Adjective Agreement in Arabic (Na't)

Level: Beginner. In Arabic a describing word follows the noun it describes and copies several of the noun’s features. Once you can read a noun’s gender, number, case and definiteness, the adjective’s ending is no longer a guess — it mirrors the noun.

The rule

An adjective (a describing word — ṣifa or naʿt in Arabic) does two things that surprise English speakers. First, it comes after the noun, not before: you say “the house the big”, not “the big house”. Second, it agrees with the noun in four features at once:

• Gender: masculine or feminine. A feminine noun takes a feminine adjective, usually with the ending ة (tā marbūṭa).
• Number: singular, dual or plural.
• Case: the short vowel on the end that marks the noun’s job in the sentence — nominative ـُ (u), accusative ـَ (a), genitive ـِ (i). The adjective copies it, so the two words rhyme.
• Definiteness: if the noun is definite — it has the prefix أل (al-) — the adjective must be definite too; if the noun is indefinite, the adjective stays indefinite.

So a noun–adjective phrase keeps all four features lined up. البَيْتُ الكَبِيرُ (al-baytu l-kabīru) means “the big house”: both words are masculine, singular, nominative and definite.

The four features that must agree

Definiteness in detail

Arabic marks “the” with the prefix أل (al-). In a noun–adjective phrase both words carry it or neither does:

• Indefinite + indefinite: مَدِينَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ (madīnatun jamīlatun) — “a beautiful city”.
• Definite + definite: المَدِينَةُ الجَمِيلَةُ (al-madīnatu l-jamīlatu) — “the beautiful city”.

If only the noun is definite, الكِتَابُ جَدِيدٌ (al-kitābu jadīdun), you no longer have a phrase — you have the sentence “the book is new”.

Case: why the endings rhyme

Case is the short final vowel that shows a word’s role. After a preposition such as فِي (fī, in) the noun takes the genitive ـِ (i), and the adjective follows it: فِي البَيْتِ الكَبِيرِ (fī l-bayti l-kabīri, “in the big house”). You do not choose the adjective’s ending separately — you copy the noun’s.

Example sentences

Common mistakes

• ❌ كَبِيرٌ بَيْتٌ (kabīrun baytun) → ✅ بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ (baytun kabīrun). The adjective follows the noun; English puts it first, Arabic second.
• ❌ البَيْتُ كَبِيرُ (al-baytu kabīru) as “the big house” → ✅ البَيْتُ الكَبِيرُ (al-baytu l-kabīru). Definiteness must match: a definite noun needs أل (al-) on the adjective too.
• ❌ بِنْتٌ طَوِيلٌ (bintun ṭawīlun) → ✅ بِنْتٌ طَوِيلَةٌ (bintun ṭawīlatun). The noun is feminine, so the adjective needs the feminine ة (tā marbūṭa).
• ❌ الكُتُبُ الجُدُدُ (al-kutubu l-judud, a human-style plural adjective) for things → ✅ الكُتُبُ الجَدِيدَةُ (al-kutubu l-jadīdatu). Non-human plurals take a feminine singular adjective.
• ❌ فِي البَيْتِ الكَبِيرُ (fī l-bayti l-kabīru) → ✅ فِي البَيْتِ الكَبِيرِ (fī l-bayti l-kabīri). After فِي (fī) the noun is genitive, so the adjective copies the genitive ـِ (i).

A short conversation

A: هَلْ هٰذَا بَيْتُكَ الجَدِيدُ؟ (hal hādhā baytuka l-jadīdu?) — Is this your new house? B: نَعَمْ، هٰذَا هُوَ البَيْتُ الجَدِيدُ. (naʿam, hādhā huwa l-baytu l-jadīdu.) — Yes, this is the new house. A: إِنَّهُ بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ وَجَمِيلٌ. (innahu baytun kabīrun wa-jamīlun.) — It is a big, beautiful house. B: شُكْرًا، الغُرْفَةُ الوَاسِعَةُ هُنَاكَ. (shukran, al-ghurfatu l-wāsiʿatu hunāka.) — Thank you, the spacious room is over there.

Usage notes

• Non-human plurals act feminine singular. A plural of things, not people, takes a feminine singular adjective: الأَبْوَابُ المَفْتُوحَةُ (al-abwābu l-maftūḥatu, “the open doors”). Human plurals use true plural adjectives, a later topic.
• Several adjectives stack after the noun, each agreeing: بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ جَمِيلٌ (baytun kabīrun jamīlun, “a big beautiful house”).
• Demonstratives are different. هٰذَا (hādhā, this) and هٰذِهِ (hādhihi, this, fem.) come before a definite noun: هٰذَا البَيْتُ (hādhā l-baytu, “this house”). A plain adjective still comes after.
• Colour and defect adjectives such as أَبْيَض (abyaḍ, white) follow a special pattern for the feminine, as in بَيْضَاء (bayḍāʾ), but they still agree in gender, number, case and definiteness.

Compared with…

• Noun gender decides the feminine ة (tā marbūṭa) ending on the adjective — review it first in the Arabic grammar section.
• The possessive construction (iḍāfa) also puts two nouns together, but there definiteness works differently: only the second noun carries أل (al-). Keep agreement (this page) and iḍāfa separate in your mind. Browse the Arabic grammar section for more.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Back to the Arabic grammar section
• New here? Start with Start Learning Arabic Here