Simple possession: my and your
Arabic · Key Stage 1 · The School
One word, not two
In English, "my book" is two separate words. In Arabic, it becomes one single word: كِتابي (kitābī). The ي on the end means "my". No separate word is needed at all. That single letter carries real meaning.
Adding "my" to more words
بَيْت (bayt) house becomes بَيْتي (baytī), my house. قَلَم (qalam) pen becomes قَلَمي (qalamī), my pen. Every time, the same ي goes on the very end. Once you know the pattern, you can add "my" to almost any noun.
Adding "your"
To say "your", to a boy, add كَ instead. كِتابُكَ (kitābuka) means "your book". بَيْتُكَ (baytuka) means "your house". Same idea as "my", but a different small ending attached to the very same word. Practise both endings together.
Building four possessed words
Start with كِتاب, book, with no ending. Add ي: كِتابي, my book. Now start again from كِتاب and add كَ instead: كِتابُكَ, your book. Do the same with بَيْت, house. Add ي: بَيْتي, my house. Add كَ: بَيْتُكَ, your house. Two plain nouns, two small endings, four different possessed words, and every single one built from the exact same simple pattern: noun, then ending, with nothing else added in between.
Spotting the pattern everywhere
Once you know ي means "my" and كَ means "your", you can spot them on almost any noun you already know. أُمّي (ummī) means "my mother". أَخوكَ (akhūka) means "your brother". The same tiny pattern keeps working. Look for it everywhere now.