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To talk about academic disciplines, you often turn nouns into adjectives—like changing "university" (جامعة) to "academic" (جامعي). In Arabic, we do this by adding the *Nisba* (relative) suffix: يّ for masculine or يّة for feminine.

### Dropping the Taa' Marboota (ة)

If a noun ends in a ة, like هندسة (engineering) or جامعة (university), **drop the ة** before adding the Nisba suffix.

Here is the base noun for engineering:

{{item:1144091}}

To describe a company as an "engineering" company, drop the ة from هندسة and add the feminine suffix يّة (matching the feminine شركة):

{{item:1144095}}

The same applies to جامعة (university). Drop the ة and add the masculine suffix يّ to get جامعي:

{{item:1144098}}

### Dropping Final Weak Vowels

Some nouns end in a weak vowel, such as the long ا in جغرافيا (geography). Just like the ة, drop this final vowel before attaching the Nisba suffix.

{{item:1144101}}

By dropping the final ا and adding the masculine suffix يّ, we get جغرافي (geographical):

{{item:1144104}}

### More Academic Disciplines

This pattern applies to other fields of study. As always, the resulting adjective must agree in gender, definiteness, and case with the noun it modifies.

For فلسفة (philosophy), drop the ة to form فلسفي (philosophical):

{{item:1144107}}

{{item:1144110}}

For زراعة (agriculture), drop the ة to form زراعي (agricultural):

{{item:1144113}}

{{item:1144116}}

Nisba adjectives from weak nouns (جامعي، جغرافي)

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
faculty	كليةkulliyya
engineering	هندسةhandasa
My brother wants to study in the faculty of engineering.	يريد أخي أن يدرس في كلية الهندسة.yurîdu akhî an yadrusa fî kulliyyati-l-handasah
Indeed, this faculty is famous.	إن هذه الكلية مشهورة.inna hâdhihi al-kulliyyata mash-hûratun
Did she study engineering at the university?	هل درست الهندسة في الجامعة؟hal darasati l-handasata fi l-jâmi'ah?
architectural	هندسيhandasiyy
He works in an engineering company.	يعمل في شركة هندسية.yamalu fi sharikatin handasiyyatin
Did the engineer finish the engineering design?	هل أنهت المهندسة التصميم الهندسي؟hal anhati l-muhandisatu t-tasmîma l-handasiyy?
academic	جامعيjâmi'iyy
Indeed, the university building is crowded.	إن المبنى الجامعي مزدحم.inna al-mabna al-jaami'iyya muzdahimun
She did not start the university year.	لم تبدأ العام الجامعي.lam tabda'i al-'âma al-jâmi'iyya
geography	جغرافياjoghrâfiyâ
We studied the geography of Egypt.	درسنا جغرافيا مصر.darasnâ jughrâfiyâ misra
I love history and geography.	أحب التاريخ والجغرافيا.uhibbu at-târîkha waljughrâfyâ
geographical	جغرافيjoghrâfî
Indeed, the geographical location of the city is excellent.	إن الموقع الجغرافي للمدينة ممتاز.inna al-mawqi'a al-jughrâfiyya lil-madînati mumtâzun
We did not find a geographical map.	لم نجد خريطة جغرافية.lam najid kharîtatan jughrâfiyyatan.
philosophy	فلسفةfalsafah
She is reading a book about philosophy.	تقرأ كتابا عن الفلسفة.taqra'u kitâban 'anil-falsafah
Philosophy is a deep science.	الفلسفة علم عميق.al-falsafatu ilmun amiiqun
philosophical	فلسفيfalsafiyy
This is a difficult philosophical question.	هذا سؤال فلسفي صعب.hâdhâ su'âlun falsafiyyun sa'bun
I do not like philosophical discussions.	لا أحب النقاش الفلسفي.lâ uhibbu n-niqâsha l-falsafiyya
agriculture	زراعةzirâ'ah
Agriculture is important for the economy of the country.	الزراعة مهمة لاقتصاد البلد.az-ziraa'atu muhimmatun liqtisaadi al-balad
Did he study agriculture at the university?	هل درس الزراعة في الجامعة؟hal darasa az-zirâ'ata fî l-jâmi'ati?
agricultural	زراعيzirâ'i
The agricultural production increased this year.	ازداد الإنتاج الزراعي هذا العام.izdâda al'intâju azzirâ'iyyu hâdhâ al'âma
The engineer bought an agricultural tractor.	اشترى المهندس جرارا زراعيا.ishtarâ al-muhandisu jarrâran zirâ'iyyan.