Lesson 32: The Dual | Fusha Path

English says two houses with the same plural it uses for ten houses. Arabic has three numbers: the singular, the dual for exactly two, and the plural for three or more. The dual is not optional; whenever two things are meant, the dual ending must be used, and the adjective, the demonstrative, the verb and the pronoun all have dual forms to match. The endings are completely regular, so one lesson is enough to master them.

Rule 1: 1. The dual ending ـَانِ

To form the dual of a noun, drop the tanwīn and add ـَانِ to the singular: بَابٌ a door, بَابَانِ two doors. The article is added as usual: اَلْبَابَانِ the two doors. An adjective describing a dual noun also takes the dual: بَابَانِ كَبِيرَانِ two big doors, اَلْبَابَانِ الْكَبِيرَانِ the two big doors. A dual noun never carries tanwīn; the نِ with its kasra takes its place.

لِلْبَيْتِ بَابَانِ.
li-l-bayti bābāni
The house has two doors.
اَلْكُرْسِيَّانِ جَدِيدَانِ.
al-kursiyyāni jadīdāni
The two chairs are new.
مِصْبَاحَانِ صَغِيرَانِ عَلَى الْمَائِدَةِ.
miṣbāḥāni ṣaghīrāni ʿala-l-māʾidati
Two small lamps are on the table.
اَلْوَلَدَانِ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.
al-waladāni fi-l-ḥadīqati
The two boys are in the garden.
فِي الْغُرْفَةِ سَرِيرَانِ كَبِيرَانِ.
fi-l-ghurfati sarīrāni kabīrāni
In the room there are two big beds.

Rule 2: 2. The dual of nouns ending in ة

When the singular ends in tāʾ marbūṭa, the ة opens out into an ordinary ت before the dual ending: غُرْفَةٌ a room, غُرْفَتَانِ two rooms. Feminine adjectives do the same: غُرْفَتَانِ وَاسِعَتَانِ two spacious rooms.

غُرْفَتَانِ وَاسِعَتَانِ
ghurfatāni wāsiʿatāni
two spacious rooms
نَافِذَتَانِ كَبِيرَتَانِ
nāfidhatāni kabīratāni
two big windows
اَلصُّورَتَانِ جَمِيلَتَانِ.
aṣ-ṣūratāni jamīlatāni
The two pictures are beautiful.
فِي الْمَطْبَخِ مَائِدَتَانِ.
fi-l-maṭbakhi māʾidatāni
In the kitchen there are two tables.
اَلْبِنْتَانِ صَغِيرَتَانِ.
al-bintāni ṣaghīratāni
The two girls are small.

Rule 3: 3. The oblique ending ـَيْنِ

The ending ـَانِ is the nominative dual, used for the subject of a sentence. In the genitive (after a preposition or as the second word of an iḍāfa) and in the accusative (the object of a verb) the dual ending is ـَيْنِ instead. So the dual has only two forms where the singular has three: اَلْبَابَانِ for the nominative and اَلْبَابَيْنِ for both the genitive and the accusative.

فِي الْغُرْفَتَيْنِ مِصْبَاحَانِ.
fi-l-ghurfatayni miṣbāḥāni
In the two rooms there are two lamps.
Genitive after فِي; nominative as subject.
مِفْتَاحُ الْبَابَيْنِ عِنْدَ أَبِي.
miftāḥu-l-bābayni ʿinda abī
The key of the two doors is with my father.
Genitive as the second word of an iḍāfa.
فَتَحْتُ النَّافِذَتَيْنِ.
fataḥtu-n-nāfidhatayni
I opened the two windows.
Accusative object.
جَلَسَتِ الْبِنْتَانِ عَلَى الْكُرْسِيَّيْنِ.
jalasati-l-bintāni ʿala-l-kursiyyayni
The two girls sat on the two chairs.
حَمَلَ أَخِي الصَّحْنَيْنِ إِلَى الْمَطْبَخِ.
ḥamala akhi-ṣ-ṣaḥnayni ila-l-maṭbakhi
My brother carried the two plates to the kitchen.
رَأَيْتُ الصُّورَتَيْنِ عَلَى الْجِدَارِ.
raʾaytu-ṣ-ṣūratayni ʿala-l-jidāri
I saw the two pictures on the wall.

