Adjectives are the final piece you need to describe anything around you in detail. In Arabic, an adjective follows its noun (backwards from English) and must match it in gender — a rule you'll now apply to everything you've learned so far.
Every Arabic passage has a small circle button — click it to hear it read aloud using your browser's own Arabic voice.
BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
Place an adjective correctly after its noun
Match an adjective's gender to its noun using the ة ending
Describe people and objects using هَذَا/هَذِهِ + noun + adjective
Read a phrase from the Basmalah built entirely from descriptive words
TEACHER NOTES
Pacing: 45–60 min
Prerequisite check: Demonstratives from Chapter Four for the drill to make sense.
Watch out for: Masculine/feminine adjective agreement is the whole chapter — don't let students skip past a mismatched example.
01 — LISTEN & REPEAT
حِوَارٌDialogue
Maryam describes her new house to Yūsuf. Listen twice, then read aloud.
Each pair shows the masculine and feminine forms — notice the feminine almost always just adds ة.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
NEWجَمِيلٌ/جَمِيلَةٌ
jamīl / jamīlah
beautiful (m./f.)
—
NEWكَبِيرٌ/كَبِيرَةٌ
kabīr / kabīrah
big (m./f.)
—
NEWصَغِيرٌ/صَغِيرَةٌ
ṣaghīr / ṣaghīrah
small (m./f.)
—
NEWطَيِّبٌ/طَيِّبَةٌ
ṭayyib / ṭayyibah
good, kind, pure
Root ط-ي-ب — Qur'ānic (e.g. بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ).
NEWرَحِيمٌ
raḥīm
merciful
Root ر-ح-م — as in الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ.
NEWجَدِيدٌ/قَدِيمٌ
jadīd / qadīm
new / old
—
NEWسَعِيدٌ/حَزِينٌ
sa‘īd / ḥazīn
happy / sad
—
NEWكَرِيمٌ
karīm
generous, noble
Root ك-ر-م — as in الْقُرْآنُ الْكَرِيمُ.
Also in this chapter's dialogue and reading.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
EARLYجَيِّدٌ
jayyid
good
Extremely common — a close cousin of جَمِيلٌ.
EARLYطَعَامٌ
ṭa‘ām
food
—
EARLYطَوِيلٌ / قَصِيرٌ
ṭawīl / qaṣīr
long, tall / short
—
EARLYقَلِيلًا
qalīlan
a little
—
EARLYلَذِيذٌ / لَطِيفٌ
ladhīdh / laṭīf
delicious / nice, pleasant
—
EARLYذَكِيٌّ
dhakī
smart, clever
—
EARLYإِذَا
idhā
if, when
—
EARLYجِيرَانٌ
jīrān
neighbours (plural)
Plural of جَارٌ from Chapter Three.
03 — HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS
رُكْنُ الْقَوَاعِدِGrammar Corner
Adjectives follow their noun and agree with it. Unlike English (“beautiful house”), Arabic puts the noun first and the description second — and adds ة to the adjective whenever the noun is feminine.
بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ
baytun kabīrun a big house (m. noun → m. adjective)
حَدِيقَةٌ كَبِيرَةٌ
ḥadīqatun kabīratun a big garden (f. noun → f. adjective with ة)
When the adjective describes a definite noun, both words take ال: الْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ (“the big house”) — exactly like هَذَا الْكِتَابُ from Chapter Four, this is a description, not yet a full sentence.
Quick check: how would you say “a beautiful garden”, starting from حَدِيقَةٌ (feminine)? (حَدِيقَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ.)
04 — READING THE SOURCE
وَقْفَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّةٌQur'ān Connection
Two of the most repeated descriptive words in the entire Qur'ān — both attributes of Allah, both from this chapter's territory.
THE BASMALAH
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
bi-smi-llāh
in the name of Allah
الرَّحْمَٰنِ
ar-Raḥmān
the Most Merciful
الرَّحِيمِ
ar-Raḥīm
the Especially Merciful
الرَّحْمَٰنِ and الرَّحِيمِ both come from the root ر-ح-م, ‘mercy’ — the same root as this chapter's رَحِيمٌ. They function as descriptions of اللَّهِ, chained together the way you'll learn formally as iḍāfah in a later chapter.
05 — SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE
عِبَارَاتٌ يَوْمِيَّةٌEveryday Phrases
Everyday phrases built from descriptive words.
مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ
mā shā’a-llāh — as Allah willed (said in admiration)
بِخَيْرٍ وَعَافِيَةٍ
bi-khayrin wa ‘āfiyah — in good health
كُلُّ شَيْءٍ جَيِّدٌ
kullu shay’in jayyid — everything is good
لَطِيفٌ جِدًّا
laṭīfun jiddan — very kind
طَعَامٌ لَذِيذٌ
ṭa‘āmun ladhīdh — delicious food
يَوْمٌ جَمِيلٌ
yawmun jamīl — a beautiful day
خَبَرٌ سَعِيدٌ
khabarun sa‘īd — happy news
صَوْتٌ جَمِيلٌ
ṣawtun jamīl — a beautiful voice
SKILLS PRACTICE
الِاسْتِمَاعُListening
Audio track 5.1
Aḥmad describes his new classmate. Listen first, script second.
How does Aḥmad describe his new friend's personality?
Is his friend tall or short?
What does Salmā say about his smile?
Reveal answers
1. Kind and smart. 2. A little tall. 3. She doesn't — Aḥmad says it's beautiful, and she says she's happy for him.
SKILLS PRACTICE
التَّحَدُّثُSpeaking
Pair work
Partner drill. Describe three people or objects around you using هَذَا/هَذِهِ + noun + adjective, matching gender correctly each time.
Recycling round. Use the كِتَاب, حَقِيبَة, or حَدِيقَة from Chapter Four as your objects, and reach for جَيِّدٌ, لَذِيذٌ, or طَوِيلٌ/قَصِيرٌ alongside جَمِيلٌ so the adjective pool doesn't shrink to one word.
Letters
Word 1
Word 2
Tip
جَمِيلٌ vs جَمِيلَةٌ
بَيْتٌ جَمِيلٌ
حَدِيقَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ
The ة ending is the entire difference between describing a masculine and a feminine noun.
A short passage using only words you've met so far. Just read for meaning — hover any word if you get stuck. Flip the switch to check whole sentences instead of single words.