Pointing at People: هؤلاء
To say "these" for a group of people close to you, use the plural demonstrative هؤلاء. It works for both masculine and feminine groups, but is strictly reserved for humans.
| These men are sellers in the market. | هؤلاء الرجال بائعون في السوق.hâ'ulâ'i r-rijâlu bâ'i'ûna fi s-sûq |
| These sellers have oranges and bananas. | هؤلاء البائعون عندهم برتقال وموز.hâ'ulâ'i al-bâ'i'ûna 'indahum burtuqâlun wa mawzun |
Pointing Further Away: ذلك and تلك
To say "that" for someone or something further away, use the demonstrative that matches the noun's gender:
- ذلك for masculine singular nouns.
- تلك for feminine singular nouns.
| That seller is busy now. | ذلك البائع مشغول الآن.dhâlika al-bâ'i'u mashghûlun al-âna |
| Is that woman a nurse? | هل تلك المرأة ممرضة؟hal tilka al-mar'atu mumarridatun? |
"Those" Fruits and Vegetables
General categories of produce like oranges (برتقال), bananas (موز), and apples (تفاح) are collective nouns. They refer to the fruit as a whole category rather than individual pieces and are treated as masculine singular.
To say "those apples" or "those oranges," use the masculine singular ذلك.
| Are those oranges fresh? | هل ذلك البرتقال طازج؟hal dhâlika al-burtuqâlu tâzijun? |
| Those apples are delicious. | ذلك التفاح لذيذ.dhâlika at-tuffâhu ladhîdh |
Meanwhile, non-human plurals—including words like vegetables (خضار)—are treated as feminine singular. To say "those vegetables," use تلك.
| Those vegetables are cheap. | تلك الخضار رخيصة.tilka l-khudâru rakhîsah |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io
