Lesson 4 - Singular, Dual & Plural

1) Does every noun in Arabic have a singular, dual, and plural?

No. Certain words, like the name Allah, only exists in a singular form. Some plurals (as you will learn later) do not have a singular (e.g. إبل meaning camels). Other words are commonly used in the plural form in the Qur’an even though they have a singular word, like the word dhulumāt (darkness).

2) If the accusative and genitive patterns for the sound plurals repeat, how can I tell the difference?

Other context clues can be used to determine if the case is accusative or genitive, such as the presence of genitive particles or the iḍāfah structure which we will learn later. Remember that Arabic grammar is very logical and does not typically leave the reader is very ambiguous positions.

Lesson 5 - Adjective Phrase & Present Tense Verbs

1) Why are non-human plurals considered feminine?

This is an excellent question and there is a lot of discussion on the issue but at this point it may be too difficult to get into it. Instead focus on memorizing the rule for now and being able to identify non-human plurals wherever you can.

2) Is there only one middle vowel change per verb from past to present tense?

Yes, this is overwhelmingly the case. There are some roots that have more than one possible middle vowel change and the dictionary will be able to identify for you verbs for which that is the case.