Possessive Pronouns
Add endings to a noun to say my, your, his, her, our, or their.
Possessive endings
Darija often expresses possession with a suffix, an ending attached to the word. The hyphens below show endings, not separate words.
| English | Darija | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| my | -i / -ya | ـي / ـيا |
| your (singular) | -k | ـك |
| his | -u / -h | ـو / ـه |
| her | -ha | ـها |
| our | -na | ـنا |
| your (plural) | -kum | ـكم |
| their | -hum | ـهم |
For “my” and “his,” the source uses the first ending after consonants and the second after vowels: smiti (“my name”) but khuya (“my brother”).
Example: ktab, book
| English | Darija | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| book | ktab | كتاب |
| my book | ktabi | كتابي |
| your book (one person) | ktabk | كتابك |
| his book | ktabu | كتابو |
| her book | ktabha | كتابها |
| our book | ktabna | كتابنا |
| your book (a group) | ktabkum | كتابكم |
| their book | ktabhum | كتابهم |
Practice
Read each form of ktab and identify its owner. Cover the Darija column and try “my book,” “her book,” and “their book,” then check the examples.
Reading guide
Transliteration key: 3 = ع, 7 = ح, sh = ش, kh = خ, gh = غ. A dot under a consonant marks an emphatic consonant. Latin spellings are reading aids; they do not fully capture pronunciation.
Source and audio
Adapted from Peace Corps/Morocco, Basic Introduction to Arabic, lesson 5 (PDF page 6). Formatting, English dialogue glosses where present, and practice prompts are LearnLahja adaptations.
Audio is not currently available for this lesson.