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When discussing communities and advocacy, we often describe groups by their attributes, such as "people of determination" or "people with disabilities." In Arabic, this is done using the noun for "possessor of" or "one with," which always acts as the first part of an Idafa (possession) construction. In this lesson, we will look at its plural forms.

### Masculine Plural Subject: ذوو

When describing a masculine or mixed-gender plural group that is the subject of the sentence (the nominative case), use ذوو. Notice that it behaves like a sound masculine plural noun. Because it is always the first part of an Idafa, it drops the final letter ن that you would normally expect on a plural noun.

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### Masculine Plural Object and Prepositional: ذوي

If the masculine or mixed plural group is the object of a verb (accusative case) or comes after a preposition (genitive case), the form changes from ذوو to ذوي.

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### Feminine Plural: ذوات

When describing an exclusively female plural group, use the feminine plural form ذوات. Unlike the masculine form, its written spelling remains exactly the same regardless of its grammatical role in the sentence.

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### Summary of Plural Forms

| Group | Nominative (Subject) | Accusative / Genitive (Object / Preposition) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Masculine / Mixed Plural | ذوو | ذوي |
| Feminine Plural | ذوات | ذوات |

Plural possessive nouns (ذوو / ذوي / ذوات)

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
determination	همةhimma
discrimination	تمييزtamyiiz
People of determination reject discrimination.	يرفض ذوو الهمم التمييز.yarfudu dhawu al-himami at-tamyiza
disability	إعاقةi'âqah
Society still helps people with disabilities.	لا يزال المجتمع يساعد ذوي الإعاقات.lâ yazâlu-l-mujtama'u yusâ'idu dhawi-l-i'âqât
The female students with visual disabilities are participating in the project.	تشارك الطالبات ذوات الإعاقة البصرية في المشروع.tushâriku at-tâlibâtu dhawâtu al-i'âqati al-basariyyati fi al-mashrû'
cognitive	ذهنيdhihniyy
Aren't people with cognitive disabilities a part of society? Yes!	أليس ذوو الإعاقة الذهنية جزءا من المجتمع؟ بلى!alaysa dhawu al-i'âqati adh-dhihniyyati juz'an mina al-mujtama'i? balâ!
motor	حركيharakiyy
equality	مساواةmusâwâh
The law forbids discrimination against people with motor disabilities for the sake of equality.	يمنع القانون التمييز ضد ذوي الإعاقة الحركية من أجل المساواة.yamna'u al-qânûnu at-tamyîza didda dhawî al-i'âqati al-harakiyyati min ajli al-musâwâti.
to make available	أتاحatâha
The state makes equality available to people of determination.	تتيح الدولة المساواة لذوي الهمم.tuteeḥu ad-dawlatu al-musâwâta lidhawee al-himami.
blind	كفيفkafîf
Equality is a right for the blind women with high determination.	المساواة حق للكفيفات ذوات الهمم العالية.al-musâwâtu haqqun lilkafîfâti dhawâti al-himami al-âliyah
auditory	سمعيsam'iyy
The engineers with auditory disabilities work in this factory.	يعمل المهندسون ذوو الإعاقة السمعية في هذا المصنع.ya'malu al-muhandisûna dhawû al-i'âqati as-sam'iyyati fî hâdhâ al-maṣna'i
deaf	أصمasamm
The deaf girls with talents are participating in the festival.	تشارك الفتيات الصم ذوات المواهب في المهرجان.tushâriku al-fatayâtu as-summu dhawâtu al-mawâhibi fi al-mihrajâni
The blind man helped the people with motor disabilities.	ساعد الرجل الكفيف ذوي الإعاقة الحركية.sâ'ada ar-rajulu l-kafîfu dhawi l-i'âqati l-harakiyyah
People with cognitive and auditory disabilities need our support.	يحتاج ذوو الإعاقة الذهنية والسمعية إلى دعمنا.yahtâju dhawû al-i'âqati adh-dhihniyyati was-sam'iyyati ilâ da'minâ
Did the new project make equality available to people with disabilities?	هل أتاح المشروع الجديد المساواة لذوي الإعاقة؟hal atâha al-mashrû'u al-jadîdu al-musâwâta lidhawî al-i'âqati?
The manager rewarded the deaf employees with high competence.	كافأ المدير الموظفين الصم ذوي الكفاءة العالية.kâfa'a al-mudîru al-muwaẓẓafîna aṣ-ṣumma dhawî al-kafâ'ati al-ʿâliyati.