Feminine nouns (المُؤَنَّثُ)

Arabic has only two genders: masculine (مُذَكَّرٌ) and feminine (مُؤَنَّثٌ).

Arabic feminine nouns have distinctive features that help us identify them as feminine

How to Identify Feminine Nouns in Arabic

التَاءُ الـمَرْبُوطَةُ (ة) 🌸

طَالِبٌ + ة = طَالِبَــةٌ Student (female)

مُسْلِمٌ + ة = مُسْلِمَــةٌ Muslim (female)

Some masculine names are exceptions, such as حَمْزَةُ, طَلْحَةُ, أُسَامَةُ and others.

الألفُ الـمَقْصُورَةُ (ى) 🌸

لَـيْـلَــى Leyla

سَلْـمَــى Salma

كُبْرى Great (female)

 الألِفُ الـمَمْدُودَةُ (اء) 🌸

صَـحْرَاءُ Desert

خَضْرَاءُ Green (female)

بَـيْضَــاءُ White (female)

And these are also feminine nouns

1. Nouns that are exclusively used for females (daughter, Mother)
2. Names of countries, cities, and peoples
3. Paired body parts (arms, eyes)

بِنْتٌ Daughter

أَمْـرِيكَا America

يَـدٌّ Hand

Both masculine and feminine

Some Arabic words can be both feminine and masculine at the same time.

طَرِيقٌ Road

سُوقٌ Market

قِدْرٌ Pot

Note 💡

For Arabic nouns that don't clearly indicate feminine gender or lack feminine markers, use the masculine form. This is because most Arabic nouns have a masculine default.

حَرْبٌ War

The word "الحرب" is feminine, but using هذا الحرب instead of هذه الحرب won't be considered a major mistake, it might even go unnoticed