In Arabic grammar, every noun has a gender, either masculine or feminine. Masculine is considered the default form, while feminine nouns are often marked by the letter taa’ marbuta (ـة) at the end of the word. Adjectives and verbs always have to agree with the gender of the noun, so if the noun is feminine, the describing words and actions must also be in feminine form.
Plurals in Arabic can be especially interesting because many words do not simply take an ending like in English. Instead, a word can change its internal vowels or structure to form what is called a “broken plural.” For example, the singular kitāb (book) becomes kutub (books). These changes may feel irregular at first, but they follow common patterns that students learn with practice.
Arabic verbs are usually built from three root consonants, and these roots can be placed into different “measures” or patterns. Each measure changes the meaning slightly while keeping the same basic idea. For example, from the root k-t-b (to write), the word kataba means “he wrote,” kattaba means “he made someone write,” and istaktaba means “he asked someone to write.” These patterns show how flexible the Arabic root system is, allowing one root to produce many related words.
