plurals and Cases

Just like the dual form, regular masculine plurals (used for groups of male human beings or mixed groups) indicate their grammatical case by changing their suffix, rather than relying on short vowels.

### The Nominative Plural (ـون)

When a regular masculine plural acts as the subject or predicate of a sentence, it is in the Nominative case. You form this by adding the suffix ـون to the end of the singular noun.

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Notice that adjectives describing a Nominative plural noun must match it, taking the same ـون ending.

### The Accusative and Genitive Plural (ـين)

If the plural noun is the direct object of a verb (Accusative case) or immediately follows a preposition (Genitive case), the suffix changes to ـين.

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*Note: This is written exactly the same as the dual suffix, but is pronounced differently (dual is "-ayn", plural is "-een").*

### Superlative Adjectives in Idafa

To say "the best", "the fastest", or "the biggest" of a group, Arabic uses a superlative adjective pattern (أفعل) followed by a definite plural noun. 

Grammatically, this forms an Idafa (possession) construction. Because the plural noun is the second part of the Idafa, it is always in the Genitive case. Therefore, it must take the ـين suffix.

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Notice that while Arabic uses the plural noun in this construction (literally "the best of the contractors"), it is often translated into English using the singular ("the best contractor").

### Contrasting the Cases

Always pay attention to the role the plural noun plays in the sentence. Compare how the word for "ironworkers" changes from the Nominative (subject) to the Genitive (after a superlative in an Idafa):

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

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)

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
worker	عاملâmil
These are hardworking workers.	هؤلاء عاملون مجتهدون.hâ'ulâ'i 'âmilûna mujtahidûna
The engineers are busy in this project.	المهندسون مشغولون في هذا المشروع.al-muhandisûna mashghûlûna fî hâdhâ al-mashrû'.
I saw twenty workers there.	رأيت عشرين عاملا هناك.ra'aytu 'ishrîna 'âmilan hunâka.
I spoke with the workers today.	تكلمت مع العاملين اليوم.takallamtu ma'a al-'âmilîna al-yawma
contractor	مقاولmuqâwil
He is the best contractor in the company.	هو أفضل المقاولين في الشركة.huwa afdalu-l-muqâwilîna fi-sh-sharikah
The contractors are present at the meeting.	المقاولون حاضرون في الاجتماع.al-muqâwilûna hâḍirûna fî al-ijtimâ3i
supervisor	مشرفmushrif
The manager sent a message to the supervisors.	أرسل المدير رسالة إلى المشرفين.arsala al-mudîru risâlatan ilâ al-mushrifîn
The supervisors are coming from the site.	المشرفون قادمون من الموقع.al-mushrifûna qâdimûna min al-mawqi'i
carpenter	نجارnajjâr
These are the fastest carpenters.	هؤلاء أسرع النجارين.hâ'ulâ'i asra'u an-najjârîna
wood	خشبkhashab
The carpenters built a house of wood.	بنى النجارون بيتا من خشب.banâ an-najjârûna baytan min khashabin
ironworker	حدادhaddâd
The ironworkers are very tired now.	الحدادون متعبون جدا الآن.al-haddâdûn muta'abûn jiddan al-ân
We want the best ironworkers for this work.	نريد أفضل الحدادين لهذا العمل.nureedu afdala al-haddâdeena li-hâdhâ al-amal
helmet	خوذةkhôdha
The engineers and the supervisors wore a white helmet.	لبس المهندسون والمشرفون خوذة بيضاء.labisa al-muhandisûna wal-mushrifûna khûdhatan baydâ'a.
dangerous / serious, grave	خطيرkhatîr
The work is dangerous without a helmet.	العمل خطير بدون خوذة.al-'amalu khatîrun bidûni khûdhatin
tool	أداةadâh
The carpenters used an old tool.	استخدم النجارون أداة قديمة.istakhdama an-najjârûna adâtan qadîmatan
This is an important tool for the ironworkers.	هذه أداة مهمة للحدادين.hâdhihi adâtun muhimmatun lilhaddâdîn
iron	حديدhadîd
The contractors cut the iron.	قطع المقاولون الحديد.qata3a al-muqawiluna al-hadida.
Iron is heavy and wood is light.	الحديد ثقيل والخشب خفيف.al-hadîdu thaqîlun wal-khashabu khafîfun
We will sit with the biggest contractors tomorrow.	سوف نجلس مع أكبر المقاولين غدا.sawfa najlisu ma'a akbari al-muqâwilîna ghadan
The project is very dangerous, where is the helmet?	المشروع خطير جدا، أين الخوذة؟al-mashrû'u khatîrun jiddan, ayna al-khûdhatu?