Sound Masculine Plural Case Endings

Arabic nouns change their endings based on their job in a sentence. This is called the case system. For the Sound Masculine Plural, the ending changes between two forms. You will see ūn or īn. It is like a grammar traffic light. The color tells you if the word is the subject or the object. If the word is doing the action, it gets one ending. If the action is happening to it, it gets another. It also changes if the word follows a preposition. This might sound tricky at first. However, it is actually very consistent. You do not have to guess. The rules are clear and logical. Even native speakers rely on these suffixes to understand who is doing what. You will get used to the rhythm very quickly.

1. 1Creating this plural is a simple three-step process.
2. 2Start with a singular masculine noun. Let us use mu'allim (teacher).
3. 3Check if the word refers to a human or a rational being.
4. 4Add the suffix to the end of the word.
5. 5If the word is the subject (Nominative), add ūn. Now mu'allim becomes mu'allimūn.
6. 6If the word is an object or after a preposition (Accusative/Genitive), add īn. Now mu'allim becomes mu'allimīn.
7. 7Notice how the core of the word mu'allim never changed? That is the "sound" part. It is like building with Lego blocks. You just snap the plural piece onto the singular base. It is much easier than English plurals like "man" to "men."

Use this pattern for male human beings. This includes names of professions like muhandis (engineer) or nādil (waiter). You also use it for adjectives describing these men. If you are describing a group of "hardworking teachers," both words get the ending. What about a group of both men and women? In Arabic, the masculine plural is the default for mixed groups. If you see a room with 99 women and 1 man, you still use the masculine plural. It is just how the grammar works! Use it when you are at a job interview talking about your zumalā' (colleagues). Use it when ordering food from nādilūn (waiters). It is the standard way to address any group of people professionally.

Do not use this for non-human things. If you have five books, do not add ūn. Books are not human. They use a different plural system called "Broken Plurals." Also, do not use this for specifically female groups. They have their own "Sound Feminine Plural" ending in āt. Some masculine words are also "broken." For example, walad (boy) becomes awlād. It does not become waladūn. If you try that, people will understand you, but it sounds a bit funny. It is like saying "childs" instead of "children." Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes with rare words! Stick to professions and active participles to be safe.

The biggest mistake is using ūn for everything. It is tempting because it is the first one you learn. However, if you say "I saw the mu'allimūn," it sounds slightly off. Since they are the object, you need mu'allimīn. Another mistake is confusing the plural īn with the dual ayn. The plural īn has a long "ee" sound. The dual ayn (meaning two people) has an "ay" sound. Listen closely to the vowels. Also, watch out for the nūn dropping off. If the plural word is followed by a possessor, the n disappears. This is a bit more advanced, but keep it in the back of your mind. Don't worry, the grammar police won't arrest you if you forget!

Let us compare this to the Sound Feminine Plural. For women, we use āt. So mu'allimah becomes mu'allimāt. It is very stable. Then we have Broken Plurals. These are like English irregulars. They change the whole shape of the word. Think of kitāb (book) becoming kutub. There is no ūn there! Finally, compare it to the Dual. The Dual is for exactly two people. It uses ān or ayn. So, if you have two engineers, they are muhandisān. If you have three or more, they are muhandisūn. It is a very precise system. Once you see the patterns side-by-side, the logic clicks into place.