KalamArabic Pronouns: Subject Pronouns, Suffixes, and Dialect Forms
All 12 Arabic subject pronouns in a chart, the attached possessive suffixes, and how pronouns change in Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, and Moroccan Arabic.
The Kalam team · 6 min read On this page
Modern Standard Arabic has 12 subject pronouns, because it distinguishes masculine and feminine in “you” and “they,” and has special dual forms for exactly two people. The basic ones are أنا (anā, I), أنتَ (anta, you to a man), أنتِ (anti, you to a woman), هو (huwa, he), هي (hiya, she), and نحن (naḥnu, we). Arabic also attaches short pronoun suffixes to nouns, verbs, and prepositions, and the spoken dialects simplify the whole system.
The 12 Subject Pronouns in Modern Standard Arabic
Subject pronouns are called الضَّمائِر المُنْفَصِلة (aḍ-ḍamā’ir al-munfaṣila), “detached pronouns,” because they stand on their own as separate words.
| English | Arabic | Pronunciation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | أنا | anā | same for men and women |
| you (m. sing.) | أنتَ | anta | talking to one man |
| you (f. sing.) | أنتِ | anti | talking to one woman |
| he / it (m.) | هُوَ | huwa | |
| she / it (f.) | هِيَ | hiya | |
| you two | أنتُما | antumā | dual, any gender |
| they two | هُما | humā | dual, any gender |
| we | نَحْنُ | naḥnu | plural and dual |
| you (m. pl.) | أنتُم | antum | three or more; mixed groups |
| you (f. pl.) | أنتُنَّ | antunna | three or more women |
| they (m. pl.) | هُم | hum | three or more; mixed groups |
| they (f. pl.) | هُنَّ | hunna | three or more women |
A few things to notice:
- There is no separate “it.” Every noun is masculine or feminine, so a book (كِتاب, masculine) is هو, and a car (سيّارة, feminine) is هي.
- Mixed groups use the masculine. A group of nine women and one man is أنتم (antum) and هم (hum).
- “We” has no dual. نحن covers two people or two hundred.
- I has no gender. أنا is the same whether a man or woman is speaking, though the verbs and adjectives that follow will show gender: أنا طالِب (anā ṭālib) vs أنا طالِبة (anā ṭāliba), “I am a student.”
Pronouns Without a Verb “To Be”
Arabic has no present-tense “am/is/are,” so a pronoun plus a noun or adjective is a complete sentence:
| English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I am tired. | أنا تَعْبان. | anā taʿbān. |
| She is a doctor. | هي طَبيبة. | hiya ṭabība. |
| We are from Lebanon. | نحن من لُبْنان. | naḥnu min lubnān. |
| Are you (m.) Egyptian? | هل أنتَ مِصْريّ؟ | hal anta miṣrī? |
On the other hand, with verbs Arabic usually drops the pronoun, because the verb ending already shows the subject: ذَهَبْتُ (dhahabtu) means “I went” without needing أنا. Adding the pronoun gives emphasis, like “I went.”
Attached Pronouns: Possessive and Object Suffixes
The other half of the system is الضَّمائِر المُتَّصِلة (aḍ-ḍamā’ir al-muttaṣila), “attached pronouns.” These are short endings glued onto the end of a word. On a noun they mean “my, your, his,” and so on. On a verb they are the object (“me, you, him”). On a preposition they are the object of the preposition (“with me,” “for you”).
Here are the suffixes on كِتاب (kitāb, book):
| English | Suffix | Example | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| my | ـي | كِتابي | kitābī |
| your (m.) | ـكَ | كِتابُكَ | kitābuka |
| your (f.) | ـكِ | كِتابُكِ | kitābuki |
| his | ـهُ | كِتابُهُ | kitābuhu |
| her | ـها | كِتابُها | kitābuhā |
| your (two) | ـكُما | كِتابُكُما | kitābukumā |
| their (two) | ـهُما | كِتابُهُما | kitābuhumā |
| our | ـنا | كِتابُنا | kitābunā |
| your (m. pl.) | ـكُم | كِتابُكُم | kitābukum |
| your (f. pl.) | ـكُنَّ | كِتابُكُنَّ | kitābukunna |
| their (m. pl.) | ـهُم | كِتابُهُم | kitābuhum |
| their (f. pl.) | ـهُنَّ | كِتابُهُنَّ | kitābuhunna |
The -u- before the suffix is the case ending, which shifts in formal MSA and disappears in the dialects.
Object pronouns on verbs
The same suffixes attach to verbs as objects, with one change: “me” becomes ـني (-nī) instead of ـي.
| English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| he saw me | رَآني | ra’ānī |
| he saw you (m.) | رَآكَ | ra’āka |
| he saw her | رَآها | ra’āhā |
| he saw us | رَآنا | ra’ānā |
Pronouns on prepositions
| English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| with me | مَعي | maʿī |
| with you (m.) | مَعَكَ | maʿaka |
| for me / I have | لي | lī |
| for you (f.) | لَكِ | laki |
| in it (m.) | فيهِ | fīhi |
You will hear these suffixes constantly in everyday phrases: my love is حبيبي (ḥabībī, “my beloved”), and the word ḥayātī literally means “my life.”
