Lesson 82 · قَاضٍ
Nouns ending in a vowel: فَتًى, قَاضٍ, صَحْرَاءُ
Some nouns end in a long vowel, and their endings work differently. Nouns ending in ـَى or ـَا, such as فَتًى (a young man) and مُصْطَفَى, never show -u, -a or -i. The ending is always -aa, or -an without al-.
Learn with pictures
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Examples
هٰذَا فَتًى ذَكِيٌّhaadhaa fatan dhakiyyunThis is a clever young man.
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْمُسْتَشْفَىdhahabtu ila l-mustashfaaI went to the hospital.
الْقَاضِي عَادِلٌal-qaaḍii ʿaadilunThe judge is fair.
أَخِي مُحَامٍakhii muḥaaminMy brother is a lawyer.
رَأَيْتُ مُحَامِيًا فِي الْمَحْكَمَةِra’aytu muḥaamiyan fi l-maḥkamatiI saw a lawyer at the court.
سَافَرْنَا فِي الصَّحْرَاءِsaafarnaa fi ṣ-ṣaḥraa’iWe travelled through the desert.
Key points
- Ending in -aa: هٰذَا فَتًى · رَأَيْتُ فَتًى · مَرَرْتُ بِفَتًى. The word looks the same each time. Others: هُدًى (guidance), مُسْتَشْفًى (hospital), مُوسَى, عِيسَى. Grammarians call these الْمَقْصُورُ.
- Ending in -ii, such as الْقَاضِي (the judge): without al- the ي drops and you write tanween, قَاضٍ. It shows -a, but not -u or -i: جَاءَ قَاضٍ · رَأَيْتُ قَاضِيًا · مَرَرْتُ بِقَاضٍ. Others: نَادٍ (club), وَادٍ (valley), مُحَامٍ (lawyer). These are الْمَنْقُوصُ.
- Ending in ـَاءُ (الْمَمْدُودُ): these take all the endings, but words like صَحْرَاءُ (desert) and أَصْدِقَاءُ (friends) take no tanween (lesson 54). Others do: سَمَاءٌ (sky), مَاءٌ (water).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “I saw a young man.”
رَأَيْتُ فَتًى ra’aytu fatan
The ending does not change.
Say “a valley”, then “the valley”.
وَادٍ، الْوَادِي waadin, al-waadii
Say “The sky is blue.” Blue: أَزْرَقُ, feminine زَرْقَاءُ.
السَّمَاءُ زَرْقَاءُ as-samaa’u zarqaa’u
