نحن
See also: نجن and نخن
Arabic
Etymology 1
From Proto-Semitic *niḥnu. Cognate with Hebrew אנחנו.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /naħ.nu/
Audio (file)
Pronoun
نَحْنُ • (naḥnu) m pl or f pl (enclitic form ـنَا (-nā))
- we (subject pronoun)
Usage notes
As Arabic does not use dual forms in the first person, نَحْنُ (naḥnu) is used in cases where there are two people involved in addition to the usual three or more required for plural number.
See also
Arabic personal pronouns
| Isolated nominative pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | أَنَا (ʾanā) | نَحْنُ (naḥnu) | ||
| 2nd person | m | أَنْتَ (ʾanta) | أَنْتُمَا (ʾantumā) | أَنْتُمْ (ʾantum) |
| f | أَنْتِ (ʾanti) | أَنْتُنَّ (ʾantunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هُوَ (huwa) | هُمَا (humā) | هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)1 |
| f | هِيَ (hiya) | هُنَّ (hunna) | ||
| Isolated accusative pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | إِيَّايَ (ʾiyyāya) | إِيَّانَا (ʾiyyānā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | إِيَّاكَ (ʾiyyāka) | إِيَّاكُمَا (ʾiyyākumā) | إِيَّاكُم (ʾiyyākum) |
| f | إِيَّاكِ (ʾiyyāki) | إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʾiyyākunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | إِيَّاهُ (ʾiyyāhu) | إِيَّاهُمَا (ʾiyyāhumā) | إِيَّاهُمْ (ʾiyyāhum) |
| f | إِيَّاهَا (ʾiyyāhā) | إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʾiyyāhunna) | ||
| Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)2 | ـنَا (-nā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | ـكَ (-ka) | ـكُمَا (-kumā) | ـكُم (-kum) |
| f | ـكِ (-ki) | ـكُنَّ (-kunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)3 | ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)3 | ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)3 |
| f | ـهَا (-hā) | ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)3 | ||
| 1. هُمْ (hum) becomes هُمُ (humu) before the definite article الـ (al--). 2. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya, “my”) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي (-ī) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʾinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʾinnī)). 3. ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw). | ||||
References
- Wehr, Hans (1979), “نحن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
Pronunciation 1
- IPA(key): /naħ.nu/
Verb
نَحْنُ • (naḥnu) (form I)
- first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَا (ḥanā)
Pronunciation 2
- IPA(key): /naħ.ni/
Verb
نَحْنِ • (naḥni) (form I)
- first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَى (ḥanā)
Pronunciation 3
- IPA(key): /nuħ.na/
Verb
نُحْنَ • (nuḥna) (form I)
- first-person plural non-past passive jussive of حَنَا (ḥanā)
- first-person plural non-past passive jussive of حَنَى (ḥanā)
References
- Wehr, Hans (1979), “نحن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
Gulf Arabic
Etymology
From Arabic نَحْنُ (naḥnu).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɪħɪn/
Pronoun
نحن • (niḥin)
- we (subject pronoun)
See also
| Gulf Arabic personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person | آنا (āna) | احنا (aḥna, iḥna) / نحن (niḥin) | |
| 2nd person | m | انت (inta, int) | انتو (intaw, intu) |
| f | انتي (intay, inti) | ||
| 3rd person | m | اهوه (uhwa) / اهو (uhu) | اهمه (uhma) / اهم (uhum) |
| f | اهيه (ihya) / اهي (ihi) | ||