8) Family1

This lesson is a review for the possessive case. It's recommended to review the "rule of stopping" in lesson3, and "the basic recipe" in lesson5.

There is a kind of symmetry in Arabic family names.

# Parents

Notice the stress (Shadda) on the meem of أُمٌّ.

Simple mnemonic: [Ab] and [Um] are the reverse of the first letters of [ba]ba, and [ma]ma.

# Siblings

This is where "the simple recipe" alters a bit. Instead of using Taa Marbuta (ـة) we use regular Taa (ت) to transform (أخ) brother to (أخت) sister.

# Back to possessive

The words for father and brother have a special case when in possessive. It's simply an additional Waw (و) added to the end when they belong to a possessor.

Example: أبو مُحَمّدٍ (Abu Mohammad[en]: Mohammad's father)

Since "أب" belongs to "مُحمّد", a Waw is added to the end.

Example2: أخو زيدٍ

# Exercises