Unit 4 · How much is it?

Plurals change the word's shape

Capitals mark the emphatic letters, 3 is ع and 7 is ح, and ' is the glottal stop that Cairo uses for q.

In many Arabic plurals the vowels move around inside the word. kees becomes 'akyas (bags), 'alam becomes 'a'laam (pens), Soora becomes Suwar (pictures), muftaa7 becomes mafaatee7 (keys), waZeefa becomes waZaayif (jobs). There's no rule that predicts them, so learn each plural with its word. Some nouns do use an ending, -aat: mashroob gives mashroobaat (drinks). A plural of things takes feminine agreement: el-mafaatee7 gideeda, "the keys are new".