Arabic Family Words: A Guide to the Tricky Parts

In my early days as an Arabic teacher, I was given the opportunity to teach a group of beginners at a local centre in my hometown. Fresh out of university, I was steeped in Arabic grammar but lacked teaching experience.

 I settled on the theme of “Family” as I thought it would be a simple and relatable way to get my students speaking. However, during my preparation for this lesson, I quickly learnt that the rules of Arabic grammar make speaking about one’s family somewhat complex. 

I boiled down the grammatical challenges to two areas:

• Irregular nouns such as “father” and “brother”

• The dual suffix and how to apply it

These two areas often stump students when they open their mouths to speak. While often treated as extra details, I believe they should be a key part of Arabic lessons on the topic of “Family". Indeed, it is impossible to say basic phrases such as “your father” or “my parents” without a knowledge of these straightforward but unique rules. 

In this light, I have written a brief overview of both of these areas. You can download the PDF here.