Guide: How adjectives function in Tunisian Arabic (premium)
This guide will explain how adjectives function in Tunisian Arabic. It’s broken down into:
- Conjugation of adjectives
- Syntax
- Ten examples with applicable alternatives
- French originating adjectives
Conjugation of adjectives
In Tunisian Arabic, with some exceptions (exceptions noted below), every adjective has three versions of its spelling:
- Singular masculine
- Singular feminine
- Plural
Here is why: Like all dialects and forms of Arabic, Tunisian Arabic is gender-based. Depending on what spelling of the adjective is used depends on if the noun is singular or plural. And if it’s singular, its spelling also depends on if the noun is masculine- or feminine-based. (For more information on this topic refer to the IBL article, How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic)
Let’s use an example.
Large in Tunisian Arabic is commonly:
(Sing. m.) Kbir / كبير
(Sing. f.) Kbira / كبيرة
(Plural) Kbar / كبار
In Tunisian Arabic, a pizza is pizza / بيتزا and is considered a feminine-based word. If one is to order a large margherita pizza: E.g., “One large margherita pizza, please”, what might be spoken is:
Wa7da pizza margherita kbira, y3aychek / وحدة بيتزامرڨريتا كبيرة, بعيّشك (A note that “One” is Wa7da / وحدة which is also in the feminine-form to align with the gender-consideration of the word pizza / بيتزا (As an fyi, Wa7ed / واحد is the masculine-based spelling))
If you or someone is pointing out that a male dog is large, kbir / كبير, instead of kbira / كبيرة, will be used. “That is a large dog” is translated as:
Hetheka kalb kbir / هذاكا كلب كبير
The masculine-form spelling of the noun was used (kalb / كلب) and similar to the Wa7da / وحدة usage above, Hetheka / هذاكا which means “That is” is the masculine-based version of the word. If a female entity or object was being pointed out, then Hethika / هذيكا would have been used instead.)
IBL contributor Aroua F. speaks Wa7da pizza margherita kbira, y3aychek:
Aroua F. speaks Hetheka kalb kbir:
Plural
Plural adjectives that are etymologically Arabic are gender-based too but in all cases their gender-designation doesn’t affect the adjective that is used. As such, in almost all cases (again, some exceptions here), there is only one spelling of the adjective.
A common series to mean beautiful, especially when describing objects or scenery is:
(Sing. m.) Meziyen / مزيان
(Sing. f.) Meziyena / مزيانة
(Plural) Meziyenin / مزيانين
If one is expressing “These cups are beautiful” they can say:
El kisen hedhom meziyenin / الكيسان هاذم مزيانين
Meziyenin / مزيانين is the only version of spelling that can be used in this case as it’s the only spelling in the plural form. (Note, that in Tunisian Arabic there are uncommon examples where a plural noun is used but a singular adjective is used to describe it. For example, “Those flowers over there are beautiful” is translated as El ward eli ghadi meziyen / الورد الّي غادي مزيان. (Flowers / ward / الورد is plural yet meziyen / مزيان is singular) Instances of this phenomenon occur more frequently with nouns that typically exist in proximity to, or are most often described as, in the plural form. (E.g., It’s more common to see a bunch of flowers versus one flower) But still, overall, this occurrence is uncommon in Tunisian Arabic.
Exception
A regular exception to the above are Tunisian Arabic words that are derived from French. There is ample examples of these words that follow Arabic convention and have three spellings to them. Some adjectives, however, only have one spelling, and others yet, have four.
Example #1 — An example with one spelling:
Sympathique / سمباتيك
In English, sympathique means words such as friendly, kind, gentle-natured, etc. The spelling of the word is the same regardless of whether the noun being described is masculine- or feminine-based or if it’s in a singular or plural setting.
“He is friendly” is:
Howa sympathique / هو سمباتيك
“She is friendly” is:
Heya sympathique / هي سمباتيك
“They are friendly” is:
Houma sympathique / هوما سمباتيك
Below Aroua speaks the three above statements:
Howa sympathique:
Heya sympathique:
Houma sympathique:
El ward eli ghadi mezyen:
Example #2 — An example with four spellings:
When describing something abstract that is interesting, this series of adjectives, which is also derived from French, can be used:
(sing. m.) Interrasant / أنتريسون
(sing. f.) Interrsante / أنترسونت
(pl. m.) Interrasants / أنتريسون
(pl. f.) Interrsantes / أنترسونت
An interesting aside: When describing someone or people that are interesting the words Ma7leh / محلاه, Ma7leha / محلاها & Ma7lhom / محلاهم are most commonly used. For more information on this, again, reference the IBL page: “Interesting” in Tunisian Arabic.
An adjective series conjugating in four ways such as the above is uncommon but not unheard of. Again, conventionally, and most commonly, Tunisian Arabic adjectives conjugate in three ways: Singular masculine, Singular feminine & Plural.
Another interesting sidenote: Interestingly, in Standard Arabic (fos7a / فصحى) adjectives conjugate in four ways too: Singular masculine, Singular feminine, Plural masculine & Plural feminine. So in Standard Arabic, the format that’s seen above with the “Interesting” example is the norm, whereas, in Tounsi, it’s the exception.
Syntax
In Tunisian Arabic grammar, has some fluidity to move around in a statement. In other words, it can be before or after the noun that it’s describing but still must be near the noun. (Adverbs on the other hand have more flexibility in where they are placed in a statement. For more information on this see the IBL article, How adverbs function in Tunisian Arabic.