Declension of the dual

بَيْتٌ (house) and غُرْفَةٌ (room), singular and dual, indefinite and with the article.
Case	Singular	Dual	Dual with article
nominative	بَيْتٌ	بَيْتَانِ	اَلْبَيْتَانِ
genitive	بَيْتٍ	بَيْتَيْنِ	اَلْبَيْتَيْنِ
accusative	بَيْتًا	بَيْتَيْنِ	اَلْبَيْتَيْنِ
nominative	غُرْفَةٌ	غُرْفَتَانِ	اَلْغُرْفَتَانِ
genitive	غُرْفَةٍ	غُرْفَتَيْنِ	اَلْغُرْفَتَيْنِ
accusative	غُرْفَةً	غُرْفَتَيْنِ	اَلْغُرْفَتَيْنِ

Rule 4: 4. The dual demonstratives هٰذَانِ and هَاتَانِ

These two is هٰذَانِ for masculine nouns and هَاتَانِ for feminine nouns. Unlike هٰذَا and هٰذِهِ, the dual demonstratives change with the case, just like the nouns they point to: in the genitive and accusative they become هٰذَيْنِ and هَاتَيْنِ. Followed by a noun with the article they point to it; followed by an indefinite noun they form a sentence.

هٰذَانِ الْمِصْبَاحَانِ جَدِيدَانِ.
hādhāni-l-miṣbāḥāni jadīdāni
These two lamps are new.
هَاتَانِ الصُّورَتَانِ جَمِيلَتَانِ.
hātāni-ṣ-ṣūratāni jamīlatāni
These two pictures are beautiful.
هٰذَانِ كُرْسِيَّانِ وَهَاتَانِ مَائِدَتَانِ.
hādhāni kursiyyāni wa-hātāni māʾidatāni
These are two chairs and these are two tables.
جَلَسْنَا عَلَى هٰذَيْنِ الْكُرْسِيَّيْنِ.
jalasnā ʿalā hādhayni-l-kursiyyayni
We sat on these two chairs.
Genitive after عَلَى.
فَتَحْتُ هَاتَيْنِ النَّافِذَتَيْنِ.
fataḥtu hātayni-n-nāfidhatayni
I opened these two windows.
Accusative object.
أَيْنَ مِفْتَاحُ هٰذَيْنِ الْبَابَيْنِ؟
ayna miftāḥu hādhayni-l-bābayni
Where is the key of these two doors?

The dual demonstratives

They agree with their noun in gender and in case.
Case	Masculine	Feminine
nominative	هٰذَانِ	هَاتَانِ
genitive / accusative	هٰذَيْنِ	هَاتَيْنِ
these two boys (nom.)	هٰذَانِ الْوَلَدَانِ	هَاتَانِ الْبِنْتَانِ
of these two boys (gen.)	هٰذَيْنِ الْوَلَدَيْنِ	هَاتَيْنِ الْبِنْتَيْنِ

Rule 5: 5. The nūn drops before a genitive or a suffix

When a dual noun is the first word of an iḍāfa, or carries a pronoun suffix, its final نِ falls away, leaving only ـَا in the nominative and ـَيْ in the genitive and accusative: بَابَانِ two doors but بَابَا الْبَيْتِ the two doors of the house, بَابَاهُ his two doors. Before the article the ـَيْ takes a kasra to avoid two sukūns meeting: فِي غُرْفَتَيِ الْبَيْتِ in the two rooms of the house.

