This and That in Arabic

Arabic has near words like ⁨هٰذَا⁩ (this) and far words like ⁨ذٰلِكَ⁩ (that). Both change for gender, and people in the plural have their own forms.

The Forms

Use the near forms for things close to you and the far forms for things further away.

• In ⁨هٰذَا⁩, ⁨هٰذِهِ⁩ and ⁨ذٰلِكَ⁩ the long a is written as a small mark above the letter, not as ⁨ا⁩.
• Two things have their own forms: ⁨هٰذَانِ⁩ (masculine) and ⁨هَاتَانِ⁩ (feminine).
• The far forms can also point back to something just said: ⁨ذٰلِكَ صَحِيح⁩ (That's right).

"This Is a Book" or "This Book"?

Everything depends on ⁨ال⁩. Without ⁨ال⁩, the demonstrative is the subject of a sentence. With ⁨ال⁩, it points at the noun, and you still need a predicate. Put ⁨هُوَ⁩ or ⁨هِيَ⁩ in the middle for "This is the ...".

Plural Things Are Feminine

In Arabic, the plural of a thing counts as feminine singular, so it takes ⁨هٰذِهِ⁩ and ⁨تِلْكَ⁩. ⁨هٰؤُلَاءِ⁩ and ⁨أُولٰئِكَ⁩ are only for people.

After a Possessive Ending

When the noun has a possessive ending, the demonstrative goes after it: ⁨كِتَابِي هٰذَا⁩ (this book of mine).

Common Mistakes

• Using ⁨هٰذَا⁩ with a feminine noun: ⁨هٰذِهِ الْمَدِينَة⁩, not ⁨هٰذَا الْمَدِينَة⁩.
• Using ⁨هٰؤُلَاءِ⁩ for things: ⁨هٰذِهِ الْكُتُب⁩, not ⁨هٰؤُلَاءِ الْكُتُب⁩.
• Leaving out ⁨ال⁩: ⁨هٰذَا الرَّجُل طَوِيل⁩ means "This man is tall", but ⁨هٰذَا رَجُل طَوِيل⁩ means "This is a tall man".

Example Sentences