Lesson 108 · شَمْسٌ
Feminine without ة: شَمْسٌ, أَرْضٌ, عَيْنٌ
Most feminine nouns end in ـة (lesson 5), but some are feminine with no sign at all. You have to learn them by heart, and they matter, because the verb, adjective and pronoun must be feminine too: الشَّمْسُ حَارَّةٌ (the sun is hot), not حَارٌّ.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
الشَّمْسُ حَارَّةٌ الْيَوْمَash-shamsu ḥaarratun al-yawmaThe sun is hot today.
الْأَرْضُ وَاسِعَةٌal-arḍu waasiʿatunThe earth is vast.
عَيْنِي تُؤْلِمُنِيʿaynii tu’limuniiMy eye hurts.
هَبَّتْ رِيحٌ قَوِيَّةٌhabbat riiḥun qawiyyatunA strong wind blew.
اِنْتَهَتِ الْحَرْبُintahati l-ḥarbuThe war ended.
وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَاwash-shamsi wa-ḍuḥaahaaBy the sun and its morning brightness. (91:1)
Key points
- Nature and places: شَمْسٌ sun · أَرْضٌ earth, ground · نَارٌ fire · رِيحٌ wind · دَارٌ home · بِئْرٌ well · حَرْبٌ war · نَفْسٌ soul, self. Most countries and cities too: مِصْرُ جَمِيلَةٌ (Egypt is beautiful).
- Body parts that come in pairs: عَيْنٌ eye · أُذُنٌ ear · يَدٌ hand · رِجْلٌ leg · قَدَمٌ foot. So عَيْنِي تُؤْلِمُنِي (my eye hurts), with a feminine verb.
- A few can be either: طَرِيقٌ road · سُوقٌ market · سِكِّينٌ knife. The Quran: وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا (by the sun and its morning brightness, 91:1), where هَا points back to the sun.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “The fire is big.”
النَّارُ كَبِيرَةٌ an-naaru kabiiratun
Say “My hand is clean.” Clean: نَظِيفٌ.
يَدِي نَظِيفَةٌ yadii naẓiifatun
Say “Pakistan is beautiful.”
بَاكِسْتَانُ جَمِيلَةٌ baakistaanu jamiilatun