How Pronouns Differ in the Dialects
Every spoken Arabic dialect has simplified the MSA system. The duals are gone, and most urban dialects use a single form for plural “you” and “they” regardless of gender. Pronunciation shifts too: the initial a- of anta usually becomes i-, and نحن turns into forms like iḥna or ḥna.
| English | MSA | Egyptian | Levantine | Gulf | Moroccan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | أنا (anā) | أنا (ana) | أنا (ana) | أنا (ana) | أنا (ana) |
| you (m.) | أنتَ (anta) | إنتَ (inta) | إنتَ (inta / inte) | إنتَ (inta) | نتا (nta) |
| you (f.) | أنتِ (anti) | إنتِ (inti) | إنتِ (inti) | إنتِ (inti) | نتي (nti) |
| he | هو (huwa) | هو (huwwa) | هو (huwwe) | هو (huwa / hu) | هو (huwa) |
| she | هي (hiya) | هي (hiyya) | هي (hiyye) | هي (hiya / hi) | هي (hiya) |
| we | نحن (naḥnu) | إحنا (iḥna) | نحنا / إحنا (niḥna / iḥna) | إحنا / نحن (iḥna / niḥin) | حنا (ḥna) |
| you (pl.) | أنتم (antum) | إنتو (intu) | إنتو (intu) | إنتو / إنتم (intu / intum) | نتوما (ntuma) |
| they | هم (hum) | هُمّا (humma) | هنّي / همّ (hinne / humme) | هم (hum) | هوما (huma) |
Some notes on the table:
- Egyptian doubles the consonant in huwwa and hiyya, which is a quick way to recognize Egyptian Arabic.
- Levantine varies by country and city. Lebanese and Syrian speakers tend to say niḥna or naḥna and hinne, while many Palestinians and Jordanians say iḥna and humme. See Levantine Arabic for more on these regional differences.
- Gulf dialects are the most conservative. Many Gulf speakers still keep separate feminine plurals, such as intin (you, f. pl.) and hin (they, f.), alongside intum and hum.
- Moroccan drops the first vowel (nta, nti, ḥna) and uses ntuma and huma for the plural. Its possessive suffix -ek is usually the same whether you are talking to a man or a woman. Read more in our guide to Moroccan Arabic.
Possessive suffixes in the dialects
The attached suffixes also change. Here is “your book” and “his book” across dialects:
| English | Egyptian | Levantine | Gulf | Moroccan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| my book | كتابي (kitābi) | كتابي (ktābi) | كتابي (kitābi) | كتابي (ktābi) |
| your book (m.) | كتابك (kitābak) | كتابك (ktābak) | كتابك (kitābik) | كتابك (ktābek) |
| your book (f.) | كتابك (kitābik) | كتابك (ktābik) | كتابچ (kitābich) | كتابك (ktābek) |
| his book | كتابه (kitābuh) | كتابه (ktābo) | كتابه (kitābah) | كتابه (ktābu) |
| our book | كتابنا (kitābna) | كتابنا (ktābna) | كتابنا (kitābna) | كتابنا (ktābna) |
| your book (pl.) | كتابكو (kitābku) | كتابكن (ktābkon) | كتابكم (kitābkum) | كتابكم (ktābkum) |
The Gulf feminine -ich (often written with ك or the letter چ) is one of the most recognizable features of Kuwaiti, Emirati, and other Gulf speech, and Iraqi Arabic shares it.
Separate words for “my”
Dialects also have an independent word for possession, especially with borrowed or long nouns: Egyptian بتاعي (bitāʿi), Levantine تبعي (tabaʿi), Gulf and Iraqi مالي (māli), and Moroccan ديالي (dyāli). So “my car” in Morocco is often الطوموبيل ديالي (ṭ-ṭomobil dyāli).
Tips for Learning Arabic Pronouns
- Learn the pronouns in the dialect you will speak. If your family is Egyptian, iḥna and intu are what you will hear, not naḥnu and antum.
- Learn subject pronouns and suffixes together. Pair انتَ (inta) with ـك (-ak) and هو with ـه (-uh or -o) so they stick as a set.
- Practice with real phrases. Expressions like how are you change depending on who you ask: كيفك (kīfak) to a man and كيفك (kīfik) to a woman in Levantine Arabic.
- Do not stress about the dual. You will need it for formal MSA, but in conversation it almost never comes up outside nouns.
FAQ
How many pronouns are there in Arabic?
Modern Standard Arabic has 12 subject pronouns: I, we, you (m. sing.), you (f. sing.), you (dual), you (m. pl.), you (f. pl.), he, she, they (dual), they (m. pl.), and they (f. pl.). Spoken dialects usually have about eight, since they drop the dual and often merge plural genders.
Does Arabic have a word for “it”?
No. Arabic nouns are all grammatically masculine or feminine, so “it” is expressed with huwa (he) for masculine nouns and hiya (she) for feminine nouns. A table (ṭāwila, feminine) is hiya; a pen (qalam, masculine) is huwa.
What is the difference between anta and anti?
Both mean “you” when speaking to one person. Anta (أنتَ) is used for a man, and anti (أنتِ) for a woman. In writing without vowel marks they look identical, أنت, so context tells you which one is meant. In dialects they are usually inta and inti.
What are attached pronouns in Arabic?
Attached pronouns are suffixes added to the end of a word. On nouns they show possession, as in kitābī (my book). On verbs they mark the object, as in ra’ānī (he saw me). On prepositions they complete the meaning, as in maʿī (with me).
Which dialect pronouns should I learn?
Learn the pronouns of the dialect you plan to speak. Egyptian is the most widely understood, while Levantine, Gulf, and Moroccan each have their own forms. Kalam teaches the dialect of the country you choose, so the pronouns you practice match the ones your family or friends actually use.
