Feminine Demonstratives and Prepositions: The Madinah Arabic Course

Feminine Demonstratives

ArabicTransliterationMeaning

هَذِهِhādhihithis (feminine, near)

تِلْكَtilkathat (feminine, far)

مَدْرَسَةmadrasaschool (f)

سَيَّارَةsayyāracar (f)

حَقِيبَةḥaqībabag / suitcase (f)

طَاوِلَةṭāwilatable (f)

صُورَةṣūrapicture / image (f)

Tāʾ Marbūṭa ة

Most feminine nouns end in تَاء مَرْبُوطَة (ة). This ending signals that the noun is feminine. It is pronounced as "-a" in isolation but becomes "-at" in iḍāfa constructions (e.g. مَدْرَسَةُ الْمَدِينَةِ = the school of the city).

Adjectives must agree with the noun in gender: a feminine noun requires a feminine adjective, which also takes ة.

هَذِهِ مَدْرَسَةٌ كَبِيرَةٌ تِلْكَ سَيَّارَةٌ جَمِيلَة Hādhihi madrasatun kabīratun Tilka sayyāratun jamīla This is a big school. That is a beautiful car.

مَا هَذِهِ؟ هَذِهِ حَقِيبَةٌ تِلْكَ الطَّاوِلَةُ كَبِيرَة Mā hādhihi? Hādhihi ḥaqībatun Tilka ṭ-ṭāwilatu kabīra What is this? This is a bag. That table is big.

Sample Dialogue

أ: مَا هَذِهِ؟ ب: هَذِهِ سَيَّارَةٌ جَدِيدَةٌ. أ: وَتِلْكَ؟ ب: تِلْكَ مَدْرَسَة. A: Mā hādhihi? B: Hādhihi sayyāratun jadīda. A: Wa-tilka? B: Tilka madrasa. A: What is this? B: This is a new car. A: And that? B: That is a school.

Pronunciation Focus

هَذِهِ is three syllables: hā-dhi-hi. The middle ذِ is the same voiced interdental "dh" as in هَذَا. The final هِ is a light breathy hāʾ with a kasra do not drop it. تِلْكَ is two syllables: til-ka, both short vowels.

Adjective gender agreement: كَبِيرَة (f) for feminine nouns; كَبِير (m) for masculine nouns.
Feminine nouns without ة that must be memorised: أُمّ، أَرْض، شَمْس، نَار، عَيْن، يَد.
System so far: هَذَا/ذَلِكَ (m) هَذِهِ/تِلْكَ (f). Both pairs work identically in sentences.
مَا هَذِهِ؟ (What is this? f) is the question when pointing to a feminine noun.
جَدِيدَة (jadīda = new, f) new adjective: جَدِيد (m) / جَدِيدَة (f). Add ة for feminine.