Feminine Nouns with Tāʾ Marbūṭa

Most Arabic nouns for people have a masculine and a feminine form. The feminine usually adds ة (tāʾ marbūṭa, pronounced -a) to the masculine:

• طالب → طالبة (student)
• معلم → معلمة (teacher)
• جار → جارة (neighbour)

The words around the noun tell you which form you need: هو / هي (he / she), هذا / هذه (this), أخي / أختي (my brother / my sister). To go back to the masculine, simply drop the ة: طبيبة → طبيب.

When a suffix is added, ة is written as ت: صديقة → صديقتي (my friend). Not every feminine noun has ة: أم (mother), بنت (girl), شمس (sun) and أرض (earth) are feminine too.