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Nisba adjectives are formed by adding the suffix **ي** (for masculine) or **ية** (for feminine) to a noun to mean "related to" or "characteristic of" that noun. While most Nisba adjectives are formed from singular nouns, formal Arabic—especially in diplomacy, politics, and law—often forms them directly from *broken plural* nouns.

### The Plural Nisba

When a concept is inherently collective or refers to an institution based on a plural word, the Nisba suffix attaches directly to the broken plural form.

For example, the United Nations is **الأمم المتحدة** (literally "the united nations"). To say "UN-related" or "international," you add the Nisba suffix to the plural word **أمم** (nations), creating the adjective **أممي**.

Here are common examples used in international relations:
- **أمم** (nations) becomes **أممي** (UN-related)
- **حقوق** (rights) becomes **حقوقي** (rights-related)
- **أخلاق** (morals) becomes **أخلاقي** (moral)

Like all adjectives, these words must agree with the nouns they modify in gender, definiteness, and case.

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### Describing Movements and Ideologies

This pattern applies to a wide variety of broken plural forms, allowing you to create precise descriptive terms for political movements, ideologies, and demographics.

- **عقائد** (ideologies/beliefs) becomes **عقائدي** (ideological)
- **جماهير** (masses) becomes **جماهيري** (mass)
- **عمال** (workers) becomes **عمالي** (labor)

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### Summary of Plural Origins

Here is a quick reference showing how the singular base nouns become broken plurals, which then take the Nisba suffix to form these formal adjectives:

| Singular | Broken Plural | Plural Nisba Adjective |
| --- | --- | --- |
| أمة | أمم | أممي |
| حق | حقوق | حقوقي |
| خلق | أخلاق | أخلاقي |
| عقيدة | عقائد | عقائدي |
| جمهور | جماهير | جماهيري |
| عامل | عمال | عمالي |

Nisba adjectives from plurals

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
envoy	مبعوثmab'ûth
UN-related	أمميumamiyy
The UN envoy did not arrive today.	لم يصل المبعوث الأممي اليوم.lam yasili al-mab'ûthu al-ummiyyu al-yawma
alliance	تحالفtahâluf
We must support the UN alliance.	علينا أن ندعم التحالف الأممي.'alaynâ an nad'ama at-tahâlufa al-umamiyya
violation	انتهاكintihâk
moral	أخلاقيakhlâqî
sovereignty	سيادةsiyâda
This is a moral violation of the state's sovereignty.	هذا انتهاك أخلاقي لسيادة الدولة.hâdhâ intihâkun akhlâqiyyun lisiyâdati ad-dawlati
rights-related	حقوقيhuqûqiyy
The rights-related report revealed the violation.	كشف التقرير الحقوقي الانتهاك.kashafa at-taqrîru al-huqûqiyyu al-intihâka.
The rights envoy refused the agreement for a moral reason.	رفضت المبعوثة الحقوقية الاتفاق لسبب أخلاقي.rafadati al-mab'ûthatu al-huqûqiyyatu al-ittifâqa li-sababin akhlâqiyyin
Sovereignty is not an excuse, but rather a moral responsibility.	السيادة ليست عذرا، بل مسؤولية أخلاقية.as-siyâdatu laysat 'udhran, bal mas'ûliyyatun akhlâqiyyah
ideological	عقائديaqâ'idiyy
We do not want an ideological alliance, but rather a practical alliance.	لا نريد تحالفا عقائديا، بل تحالفا عمليا.lâ nurîdu tahâlufan aqâ'idiyyan, bal tahâlufan amaliyyan
mass	جماهيريjamâhîrî
The ideological conflict ruined the mass support.	أفسد الصراع العقائدي الدعم الجماهيري.afsada as-sirâ'u al-'aqâ'idiyyu ad-da'ma al-jamâhîriyya
labor	عمالي'ummâlî
The mass movement supported the labor party.	دعمت الحركة الجماهيرية الحزب العمالي.da'amati al-harakatu al-jamahiriyyatu al-hizba al-'ummaliyya.
The labor party defends the same principle.	يدافع الحزب العمالي عن نفس المبدأ.yudâfi'u al-hizbu al-'ummâliyyu 'an nafsi al-mabda'i