Possessive pronouns in Arabic for verbs and prepositions
Similar to possessive pronouns attached to nouns, these suffixes are attached to verbs or prepositions. The only difference is in the first person singular, where the object form is ـني (-ni) instead of ـي (-i).
These object pronoun suffixes are added to the end of the verb, after its conjugation (tense, gender, number), or to the end of a preposition.
Examples with verbs:
- كَتَبَني (katabani – he wrote me)
- رَآني (ra’ani – he saw me)
- سَأَلَكِ (sa’alaki – he asked you [fem.])
- ضَرَبَهُ (Darabahu – he hit him)
- نَصَحْنا (naSahna – he advised us)
Examples with prepositions:
- لي (li – to me) vs. لَني (lani – not used; instead verbs take -ni for “me”)
- له (lahu – to him)
- عليها (‘alayha – on her)
- فيهم (fihim – in them)
An interesting aspect of Arabic is that one word can actually be an entire sentence.
How so? Because the verb is conjugated, we already know who does the action, and if we add a pronoun suffix, we also know to whom. Let’s see some examples:
كَتَبْتُهُ (katabtuhu) – I wrote it
كَتَبْتُ (katabtu) = I wrote
هُ (-hu) = it
Together: I wrote it.
رَأَيْتُهُمْ (ra’aytuhum) – I saw them
رَأَيْتُ (ra’aytu) = I saw
هُمْ (-hum) = them
Together: I saw them.
سَأَلْنَاكَ (sa’alnaka) – We asked you
سَأَلْنَا (sa’alna) = we asked
كَ (-ka) = you (masc. sing.)
Together: We asked you.
أَعْطَيْتَنِي (a’Taytani) – You gave me
أَعْطَيْتَ (a’Tayta) = you gave
نِي (-ni) = me
Together: You gave me.
نَصَحَنَاهَا (naSahnaha) – We advised her
نَصَحْنَا (naSahna) = we advised
هَا (-ha) = her
Together: We advised her
In addition, Arabic prepositions can take pronouns directly. The suffix pronouns are attached to the preposition itself, forming compact expressions.
Examples with common prepositions:
بِـ (with, by)
بي (bi – with me)
به (bihi – with him)
بهم (bihim – with them)
لِـ (for, to)
لي (li – for me / to me)
له (lahu – for him / to him)
لكم (lakum – for you, pl.)
في (in)
فيَّ (fiyya – in me)
فيه (fihi – in it / in him)
فيهم (fihim – in them)
مِن (from)
مني (minni – from me)
منه (minhu – from him)
منهم (minhum – from them)
عَن (about, from, on behalf of)
عني (‘anni – about me)
عنه (‘anhu – about him)
عنهم (‘anhum – about them)
على (on, upon)
عليَّ (‘alayya – on me)
عليه (‘alayhi – on him)
عليهم (‘alayhim – on them)
إلى (to, toward)
إليَّ (ilayya – to me)
إليه (ilayhi – to him)
إليهم (ilayhim – to them)
لدى (with, in the possession of, near)
لديَّ (ladayya – with me / I have)
لديه (ladayhi – with him / he has)
لديهم (ladayhim – with them / they have)
As you can see, a preposition + pronoun suffix becomes a complete unit, often functioning like a whole phrase in English.
