Possessive Pronouns

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn how to show that something belongs to someone.

Possession in Darija

In Darija, a short ending can be added to a word to show possession. This ending tells us whether the thing belongs to me, you, him, her, us, you all, or them.

Possessive endings

English	Ending
My	-i or -ya
Your — singular	-k
His	-u or -h
Her	-ha
Our	-na
Your — plural	-kum
Their	-hum

Choosing between the two forms

For my and his, there are two possible endings. The first ending is used after a word ending in a consonant. The second ending is used after a word ending in a vowel.

smiti — my name (the word takes the ending -i)

xuya — my brother (the word takes the ending -ya)

Possession with the word “book”

English	Darija
Book	ktab
My book	ktabi
Your book — singular	ktabk
His book	ktabu
Her book	ktabha
Our book	ktabna
Your book — plural	ktabkum
Their book	ktabhum

Possession with feminine nouns

Many feminine nouns end with an a sound. In Arabic script, this ending is a silent t that is pronounced in certain situations. Before adding a possessive ending: remove the final a sound, replace it with t, and add the possessive ending.

Example with “watch”

English	Darija
A watch	magana
My watch	maganti
Your watch — singular	magantk
His watch	magantu
Her watch	magantha
Our watch	magantna
Your watch — plural	magantkum
Their watch	maganthum

The final a in magana changes to t, and then -i is added to make maganti.

Exercise: add the correct possessive ending

Using these words — ḍar (house), blaṣa (place), ktab (book), wrqa (sheet of paper or ticket) — try writing the correct Darija form for:

1. your house — speaking to several people
2. my place
3. his book
4. our place
5. your ticket — speaking to one person
6. their place
7. her house
8. his ticket
9. your book — speaking to one person
10. their house