You, we and they, and the dual
The pronouns that stand on their own as the subject of a sentence, and how Arabic speaks of two.
Written and checked by AI
These lessons were written and checked by AI, and no teacher of Arabic has read them yet. The verses, their meanings and the analysis of every word are taken from their sources, which are named where they are shown.
- Words of the Qur’ān known whole
- 45.5%
- Parts of the Qur’ān’s words taught so far
- 67%
Counted from the Quranic Arabic Corpus: a word is known whole when every part of it has been taught. The counts say which words you have met, not how much you understand.
Lesson 5 taught huwa, "he", and hum, "they", standing on their own. This lesson teaches the others the Qur’ān uses most: "you", one man and more than two, and "we". It also teaches the dual: Arabic has a number of its own for two.
The new words
- أَنتَAs the Qur’ān writes it: أَنتَ
you (one man)
Times in the Qur’ān: 81
- أَنتُمْAs the Qur’ān writes it: أَنتُمْ
you (more than two)
Times in the Qur’ān: 102
- نَحْنُAs the Qur’ān writes it: نَحْنُ
we
Times in the Qur’ān: 76
- هُمAs the Qur’ān writes it: هُم
they
Times in the Qur’ān: 148
- هُمَاAs the Qur’ān writes it: هُمَا · هُمَآ · هِمَا
they two, the two of them
Times in the Qur’ān: 101
- كُمَاAs the Qur’ān writes it: كُمَا · انِ · ا
you two
Times in the Qur’ān: 98
- اAs the Qur’ān writes it: ا · هُمَا · انِ
they two, the two of them (men, or things called masculine)
Times in the Qur’ān: 115
A sentence with no verb
A pronoun standing on its own is most often the subject of its sentence. Where what is said of it is a noun or a phrase, the sentence has no verb: "you are …", "we are …". Arabic needs no word for "is" in such a sentence.
- أَنتَyou (one man)
Anta is "you", one man, standing on its own.
- أَنتُمْyou (more than two)
Antum is "you", more than two.
The table counts hum apart from lesson 5's hum: in some places the muṣḥaf writes it without the mark of a silent letter (the sukūn) on its m, and the corpus counts each spelling as a unit of its own. They are the same pronoun, and this hum comes after li, as in lesson 12, more often than it stands on its own: lahum, "for them".
Two
For two people or things, Arabic uses the dual. A pronoun of the dual ends in -ā: humā, "the two of them", kumā, "you two".
- بَيْنَbetween
- هُمَاthey two, the two of them
Baynahumā is bayna, "between", from lesson 8, and humā, "the two of them".
A verb whose doer is two ends in -ā as well in the past, and in -āni in the present; the corpus divides these endings off as pronouns of the dual. A noun in the dual ends in -āni, or -ayni in the genitive and accusative.
In a sentence
We are here.
This sentence was written for practice. Naḥnu hunā: "we", then "here", and no verb between them.
Reading
The words you know whole after this lesson are marked.
As for those whom We gave the Scripture before this [Qur’an], they[1] do believe in it.
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20then they will be told, “This is what you used to deny.”
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20This is what you [all] used to doubt.”
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20Recall
- Does a sentence like "we are here" need a verb in Arabic?
- What is "you" for more than two?
- How does a pronoun of the dual end?
Answers: no; antum; in -ā, as humā.
Next
The next lesson teaches "those", "after", "at", "with", "some", "other than", "until" and "below", and the noun after them.
Word analysis: Quranic Arabic Corpus 0.4 (Kais Dukes)