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### The Golden Rule: Non-Human Plurals

One of the most important rules in Arabic grammar is how we treat plurals that aren't people. Whether you are talking about objects, animals, or concepts (like newspapers, pictures, or political news), **all non-human plurals are grammatically treated as feminine singular**.

This means any adjectives describing them, and any pronouns or demonstratives pointing to them, must take their feminine singular forms.

### Adjective Agreement

When describing a non-human plural noun, use a feminine singular adjective (typically ending in **ة**). Let's look at how words like "newspapers" (**صحف**) and "news" (**أخبار**) take feminine singular adjectives like "new" (**جديدة**) and "important" (**مهمة**).

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### "These" and "Those"

Because non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular, you cannot use the plural word for "these" (**هؤلاء**), which is strictly reserved for human beings. Instead, you must use the feminine singular demonstratives **هذه** (this/these) and **تلك** (that/those).

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### Verbs and Non-Human Plurals

This rule extends to verbs as well. If a non-human plural is the subject doing the action, the verb must be conjugated in the feminine singular. Notice how the verb "published" (**نشرت**) takes the feminine form in these examples.

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### Stacking Adjectives

You can use multiple adjectives to describe a non-human plural, and every single one of them will follow the rule. Observe how "old" (**قديمة**) and "many" (**كثيرة**) both take the feminine singular form when describing "books" (**كتب**).

{{item:1086348}}

Non-human plural agreement

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)

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)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
newspaper	صحيفةsahîfah
These are new newspapers.	هذه صحف جديدة.hâdhihi suhufun jadîdah
news item	خبرkhabar
political	سياسيsiyâsiyy
important	مهمmuhimm
The political news is important.	الأخبار السياسية مهمة.al-akhbâru s-siyâsiyyatu muhimmatun
to read	قرأqara'a
article	مقالmaqâl
many / a lot	كثيرkathîr
magazine	مجلةmajalla
He read many articles in the magazine.	قرأ مقالات كثيرة في المجلة.qara'a maqâlâtin kathîratan fî al-majallati.
picture	صورةsûra
Those pictures are beautiful.	تلك صور جميلة.tilka suwarun jamîlatun
Are these magazines political?	هل هذه المجلات سياسية؟hal hâdhihi al-majallâtu siyâsiyyah?
to publish / to spread	نشرnashara
The new newspapers published the important news.	نشرت الصحف الجديدة الأخبار المهمة.nasharati s-suhufu l-jadidatu l-akhbâra l-muhimmata
He has many old books.	عنده كتب قديمة كثيرة.'indahu kutubun qadîmatun kathîratun
The political articles are long.	المقالات السياسية طويلة.al-maqâlâtu s-siyâsiyyatu ṭawîlah.
local	محليmaHalli
She read the local news in the newspaper.	قرأت الأخبار المحلية في الصحيفة.qara'ati al-akhbâra al-maḥalliyyata fî as-saḥîfah
The local magazines published the beautiful pictures.	نشرت المجلات المحلية الصور الجميلة.nasharati al-majallâtu al-mahalliyyatu as-suwara al-jamîlata.
The old newspapers are in the office.	الصحف القديمة في المكتب.as-suhufu al-qadeematu fee al-maktabi
Are the new pictures important?	هل الصور الجديدة مهمة؟hal as-suwaru al-jadidatu muhimmah?
about / from (far from) / on the basis of (merit)	عن'an
This is an article about the city.	هذا مقال عن المدينة.hâdhâ maqâlun 'ani lmadînah
This is a magazine about cars.	هذه مجلة عن السيارات.hâdhihi majallatun 'ani ssayyârât

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