Language/South-levantine-arabic/Grammar/Pronouns

South Levantine Arabic Grammar - Pronouns

Hi South Levantine Arabic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will cover pronouns, an essential part of South Levantine Arabic grammar. Pronouns are used to replace nouns or noun phrases, making sentences shorter and more natural-sounding.

Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Conditional Mood, Negation, Give your Opinion & Gender.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are used to refer to people or things. South Levantine Arabic has both singular and plural personal pronouns, and they vary according to gender. Here are the personal pronouns:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
أ‎َنَا‎	ana	I
أنتَ	anta	You (masculine singular)
أنتِ	anti	You (feminine singular)
هو‎	huwa	He
هِي‎	hiya	She
نَحْنُ	nahnu	We
أنتُمَا‎	antuma	You two
أنتُنَّ‎	antunna	You all (feminine plural)
أنتُمْ‎	antum	You all (masculine plural)
هُمْ‎	hum	They (masculine plural)
هُنَّ‎	hunna	They (feminine plural)

Dialogue

• Person 1: شفتَ هاذا الفيلم؟‎‎ (Shufta haadha al-film?) (Have you seen this movie?)
• Person 2: لأ، بس ممكن تعرفني عن الفيلم؟‎‎ (La, bas mumkin taʿrefni ʿan al-film?) (No, but can you tell me about the movie?)
• Person 1: هو حلو، تشوفه؟‎‎ (Huwa ḥelw, tchoufo?) (It's nice, do you want to watch it?)
• Person 2: أنا مش مهتم.‎‎ (Ana mesh mahtam.) (I'm not interested.)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership of nouns or noun phrases. Unlike personal pronouns, they do not change according to gender. Here are the possessive pronouns:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
لي	li	My / Mine
لَكَ‎	laka	Your (masculine singular)
لَكِ‎	laki	Your (feminine singular)
لِه‎‎	lih	His
لِهَا‎‎	liha	Hers
لَنَا‎‎	lana	Our(s)
لَكُمَا‎‎	lakuma	Your two
لَكُمْ‎‎	lakum	Your all
لَهُمْ‎‎	lahum	Their(s) (masculine)
لَهُنَّ‎	lahunna	Their(s) (feminine)

Dialogue

• Person 1: وين صاحبِك؟‎‎ (Wayn ṣaḥbik?) (Where is your friend?)
• Person 2: صاحبِي هسا مع عيلتَه.‎‎ (Ṣaḥbī hasa maʿ ʿīltatah.) (My friend is with his family right now.)
• Person 1: وصلتَ المكتَب؟‎‎ (Wṣaltal maktab?) (Did you arrive at the office?)
• Person 2: نعم، لكن لَقد نسيتَ هاتفِي في البيت‎‎. (Naʿam, lakin laqad nesayta hatfi fi al-bayt.) (Yes, but I forgot my phone at home.)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to something specific. They are similar in English to "this", "that", "these", and "those". South Levantine Arabic has two sets of demonstrative pronouns for singular and plural objects. Here they are:

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
هَذَا - هَا‎ذَا‎	haadha	This (masculine singular)
هَذِهِ - هَا‎ذِهِ‎	haadihi	This (feminine singular)
هُوَ‎‎ ‎- هَا‎وَ‎ ‎	huwa - haawaa	That (masculine singular)
هِيَ - هَا‎يَ‎‎	hiya - haayaa	That (feminine singular)
هَذِهِ‎‎ - هَوَ‎لَا‎‎‎‎	haadihi - hawala	These (masculine/feminine plural)
هُوَ‎‎‎‎‎‎ ‎- هَا‎ولَا‎‎‎‎‎	huwa - hawala	Those (masculine plural)
هِيَ‎‎ ‎- هَا‎ولَا‎‎‎‎‎	hiya - hawala	Those (feminine plural)

Dialogue

• Person 1: هَا‎ذَا‎ الكِتَاب لِمَن؟‎‎ (Haadha al-kitab liman?) (This book is for whom?)
• Person 2: هو لِصَديقي.‎‎ (Huwa li-ṣadīqī.) (It's for my friend.)
• Person 1: بغير مكان، هُوَ هُنَا؟‎‎ (Bagheer makkan, huwa hona?) (In a different place, is he here?)
• Person 2: لأ، هَوَ‎ ‎رحَلَ يوم الأحَد. (La, huwa rahal yawm al-ahad.) (No, he went on Sunday.)

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. In South Levantine Arabic, they are similar to English "who", "what", "where", "when", and "why".

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
مَنْ‎‎‎‎	man	Who
مَا‎‎‎ـ	maa-	What
أَيْنَ‎‎ ‎	aynaa	Where
مَتَى‎‎ ‎	mataa	When
لِمَاذَا‎‎ ‎	limaadhaa	Why

Dialogue

• Person 1: مَتَى سَتَذْهَبُونَ إلى السَّيْنَمَا؟‎‎ ‎(Mataa satadhhabouna ila al-sinama?) (When are you going to the cinema?)
• Person 2: غَدًا.‎‎ ‎(Ghadan.) (Tomorrow.)
• Person 1: مَنْ هُوٌَ؟‎‎ (Man huwa?) (Who is he?)
• Person 2: هُوَ صَديقِي.‎‎ (Huwa ṣadiqī.) (He is my friend.)

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to connect sentences together to describe or identify something. In South Levantine Arabic, they are equivalent to "who", "whom", "that", "which", and "where".

South Levantine Arabic	Pronunciation	English
الذي‎‎	al-lathi	Who(m), that (masculine singular)
اللَتِي‎‎	al-lati	Who(m), that (feminine singular)
الذَّينِ‎‎‎	al-lathīn	Who(m), that (masculine plural)
اللاتِي‎‎‎	al-lātin	Who(m), that (feminine plural)
اللَّذانِ‎‎‎‎	al-lathānīn	Which (masculine dual)
اللَّذَيْنِ‎‎‎	al-lathaynīn	Which (masculine plural)

Dialogue

• Person 1: هذا هوَ المتجَرُ الذي لا أذكُر إسْمَه‎‎‎ (Hatha huwaa al-matjaru alladhi laa adhkuru ismah.) (This is the store that I don't remember the name of.)
• Person 2: أَنا أُحِبُّ الحَدَائِقَ اللَّتِي بِجَانِبِ المَبنَى‎‎‎‎ (Ana ouhibbu al-hadaa'iqa allati bijaanibi al-mabna.) (I love the gardens next to the building.)
• Person 1: هَذا هُمَا الكِتبُ اللَّذَانِ اشترَيناهُما‎‎‎‎ ‎(Hatha huma al-kutubu al-lathānīn ichtarnaahumā.) (These are the two books that we bought.)

Recap

In this lesson, you have learned all about South Levantine Arabic pronouns. We covered personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and relative pronouns, and how to use them in context. To further improve your understanding of South Levantine Arabic grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Arabic pronouns
• Levantine Arabic
• Relative pronoun

---

➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Other Lessons

• Gender
• Questions
• Plurals
• How to Use Have
• Adjectives
• Negation
• Give your Opinion
• How to Use Be
• Conditional Mood