“That’s a red car” is conventionally spoken and written as:
- Hedhika karhba 7amra / هاذيكا كرهبة حمرا
It can also be written as:
- 7amra el karhba hedhika / حمرا الكرهبة هاذيكا
If you want to say or write “That red car is fast” you can do so by saying:
- El karhba el 7amra temchi fisa3 / الكرهبة الحمرا تمشي فيسع
Or, you can effect the same statement by saying:
- Temchi fisa3 el karhaba el 7amra / تمشي فيسع الكرهبة الحمرا
There are two options too with the statement “This house is big”. You can say:
El dar hedhi kbira / الدار هاذي كبيرة
Or you can say Kbira el dar hedhi / كبيرة الدار هاذي
Aroua speaks the translations in the recordings below.
That’s a red car — Hedhika karhba 7amra & 7amra el karhba hedhika:
That red car is fast — El karhba el 7amra temchi fisa3 & Temchi fisa3 el karhaba el 7amra:
This house is big — El dar hedhi kbira & Kbira el dar hedhi:
Double el / ال
In a couple of the examples above you may have noticed the the word el / ال was associated not only to the noun but also to the adjective. One of the ways that “That red car is fast” was translated was: El karhba el 7amra temchi fisa3 / الكرهبة الحمرا تمشي فيسع. A standard Arabic rule (which occurs in fos7a too) is if the sentence structure affixes an adjective to the noun and el / ال is used, then el / ال also precedes the adjective. (So written twice in the statement)
So phrases like the below all use a double el / ال:
My husband is in the backyard. — Rajli fel jarda el tilaneya / راجلي في الجردة التيلانيّة
The big mountain in the distance is called… — El jbal el b3id hedheka esmou… / …الجبل البعيد هذاكا اسمو
The brown dog over there is friendly. — El kalb el marron eli ghadi sympathique / الكلب المارون الّي غادي سمباتيك
Ten examples with alternative spellings if applicable
To work out way to closing out this guide let’s cover 10 example statements along with one reasonable alternative spelling if applicable.
Example #1:
“That chair is orange.”
(Spelling A) El korsi hedheka bortou9ali.
(Spelling B) Bortou9ali el korsi hedheka.
.الكرسي هذاكا برتقالي (Spelling A)
.برتقالي الكرسي هذاكا (Spelling B)
Example #2:
“This big chair is comfortable!”
(Spelling A) El korsi el kbir merte7!
(Spelling B) Merte7 el korsi el kbir!
!الكرسي الكبير مرتاح (Spelling A)
!مرتاح الكرسي الكبير (Spelling B)
Example #3:
“This meal is delicious!”
(Spelling A) El mekla bnina!
(Spelling B) Bnina el mekla!
!الماكلة بنينة (Spelling A)
!بنينة الماكلة (Spelling B)
Example #4:
“That tall man seated over there is friendly.”
(Spelling A) El rajel el twil eli 9a3ed ghadi sympathique.
(Spelling B) Sympathique el rajel el twil eli 9a3ed ghadi.
.الراجل الطويل الّي قاعد غادي سمباتيك (Spelling A)
.سمباتيك الراجل الطويل الّي قاعد غادي (Spelling B)
Example #5:
“The older women at that table are very friendly.”
(Spelling A) El nse el kbar eli fel tawla hedhika sympathique 3allekher.
(Spelling B) Sympathique 3allekher el nse el kbar eli fel tawla hedhika.
.النساء الكبار الّي في الطاولة هاذيكا سمباتيك علّخر (Spelling A)
.سمباتيك علّخر النساء الكبار الّي في الطاولة هاذيكا (Spelling B)
Example #6:
“Do you want the meal spicy?”
(Spelling A) T7ebha 7ara el mekla?
(No alternative reasonable statement)
تحبّها حارّة الماكلة؟ (Spelling A)
(No alternative reasonable statement)
Example #7:
“This country is so beautiful!”
(Spelling A) El bled hedhi yeser mezyena!
(Spelling B) Yeser mezyena el bled hedhi!
!البلاد هاذي ياسر مزيانة (Spelling A)
!ياسر مزيانة البلاد هاذي (Spelling B)
Example #8:
“I find this book so fascinating!”
(Spelling A) Dhhorli el kteb hedha yeser intéressant!
(Spelling B) Dhhorli yeser intéressant el kteb hedha!
!ظهرلي الكتاب هذا ياسر انترسون (Spelling A)
!ظهرلي ياسر انترسون الكتاب هذا (Spelling B)
Example #9:
“That blue car over there is our rental car.”
(Spelling A) El karhba el zar9a eli ghadi heya karhbetna el mekreya.
(Spelling B) Karhbetna el mekreya heya el karhba el zar9a eli ghadi.
.الكرهبة الزرقاء الّي غادي هي كرهبتنا المكريّة (Spelling A)
.كرهبتنا المكريّة هي الكرهبة الزرقاء الّي غادي (Spelling B)
Example #10:
“This white key will open the apartment door.”
(Spelling A) El mefte7 labyedh hedha y7el beb el bortmen.
(No alternative reasonable statement)
.المفتاح الأبيض هذا يحلّ باب البرطمان (Spelling A)
(No alternative reasonable statement)
French-originating adjectives
A final point on Tunisian Arabic words that are derived from French. French is also a gender-based language. Tunisian Arabic speakers when using French-derived words in the Arabic dialect conventionally apply the gender-designation (or neutral gender like in the case of Sympathique / سمباتيك) to the word in the same way French speakers would.
In closing
Knowing how adjectives function in a language or dialect is a big step towards writing and speaking coherent sentences and statements. Mabrouk! As mentioned above here is the IBL article on How adverbs function in Tunisian Arabic. As you’re learning the Arabic dialect, remember too to familiarize yourself with How nouns function in Tunisian Arabic. And IBL also has a guide that consists of over 5,000 words on how verbs work work in Tounsi. The guide is entitled, How verbs work in Tunisian Arabic.
You did well today.
As always, we wish you a marvellous journey!
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