Arabic Possessive Pronoun
Possessive pronouns in Arabic
Possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, our, their) are used to indicate ownership of something. In Arabic, as with object pronouns, these take the form of suffixes; they are attached to the noun that’s owned.
بيتي (beiti)
my house
كتابه (kitaabeh)
his book
أختك (Ukhtek)
your sister
Note: If the noun that’s owned ends in a taa’ marbuuTa (ـة), the taa’ marbuuTa must be “untied” and made into a ت before the pronoun suffix is added:
Untie the taa’ marbuuTa to get خالت and then add the pronoun suffix:
خالتي – my aunt
The object and possessive pronoun suffixes are exactly the same except for the first person singular.
Possessive pronouns in Arabic:
| English | Standard Arabic | Dialect | |
| Singular | my | ||
| your (masc.) | ـكَ (-ka) | ـك (-ek) | |
| your (fem.) | ـكِ (-ki) | ـك (-ik) | |
| his | |||
| her | |||
| Dual | our | ـنا (-na) | |
| your | ـكما (-kuma) | ||
| their | ـهما (-huma) | ||
| Plural | our | ||
| your (masc.) | ـكم (-kum) | ـكو\ـكم (-ku/-kum) | |
| your (fem.) | ـكن (-kunna) | ||
| their (masc.) | ـهم (-hum) | ـهم (-hom) | |
| their (fem.) | ـهن (-hunna) | ||
Note: In standard Arabic, if the noun that’s owned is dual (ends in ـان -aan or ـين -ein), or if the noun has a sound masculine plural suffix (ـون -uun or ـين -iin), you need to drop the final ـن before adding the pronoun suffix.
| والدان (waalidaan) | والداهم (waalidaahum) | مؤيدون (mu’ayyiduun) | مؤيدوه (mu’ayyiduuh) |
| two parents | their parents | supporters | his supporters |
| يدين (yadein) | يديها (yadeiha) | مدرسين (mudarrisiin) | مدرسيّ (mudarrisiyya) |
| two hands | her hands | teachers | my teachers |
Note: In dialects, if a noun, verb, or preposition ends in a vowel that is not a taa’ marbuuTa, some of the pronoun suffixes you’ll need to use with it will change. For object/possessive pronouns:
| ـني (-ni) stays the same. | |
| ـي (-i) | → ـيا (-ya) |
| ـك (-ak) | → ـك (-k) |
| ـك (-ik) | → ـكي (-ki) |
| ـه (-u) | → ـه (-h) |
Also, the final vowel in the noun/verb/whatever will need to be lengthened. Some examples:
| ورا | ورايا | عند | عندي |
| behind | behind me | have | I have |
| لـ (li-) | ليك (liik) | ب | بيك |
| for | for you (masc. sing.) | in | in you |
| على (3ala) | عليكي (3aleiki) | من | منها |
| on | on you (fem. sing.) | from | from her |
| مع (ma3a) | معاه (ma3aah) | في (fi) | فيه (fiih) |
| with | with him | in | in him |
