Pronoun
Arabic Possessive Pronoun

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:

خالة  – aunt
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
ـي (-i)
your (masc.) ـكَ (-ka) ـك (-ek)
your (fem.) ـكِ (-ki) ـك (-ik)
his
ـه (-eh)
her
ـها (-hah)
Dual our ـنا (-na)  
your ـكما (-kuma)  
their ـهما (-huma)  
Plural our
ـنا (-na)
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


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