Language/Tunisian-arabic/Grammar/Adjective-Formation

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Tunisian Arabic Grammar → Adjectives and Adverbs → Adjective Formation

As a Tunisian Arabic teacher, I have been teaching Tunisian Arabic for 20 years now. In this lesson, I will teach you how to form adjectives in Tunisian Arabic and their usage.

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: How to Use Have & Past Tense.

Basic Principles

An adjective in Tunisian Arabic must agree with the noun it modifies in terms of gender and number. An adjective also comes after the noun in Tunisian Arabic. For example:

Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation	English
كتاب حلو	ketāb helou	The book is beautiful

In the above example, "حلو" (helou) agrees in gender and number with "كتاب" (ketāb). Another important thing to note is that the adjective comes after the noun in Tunisian Arabic.

Forming Adjectives

In Tunisian Arabic, adjectives can be formed from nouns, verbs, and other adjectives by adding certain suffixes. Here are some examples:

Adjectives from Nouns

To form an adjective from a noun, we add the suffix "-ين" (-een) for masculine and "-ينة" (-eenaa) for feminine. Here are some examples:

Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation	English
بيت كبير	beit kbir	A big house
بيت كبيرين	beit kbireen	Two big houses (masculine)
بيت كبيرينة	beit kbireenaa	Two big houses (feminine)

In the above example, we added the suffix "-ين" (-een) for "كبير" (kbir) to make it agree with "بيت" (beit) in number and gender.

Adjectives from Verbs

To form an adjective from a verb, we add the prefix "م-" (ma-) for masculine and "ما-" (maa-) for feminine, and the suffix "-ي" (-i) for both masculine and feminine. Here are some examples:

Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation	English
الفيلم مجنون	el film mejnoun	The movie is crazy
الممثلة مجنونة	el momtala mejnouna	The actress is crazy (feminine)
المخرج مجاني	el mo9riji majani	The director is crazy (masculine)

In the above example, we added the prefix "م-" (ma-) to "جنون" (jnoun) to form "مجنون" (mejnoun). We also added the suffix "-ي" (-i) to "مجنون" (mejnoun) to agree with the noun in gender.

Adjectives from Other Adjectives

To form an adjective from another adjective, we add the prefix "أكثر" (akthar) for the comparative form and "أكبر" (akbar) for the superlative form, followed by the adjective. Here are some examples:

Tunisian Arabic	Pronunciation	English
هادي أحسن من هاكي	hādi ahsen men haki	This one is better than that one
hadhoki ma yemkunesh	Those ones are not possible
ثقيل أكثر من العادي	thqeel aktar men l3adi	Heavy more than normal (comparative form)
صغير أكبر من الجروح	sgheer akbar men ljruh	Smaller than wounds (superlative form)

In the above example, we used the prefix "أكثر" (akthar) to form the comparative form of "ثقيل" (thqeel) and the prefix "أكبر" (akbar) to form the superlative form of "صغير" (sgheer).

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to form adjectives in Tunisian Arabic and their usage. Remember that an adjective in Tunisian Arabic must agree with the noun it modifies in terms of gender and number and comes after the noun. We also learned how to form adjectives from nouns, verbs, and other adjectives. Keep practicing and you'll soon become a pro!

Finished this lesson? Check out these related lessons: Conditional Tense & Present Tense.

Table of Contents - Tunisian Arabic Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Basic Noun Structure
• Subject Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns

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Common Phrases and Expressions

• Basic Greetings and Introductions
• Ordering Food and Drinks
• Telling Time and Dates

  ---

Verbs and Verb Conjugation

• Present Tense Regular Verbs
• Past Tense Regular Verbs
• Irregular Verbs

  ---

Numbers and Counting

• Basic Numbers
• Counting Objects and People

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Tunisian Society and Customs

• Daily Life and Customs
• Traditional Food and Drink

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjective Formation
• Adverb Usage

  ---

Transportation and Travel

• Modes of Transportation
• At the Airport

  ---

Tunisian Holidays and Celebrations

• Islamic Celebrations
• Independence Day and Other National Holidays

  ---

Questions and Statements

• Question Formation
• Statement Construction

  ---

Emergencies and Health

• Emergency Phrases and Vocabulary
• Medical Vocabulary

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Tunisian Arts and Literature

• Traditional Tunisian Music
• Contemporary Tunisian Writing and Poetry

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Prepositions and Conjunctions

• Common Prepositions
• Conjunctions Used in Tunisian Arabic

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Sports and Recreation

• Popular Sports and Games
• Outdoor Recreation and Leisure

  ---

Tunisian History and Geography

• The Phoenician Period
• Modern Tunisia and Geography

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Negation and Interrogation

• Negation Usage in Tunisian Arabic
• Interrogation and Question Indicators

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Work and Employment

• Common Workplace Vocabulary
• Describing Work and Employment Situations

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Tunisian Folklore and Mythology

• Popular Legends and Characters
• Traditional Crafts and Skills

Other Lessons

• Definite Article in Tunisian Arabic
• Interrogation and Question Indicators
• Adverbs in Tunisian Arabic
• Question Formation
• Imperative Mood
• Adverb Usage
• Negation Usage in Tunisian Arabic
• Nouns
• Questions
• Plurals

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