Subject-Verb Agreement

In Arabic, every noun has a gender. It is either masculine or feminine. Verbs must match this gender. If a boy is eating, the verb looks one way. If a girl is eating, the verb changes its "outfit" with a prefix or suffix. Now, here is the part that surprises many people: number agreement. In English, we always match singular or plural. In Arabic, if you start your sentence with a verb (Verb-Subject order), the verb stays singular. Yes, even if a hundred people are performing the action! However, if you start with the people (Subject-Verb order), the verb must become plural to match them. It is like a party host. If the host (the verb) is at the door first, they greet everyone the same way. If the guests (the subject) are already inside, the host has to acknowledge every single one of them.

1. 1To get this right, follow these three simple steps:
2. 2Identify your subject. Is it a huwa (he), a hiya (she), or a group?
3. 3Decide your sentence order. Are you starting with the action or the person?
4. 4Apply the matching attachment.
5. 5For a single male: yaktubu (he writes).
6. 6For a single female: taktubu (she writes).
7. 7For a group (Subject first): yaktubuna (they write).
8. 8For a group (Verb first): yaktubu (stays singular, but matches gender).
9. 9Think of the prefixes ya- and ta- as the verb's clothes. ya- is generally for the guys, and ta- is for the ladies. It is a bit like color-coding your laundry, but much more useful for conversation!

You will use this every time you describe an action. Imagine you are at a job interview. You want to say, "My colleagues work hard." If you say al-zumala'a ya'maluna, you are using Subject-Verb agreement. It sounds personal and focused on the people. Or imagine you are giving directions. "The buses stop here." Because buses are non-human plurals, you use the feminine singular verb taqifu. It sounds strange at first, but it is the secret sauce to sounding like a pro. You use these rules when ordering food (ana uridu), talking about your family (akhi yaskunu), or describing your daily routine.

Don't stress about this when you are using "verbless" sentences. In Arabic, you can say "The house big" (al-bayt kabir) without a verb like "is." In these cases, you only worry about noun-adjective agreement, not verb agreement. Also, you don't need to worry about plural verbs if the verb comes at the very beginning of the sentence followed by a plural subject. Keep it singular! If you try to make the verb plural at the start of a sentence, it sounds a bit cluttered, like wearing two hats at once.

The "Big One" is using a plural verb before a plural subject. Beginners often say yaktubuna al-tullab (The students write). This is a classic "oops" moment. It should be yaktubu al-tullab. Another common slip-up is the non-human plural rule. If you are talking about al-kutub (books), don't use a plural verb. Treat those books like a single lady! Use the feminine singular hiya. It feels weird to call a pile of books "she," but in Arabic grammar, objects are often treated with feminine singular verbs. Even native speakers might skip a beat here in casual slang, but in standard Arabic, it is a must.

In English, we only really change the verb for "he/she/it" (the third person singular). In Arabic, the verb changes for almost every person. ana (I) gets an a- prefix, nahnu (we) gets a na- prefix. It is much more specific than English. Compared to Spanish or French, Arabic is unique because of that word-order rule. In Spanish, the verb always matches the number, no matter where it sits. Arabic gives you that little shortcut: if the verb is first, keep it singular. It is like a grammar "cheat code" that actually makes your life easier once you get used to it.