Demonstrative Pronouns in Arabic

Overview

Demonstrative pronouns in Arabic point to specific nouns, functioning like "this," "that," "these," and "those" in English. Arabic demonstratives distinguish between near and far reference, masculine and feminine gender, and singular, dual, and plural number.

At the A1 level, you will use demonstratives constantly for identifying objects, people, and places. The most common ones are هذا (this, masculine) and هذه (this, feminine). Demonstratives agree in gender with the noun they refer to, which means you need to know the gender of the noun to choose the correct demonstrative.

A distinctive feature of Arabic is that when a demonstrative modifies a definite noun, it creates a demonstrative phrase (هذا الكتاب, "this book"), but when it stands alone with an indefinite noun, it forms an equational sentence (هذا كتاب, "this is a book").

How It Works

Near Demonstratives (This/These)

Gender/Number	Arabic	Transliteration
Masculine singular	هذا	hadhaa
Feminine singular	هذه	hadhihi
Dual (both genders)	هذان / هاتان	hadhaani / haataani
Plural (all genders)	هؤلاء	haa'ulaa'i

Far Demonstratives (That/Those)

Gender/Number	Arabic	Transliteration
Masculine singular	ذلك	dhaalika
Feminine singular	تلك	tilka
Dual (both genders)	ذانك / تانك	dhaaniku / taaniku
Plural (all genders)	أولئك	ulaa'ika

Demonstrative Phrase vs. Equational Sentence

Structure	Arabic	Meaning
Dem. + definite noun	هذا الكتاب	this book
Dem. + indefinite noun	هذا كتاب	this is a book

Examples in Context

Arabic	English	Note
هذا كتاب.	This is a book.	Equational sentence
هذه سيارة.	This is a car.	Feminine demonstrative
ذلك الرجل	that man	Demonstrative phrase
هؤلاء الطلاب	these students	Plural demonstrative
هذا البيت كبير.	This house is big.	Demonstrative modifying definite noun
تلك المدينة جميلة.	That city is beautiful.	Far feminine demonstrative
ما هذا؟	What is this?	Common question
من هذه؟	Who is this (female)?	Gender-specific question
هذان كتابان.	These are two books.	Dual demonstrative
أولئك أصدقائي.	Those are my friends.	Far plural

Common Mistakes

Wrong	Right	Why
هذا مدرسة (masculine for feminine noun)	هذه مدرسة	مدرسة is feminine, so use هذه
هذا كتاب for "this book"	هذا الكتاب	"This book" as a phrase requires ال on the noun
Using هؤلاء for non-human plurals	Using هذه for non-human plurals	Non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular in Arabic
Forgetting dual forms exist	Using هذان/هاتان for exactly two	Arabic has specific dual demonstratives

Practice Tips

• Practice pointing at objects around you and naming them with the correct demonstrative: هذا قلم (this is a pen), هذه طاولة (this is a table).
• Pay attention to noun gender every time you use a demonstrative -- this reinforces both gender knowledge and demonstrative agreement.
• Master هذا and هذه first before moving to the far demonstratives and dual/plural forms.

Related Concepts

• Noun Gender