Arabic Pronouns and To Be

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Twelve pronouns, a present tense with no "is", possession with عند, and the إضافة that builds Arabic phrases.

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Twelve pronouns

Arabic pronouns split by gender AND number — including a dual (two people): أنا (I), أنتَ/أنتِ (you m/f), هو/هي (he/she), نحن (we), أنتم/أنتن (you all m/f), هم/هن (they m/f), plus dual forms. In practice, verbs carry the endings so pronouns are dropped unless emphasised: أنا طالب stresses I (I am a student — and proud of it); طالب alone suffices.

Present "is" doesn't exist

Like Russian, Arabic omits "is" in the present: هو طالب (he [is a] student), القهوة لذيذة (the coffee [is] delicious). Past and future use كان (kāna — was) and سيكون/سوف: كان طالبا (he was a student). Negating identity uses ليس (laysa — is not), which conjugates: لست طالبا (I am not a student), ليس هنا (he/it is not here).

"I have" = "at me"

Possession uses عند (ʿind — at): عندي كتاب (ʿindī kitāb — at-me a book — I have a book). The owner takes pronoun suffixes: عندك/عندك (you m/f have), عنده/عندها (he/she has), عندنا (we have). Dialects vary the preposition — Egypt says معايا, the Levant عندي too — but MSA عند works everywhere on paper.

The إضافة — possession without "of"

Arabic joins possessed + possessor directly, with NO word for "of": كتاب الطالب (kitāb aṭ-ṭālib — book the-student — the student's book). This construction, the إضافة (iḍāfa), chains freely: مفتاح باب البيت (key door the-house — the house door's key). The first word never takes الـ; definiteness comes from the last word. Master إضافة and Arabic sentences unlock.

Pattern	Example
zero copula (is)	هو طالب — he is a student
ليس (is not)	لست طالبا — I am not a student
عندي (I have)	عندي كتاب — I have a book
إضافة (possession)	كتاب الطالب — the student's book
كان (was)	كان هنا — he was here
أنتَ / أنتِ	you — to a man / to a woman

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