بَابَا الْبَيْتِ مَفْتُوحَانِ.
bāba-l-bayti maftūḥāni
The two doors of the house are open.
نَافِذَتَا الْغُرْفَةِ كَبِيرَتَانِ.
nāfidhata-l-ghurfati kabīratāni
The two windows of the room are big.
فِي غُرْفَتَيِ الْبَيْتِ سَرِيرَانِ.
fī ghurfatayi-l-bayti sarīrāni
In the two rooms of the house there are two beds.
مِفْتَاحَاهُ عَلَى الْمَائِدَةِ.
miftāḥāhu ʿala-l-māʾidati
His two keys are on the table.
حَمَلْتُ كُوبَيْكَ إِلَى الْمَطْبَخِ.
ḥamaltu kūbayka ila-l-maṭbakhi
I carried your two cups to the kitchen.
يَدَاهَا قَوِيَّتَانِ.
yadāhā qawiyyatāni
Her two hands are strong.

Rule 6: 6. Dual forms of the verb and of the suffixes

The verb has dual forms for the second and third persons. Perfect: كَتَبْتُمَا you two wrote (masculine and feminine alike), كَتَبَا they two (m.) wrote, كَتَبَتَا they two (f.) wrote. Imperfect: تَكْتُبَانِ you two write and also they two (f.) write, يَكْتُبَانِ they two (m.) write. The first person has no dual; كَتَبْنَا and نَكْتُبُ serve for two as for many. The matching suffixes are ـكُمَا your, you (two) and ـهُمَا their, them (two). A verb that comes before a dual subject stays singular; the dual form is used when the verb follows its subject.

اَلْوَلَدَانِ دَخَلَا الْبَيْتَ.
al-waladāni dakhala-l-bayta
The two boys entered the house.
اَلْبِنْتَانِ جَلَسَتَا عَلَى السَّرِيرِ.
al-bintāni jalasatā ʿala-s-sarīri
The two girls sat on the bed.
أَخِي وَأُخْتِي يَجْلِسَانِ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.
akhī wa-ukhtī yajlisāni fi-l-ḥadīqati
My brother and my sister are sitting in the garden.
هَلْ فَتَحْتُمَا النَّافِذَتَيْنِ؟
hal fataḥtuma-n-nāfidhatayni
Did you two open the two windows?
أَيْنَ بَيْتُكُمَا؟ بَيْتُنَا فِي الْمَدِينَةِ.
ayna baytukumā? baytunā fi-l-madīnati
Where is your (two) house? Our house is in the city.
لَهُمَا غُرْفَةٌ وَاسِعَةٌ وَمِفْتَاحُهُمَا عَلَى الْمَائِدَةِ.
lahumā ghurfatun wāsiʿatun wa-miftāḥuhumā ʿala-l-māʾidati
They (two) have a spacious room and their key is on the table.

The dual in the verb and the suffixes

Model verb فَتَحَ, to open.
Person	Perfect	Imperfect	Suffix
you two (m. and f.)	فَتَحْتُمَا	تَفْتَحَانِ	ـكُمَا
they two (m.)	فَتَحَا	يَفْتَحَانِ	ـهُمَا
they two (f.)	فَتَحَتَا	تَفْتَحَانِ	ـهُمَا
we (two or more)	فَتَحْنَا	نَفْتَحُ	ـنَا

Nominative and oblique

اَلْبَابَانِ مَفْتُوحَانِ.

al-bābāni maftūḥāni

The two doors are open.

فَتَحْتُ الْبَابَيْنِ.

fataḥtu-l-bābayni

I opened the two doors.

The same two doors: ـَانِ as the subject of the sentence, ـَيْنِ as the object of the verb. After a preposition it would again be ـَيْنِ: عَلَى الْبَابَيْنِ.

The Dual

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Rule 1: 1. The dual ending ـَانِ

Rule 2: 2. The dual of nouns ending in ة

Rule 3: 3. The oblique ending ـَيْنِ

Declension of the dual

Rule 4: 4. The dual demonstratives هٰذَانِ and هَاتَانِ

The dual demonstratives

Rule 5: 5. The nūn drops before a genitive or a suffix

Rule 6: 6. Dual forms of the verb and of the suffixes

The dual in the verb and the suffixes

Nominative and oblique

Vocabulary

Step 2 of 5: Read

My grandfather's house

Notes

Comprehension

In the Quran

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Translate from English to Arabic

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

How many questions would you like?

Step 5 of 5: Finish