Plurals in Moroccan Arabic
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Regular Plurals:
To form the plural, we regularly add (în) to a masculine word, and (ât) to a feminine one.
| **English ** | **Masc. Sing.** | **Masc. Plural** |
| Teacher | Mô3llim مُعلِّم | Mô3llimîn مُعلِّمين |
| Employee | Mow**DD**af مُوْضّف | Mow**DD**afîn مُوْضّفين |
| **English** | **Fem. Sing.** | **Fem Plural** |
| Teacher | Mô3llima مُعلِّمة | Mô3llimât مُعلِّمات |
| Employee | Mow**DD**afa مُوْضّفة | Mow**DD**afât مُوْضّفات |
Broken Plurals:
As there are no rules for broken plurals, you just need to learn them by heart.
| **English word** | **Singular** | **Plural** |
| Professor | Ostâd (m.) أستاد Ostâda (f.) أستادة | Asâtida (m.) أساتدة Ostâdât (f.) أستادات |
| Book | Ktâb كتاب | Ktôba كتوبة |
| Man | Râjl راجل | Rjjâla رجالة |
| Woman | Mra مرا | Mrawât مراوات 3yâlât عيالات |
| Monkey | Qrd قرد | Qrôda قرودة |
Adjectives:
It’s very usual to use the masculine plural form of adjectives for feminine as well.
| **Adjective** | **Masc. Sing.** | **Masc. Plural** |
| Big | Kbîr كبير | Kbâr كْبار |
| Small | **S**ghîr صْغير | **S**ghâr صْغار |
| New | Jdîd جْديد | Jdâd جْداد |
| Short | قْصير | Q**S**âr قْصار |
| Beautiful | Zwîn زْوين | Zwînîn زْوينين |
Examples:
– Girl = bnt, – Little girls (Bnât Sghâr بْنات صْغار), or very rarely (bnât Sghârât
بْنات صْغارات ).
– Skirt = Sâya صايا – Long skirts (Sâyât Twâl صَايات طْوال ).
– Shirt = qamîja قميجة – New shirts (Qwâmj jdâd قْوامج جْداد).
[For more adjectives, please refer to the list of adjectives.]
