Attached pronouns
ديسمبر 26th, 2007To express possession, you can use the word عِندَ (a’inda), which means “to have”. This word requires a pronoun suffix, or “attached pronoun”. For example, the attached pronoun نا (-na) is used for “we”. Take عِندَ and add نا and it becomes عِندَنا (a’indana), which means “we have”. It is important to note that عِندَ is not a verb.
Here are some objects:
سَيّارة (sayyara) - a car
بَيت (beyt) - a house, home
مَكاتِب (maktab) - an office
Now, say عِندَنا followed by the object, which can be definite (e.g. the car) or indefinite (e.g. a car).
عِندَنا سَيارة - We have a car
عِندَنا السَيارة - We have the car
The attached pronouns can also be suffixed to the object nouns. For example, تَيتنا (beytna) which means “our house”.
Here is the list of all attached pronouns.
| First person | |||
| أنا (ana) | ي (my) | بَيتي (my house) | عِندي بِيت (I have a house) |
| نَحنُ (nahnu) | نا (our) | بِيتنا (our house) | عِندَنا بِيت (We have a house) |
| Second person | |||
| أنتَ (anta) - you (male, singular) | كَ (your) | سَيارتَكَ (your car) | عِندَكَ سَيارة (You have a car) |
| أنتِ (anti) - you (female, singular) | كِ (your) | سَيارتَكِ (your car) | عِندَكِ سَيارة (You have a car) |
| أنتُما (antuma) - you (dual) | كُما (your) | سَيارتَكُما (your car) | عِندَكُما سَيارة (You have a car) |
| أنتُم (antum) - you (male, plural) | كُم (your) | سَيارتَكُم (your car) | عِندَكُم سَيارة (You have a car) |
| أنتُنَّ (antuna) - you (female, plural) | كُنَّ (your) | سَيارتَكُنَّ (your car) | عِندَكُنَّ سَيارة (You have a car) |
| Third person | |||
| هُوَ (huwa) - he | هُ (his) | مَكتابَهُ (his office) | عِندَهُ مَكتاب (He has an office) |
| هيَ (hiya) - she | ها (her) | مَكتابَها (her office) | عِندَها مَكتاب (She has an office) |
| هُما (huma) - they (dual) | هُما (their) | مَكتابَهُما (their office) | عِندَهُما مَكتاب (They have an office) |
| هُم (hum) - they (male) | هُم (their) | مَكتابَهُم (their office) | عِندَهُم مَكتاب (They have an office) |
| هُنَّ (huna) - they (female) | هُنَّ (their) | مَكتابَهُنَّ (their office) | عِندَهُمنَّ مَكتاب (They have an office) |
