Where are you from?
To say someone's nationality, Arabic turns the name of the country into an adjective by adding ـي (masculine) or ـية (feminine). This ending is called the nisba (النسبة), the ending of relation.
| country | masculine | feminine |
|---|---|---|
| مصر | مصري | مصرية |
| سوريا | سوري | سورية |
| لبنان | لبناني | لبنانية |
| السعودية | سعودي | سعودية |
| المغرب | مغربي | مغربية |
| أمريكا | أمريكي | أمريكية |
| فرنسا | فرنسي | فرنسية |
Before the ending, the country name loses its article ال, a final ة, or a final long ا: السعودية → سعودي, المغرب → مغربي, سوريا → سوري. إنجليزي (English) is formed less regularly — learn it as a word.
| Where are you from? I am Egyptian. | من أين أنت؟ أنا مصري.min ayna anta? ana misriyy. |
| She is Egyptian. | هي مصرية.hiya misriyyah |
An adjective like any other
A nisba agrees in gender like every adjective, and it can describe things as well as people.
| This is a French restaurant. | هذا مطعم فرنسي.hâdhâ mat'amun faransiyyun |
The same ending builds many ordinary adjectives: رياضي athletic comes from رياضة sport, and عربي Arab, Arabic from العرب the Arabs.
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