Lesson 77 · نَفْسُهُ
Himself, all, both: نَفْسُ, كُلُّ, كِلَا
To stress a noun, Arabic adds نَفْسُ (self) with a pronoun that matches it: جَاءَ الْمُدِيرُ نَفْسُهُ (the manager himself came). The emphasis word copies the noun’s ending: قَابَلْتُ الْمُدِيرَ نَفْسَهُ (I met the manager himself). This is called التَّوْكِيدُ; عَيْنُ can be used the same way.
Learn with pictures
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Examples
جَاءَ الْمُدِيرُ نَفْسُهُjaa’a l-mudiiru nafsuhuThe manager himself came.
قَابَلْتُ الْوَزِيرَ نَفْسَهُqaabaltu l-waziira nafsahuI met the minister himself.
طَبَخْتُ الطَّعَامَ بِنَفْسِيṭabakhtu ṭ-ṭaʿaama bi-nafsiiI cooked the food myself.
وُلِدْنَا فِي نَفْسِ الْيَوْمِwulidnaa fii nafsi l-yawmiWe were born on the same day.
قَرَأْتُ الْكِتَابَ كُلَّهُqara’tu l-kitaaba kullahuI read the whole book.
نَجَحَ الطَّالِبَانِ كِلَاهُمَاnajaḥa ṭ-ṭaalibaani kilaahumaaBoth students passed.
Key points
- نَفْسُ before a noun means “the same”: فِي نَفْسِ الْيَوْمِ (on the same day). With بِـ it means “by myself”: كَتَبْتُهُ بِنَفْسِي (I wrote it myself).
- All: كُلُّ after the noun with a pronoun: حَضَرَ الطُّلَّابُ كُلُّهُمْ (the students all came) · قَرَأْتُ الْكِتَابَ كُلَّهُ (I read the whole book). جَمِيعًا on its own means “all together”: اِجْلِسُوا جَمِيعًا (sit down, all of you). See lesson 40 for كُلُّ before a noun.
- Both: كِلَا (masculine) and كِلْتَا (feminine) with a pronoun: نَجَحَ الطَّالِبَانِ كِلَاهُمَا (both students passed) · رَأَيْتُ الطَّالِبَيْنِ كِلَيْهِمَا (I saw both students).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “I did it myself.”
فَعَلْتُهُ بِنَفْسِي faʿaltuhu bi-nafsii
Say “The students all came.”
حَضَرَ الطُّلَّابُ كُلُّهُمْ ḥaḍara ṭ-ṭullaabu kulluhum
Say “Both girls came.”
جَاءَتِ الْبِنْتَانِ كِلْتَاهُمَا jaa’ati l-bintaani kiltaahumaa