"My", "your" and "this is"

In Arabic, "my", "your", "his" are not placed before the word: a small ending is added at the end.

"My": add ـِي (-ii). • أَبِي (abii): my father; أُمِّي (ummii): my mother • أَخِي (akhii): my brother; أُخْتِي (ukhtii): my sister • اِسْمِي (ismii): my name (you already know it!) With a word ending in ـَةٌ, the ta marbuta becomes a ت again: عَائِلَةٌ → عَائِلَتِي ('aa'ilatii): my family.

"Your": add ـُكَ (-uka) for a man, ـُكِ (-uki) for a woman. • أُمُّكَ (ummuka): your mother (m.); أُمُّكِ (ummuki): your mother (f.) • اِسْمُكَ (ismuka): your name (m.); this is the word in مَا اسْمُكَ؟

"His, her": ـُهُ (-uhu) for a man, ـُهَا (-uhaa) for a woman. • أَبُوهُ (abuuhu): his father; أُمُّهَا (ummuhaa): her mother The word أَب changes a little here: you will see why later; for now just remember أَبُوهُ.

Introducing someone: • هٰذَا (haadhaa): this is (for a man or a masculine word) • هٰذِهِ (haadhihi): this is (for a woman or a feminine word) Examples: • هٰذَا أَبِي (haadhaa abii): this is my father. • هٰذِهِ أُمِّي (haadhihi ummii): this is my mother. • هٰذَا أَخِي يُوسُفُ (haadhaa akhii Yuusuf): this is my brother Yusuf.

A small exercise: introduce your family aloud, one member at a time, with هٰذَا or هٰذِهِ.

Understanding the lesson

Explanation The endings ـِي, ـُكَ, ـُكِ, ـُهُ, ـُهَا are called attached pronouns. They stick to the end of nouns ("my father"), but also of verbs and small words. They are among the most frequent elements of Arabic: recognising them helps enormously in understanding the prayer and the Qur'an.

A few examples you may already know: • رَبِّي (rabbii): my Lord. In prostration we say سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلَى, "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High". • إِيَّاكَ (iyyaaka), in Al-Fatiha: the ending ـكَ means "You". • لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ: "To you your religion, and to me my religion" (109:6). Here you see ـكُمْ (your, to you) and ـيَ (to me). In the mushaf, the ي of "my religion" is not written at the end of دِينِ: the kasra is enough to show it.

Why does ta marbuta become ت again? Because ة is only an end-of-word form. As soon as an ending is added, the letter is no longer at the end: it takes back its ordinary form (عَائِلَة → عَائِلَتِي).

Common mistakes: using ـكَ for a woman; pronouncing عَائِلَتِي with an h; saying هٰذَا before a feminine word ("haadhaa ummii" instead of هٰذِهِ أُمِّي).

Lessons to draw • Look for attached pronouns in the prayer formulas: rabbii, laka (to You), iyyaaka. • Practise one word in every form: كِتَابِي، كِتَابُكَ، كِتَابُكِ، كِتَابُهُ، كِتَابُهَا. • Introduce your family aloud with هٰذَا and هٰذِهِ. • Link the language to the prayer: understanding what you say helps you pray with humility and presence (23:1-2).

Key points • ـِي = my; ـُكَ / ـُكِ = your (m. / f.); ـُهُ / ـُهَا = his / her. • ة becomes ت again before an ending. • هٰذَا (m.) / هٰذِهِ (f.): this is.

The main message Arabic's small endings are everywhere in the prayer: understanding them means finally hearing what you say when you pronounce "my Lord" and "You alone".