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This lesson introduces vocabulary to help you talk about armed forces, military equipment, and troop organization.

### The Army and Soldiers

At the center of defense is the "army" (جيش) and its personnel. A "soldier" is جندي, and you can add a *ta' marbuta* (ة) to refer to a female soldier (جندية). They are often stationed at a military "camp" (معسكر).

As a quick reminder, non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular. You will see feminine singular words like هذه and العسكرية used to describe plural military camps.

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When counting items or people using numbers from 11 to 99, the noun that follows the number must be singular and in the accusative case (often taking an *alif* with two *fathas*). Notice how "twenty soldiers" uses the singular accusative form جنديا.

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### Battalions, Tanks, and Cannons

An army is divided into units such as a "battalion" (كتيبة). For heavy defense, forces rely on armored vehicles like a "tank" (دبابة) and artillery like a "cannon" (مدفع).

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### Missiles, Shields, and Ranks

Modern and historical defense equipment includes the "missile" (صاروخ) and the protective "shield" (درع). Watch how the non-human plural rule applies to these items as well, pairing plural nouns with feminine singular adjectives like سريعة (fast) and مفيدة (useful).

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Finally, the hierarchy of the military is organized by "rank" (رتبة).

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Military & Defense

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)

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)

Question	Answer
camp (military)	معسكرmu'askar
military	عسكري'askarî
army	جيشjaysh
These military camps belong to the army.	هذه المعسكرات العسكرية للجيش.hâdhihi al-muaskarâtu al-askariyyatu lil-jaysh
soldier	جنديjundiy
Twenty soldiers arrived at the camp.	وصل عشرون جنديا إلى المعسكر.wasala 'ishrûna jundiyyan ilâ al-mu'askari.
Maryam is a soldier in the army.	مريم جندية في الجيش.maryamu jundiyyatun fil jaysh
tank (military vehicle)	دبابةdabbâba
cannon	مدفعmidfa'
battalion	كتيبةkatîba
These tanks and cannons belong to the third battalion.	هذه الدبابات والمدافع للكتيبة الثالثة.hâdhihi ad-dabbâbâtu wal-madâfi lil-katîbati ath-thâlithah
Fatima is an officer in this battalion.	فاطمة ضابطة في هذه الكتيبة.fâtimatu dâbitatun fî hâdhihil-katîbah
missile	صاروخsârûkh
The new missiles are very fast.	الصواريخ الجديدة سريعة جدا.as-sawârîkhu l-jadîdatu sarî'atun jiddan
shield	درعdir'
Military shields are useful for the soldiers.	الدروع العسكرية مفيدة للجنود.ad-durû'u al-askariyyatu mufîdatun lil-junûdi
The army launched fifteen missiles.	أطلق الجيش خمسة عشر صاروخا.atlaqa al-jayshu khamsata 'ashara sârûkhan
The battalion bought forty shields.	اشترت الكتيبة أربعين درعا.ishtarati al-katiibatu arba'iina dir'an
There are thirty military tanks here.	يوجد هنا ثلاثون دبابة عسكرية.yûjadu hunâ thalâthûna dabbâbatan askariyyatan
rank	رتبةrutba
Ahmad got a new rank in the army.	حصل أحمد على رتبة جديدة في الجيش.hasala ahmadu 'alâ rutbatin jadîdatin fil-jaysh
There are fifty cannons in this camp.	في هذا المعسكر خمسون مدفعا.fī hâdhâ al-mu'askari khamsûna midfa'an
What is your military rank, Yusuf?	ما هي رتبتك العسكرية يا يوسف؟mâ hiya rutbatuka al-askariyyatu yâ yûsufu?
We repelled the attack with tanks and cannons.	صددنا الهجوم بالدبابات والمدافع.sadadnâ al-hujûma bid-dabbâbâti wal-madâfi'