Introduction to Demonstratives and Their Rules

Read the bilingual lesson for Introduction to Demonstratives and Their Rules and test your understanding with a focused quiz.

Lesson

1. A Basic Introduction to Demonstratives

● In this section, we will study the Arabic nouns used to point to a person or thing.
● We will learn that they are called demonstratives.
● We will study separate forms for near and far, masculine and feminine.
● We will learn the grammatical forms used for singular, dual, and plural.

2. Basic Rules for Pointing

● As in English, Arabic has two kinds of demonstratives:
1. Near demonstratives, such as 'this' and 'these'
2. Far demonstratives, such as 'that' and 'those'
● In Arabic, demonstratives take different forms according to gender, masculine or feminine, and number, singular, dual, or plural.
● Singular and plural demonstratives: These are indeclinable (mabnī); their form does not change.
● Dual demonstratives: These are declinable (muʿrab); they change in the nominative, accusative, and genitive cases.

3. Chart of Near Demonstratives

● The following demonstratives are used to point to nearby persons or things:

GenderSingularDual (nominative)Dual (accusative and genitive)Plural
Masculineهٰذَاهٰذَانِهَذَيْنِهٰؤُلَاءِ
Feminineهٰذِهِهَاتَانِهَاتَيْنِهٰؤُلَاءِ

● The plural demonstrative هٰؤُلَاءِ is used in the same form for both masculine and feminine.

4. Chart of Far Demonstratives

● The following demonstratives are used to point to distant persons or things:

GenderSingularDual (nominative)Dual (accusative and genitive)Plural
Masculineذٰلِكَذَانِكَذَيْنِكَأُولٰئِكَ
Feminineتِلْكَتَانِكَتَيْنِكَأُولٰئِكَ

● The far plural demonstrative أُولٰئِكَ is the same for both masculine and feminine.

5. A Demonstrative as the Subject

● A demonstrative is definite. When it comes at the beginning of a sentence and is followed by an indefinite noun, it forms a nominal sentence.
● In this structure, the demonstrative is the subject (mubtadaʾ) and the indefinite noun is the predicate (khabar), producing the meaning of 'is' or 'are' in English:
○ This is a boy. -> هٰذَا وَلَدٌ
○ This is a girl. -> هٰذِهِ بِنْتٌ
○ That is a door. -> ذٰلِكَ بَابٌ
○ That is a window. -> تِلْكَ نَافِذَةٌ

Practice questions

Question 1

What is the basic case-based classification of demonstratives in Arabic grammar?

Singular and plural demonstratives are indeclinable, while dual demonstratives are declinable
All demonstratives are always declinable
All demonstratives are always indeclinable

Question 2

Which near demonstrative is used for the feminine dual in the nominative case?

هَاتَانِ
هٰذَانِ
هَاتَيْنِ

Question 3

The demonstrative أُولٰئِكَ is used in the same way for both masculine and feminine far plurals.

True
False

Question 4

Match the following third-person singular demonstratives with their correct gender and distance:

Question 5

Sort the following demonstratives according to whether they are indeclinable or declinable:

Question 6

Which demonstrative is used for the far masculine singular in the nominative case?

ذٰلِكَ
تِلْكَ
هٰذَا

Question 7

Match the following words with their near and far plural forms:

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