A pronoun stands in for a noun that came earlier. To resolve it, list the nouns already mentioned, remove those that do not match in gender and number, and choose the one that makes sense.
This lesson follows identifying the main idea in an original passage. It prepares you for supporting an answer with Arabic evidence.
What are the common attached pronouns?
| Pronoun | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ـه | him, his, it | كتابه (his book) |
| ـها | her, hers, it | كتابها (her book) |
| ـهم | them (masculine) | معلمهم (their teacher) |
| ـهن | them (feminine) | معلمهن (their teacher, where “their” is feminine) |
The pronoun gives two clues straight away: gender and number.
Worked example: one ـها, two referents
Read this original pair of sentences.
زارتْ منى صديقتَها سلمى. أعطتْها هديةً صغيرةً، ففرحتْ بها كثيرًا.
(Mona visited her friend Salma. She gave her a small gift, and she was very happy with it.)
The first ـها, in أعطتها. The nouns available are منى, سلمى and هدية. The verb أعطت has Mona as the doer, so ـها cannot be Mona. It could be Salma or the gift, but the gift appears after the pronoun.
So ـها is Salma.
The second ها, in بها. The phrase فرحت بها means “she was happy with it”. A person is happy with a thing, and the feminine noun nearby is هدية. So بها is the gift.
Who is happy? The verb ففرحت is feminine, and Salma is the one who received a gift. So Salma is happy.
The mistake that costs marks
Students see ها twice and link both to Salma because she is the last named person. This gives the wrong answer for فرحت بها.
The fix is to check each pronoun on its own with three questions. Does the gender match? Does the number match? Does the meaning work if I replace the pronoun with the noun?
Check yourself
Who or what does each pronoun in brackets refer to?
اشترى خالدٌ ساعةً جديدةً، ثم أعطاها لأخيهِ. ففرحَ بها أخوه.
(Khalid bought a new watch, then gave it to his brother. His brother was happy with it.)
- أعطاها (ها)
- أخيهِ (ـه)
- بها (ها)
Answer
- ها refers to ساعة (the watch). It is feminine, and خالد is masculine and the doer.
- ـه refers to خالد, because it is his own brother.
- بها refers to ساعة again, since one is happy with a thing received.
What to study next
Pronoun work supports word meaning and evidence questions. Continue with inferring a word meaning from context, then try the reading practice set.
If you want a teacher to trace pronouns in your own texts with you, see online one-to-one Arabic tuition.