نحن

See also: نجن and نخن

Arabic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *niḥnu. Cognate with Hebrew אנחנו.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naħ.nu/

Pronoun

نَحْنُ • (naḥnu) m pl or f pl (enclitic form ـنَا (-nā))

1. we (subject pronoun)

Usage notes

As Arabic does not use dual forms in the first person, نَحْنُ (naḥnu) is used in cases where there are two people involved in addition to the usual three or more required for plural number.

See also

Arabic personal pronouns

Isolated nominative1 pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		أَنَا (ʔanā)	نَحْنُ (naḥnu)
2nd person	m	أَنْتَ (ʔanta)	أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā)	أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum), أَنْتُمُ (ʔantumu)2
	f	أَنْتِ (ʔanti)		أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna)
3rd person	m	هُوَ (huwa)	هُمَا (humā)	هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)2
	f	هِيَ (hiya)		هُنَّ (hunna)
Isolated accusative pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya)	إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā)
2nd person	m	إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka)	إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā)	إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum), إِيَّاكُمُ (ʔiyyākumu)2
	f	إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki)		إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna)
3rd person	m	إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu)	إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā)	إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum), إِيَّاهُمُ (ʔiyyāhumu)2
	f	إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā)		إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1st person		ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)3	ـنَا (-nā)
2nd person	m	ـكَ (-ka)	ـكُمَا (-kumā)	ـكُم (-kum), ـكُمُ (-kumu)2
	f	ـكِ (-ki)		ـكُنَّ (-kunna)
3rd person	m	ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)4	ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)4	ـهُم (-hum), ـهُمُ (-humu)2, ـهِم (-him)4, ـهِمِ (-himi)2,4
	f	ـهَا (-hā)		ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)4

1. Also used to emphasize attached pronouns and as a copula.
2. ـمْ (-m) becomes ـمُ (-mu) (or ـمِ (-mi) with vowel harmony) before the so-called elidable hamza (such as the definite article الـ (al--)).
3. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya, “my”) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي (-ī) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʔinnī)).
4. Vowel harmony: ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw).

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “نحن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Etymology 2.1

Verb

نحن (form I)

1. نَحْنُ (naḥnu) /naħ.nu/: first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَا (ḥanā)
2. نُحْنَ (nuḥna) /nuħ.na/: first-person plural non-past passive jussive of حَنَا (ḥanā) and حَنَى (ḥanā)
3. نَحْنِ (naḥni) /naħ.ni/: first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَى (ḥanā)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “حنا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Etymology 2.2

Verb

نُحْنِ • (nuḥni) (form IV) /nuħ.ni/

1. first-person plural non-past active jussive of أَحْنَى (ʔaḥnā)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “حنا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic نَحْنُ (naḥnu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɪħɪn/

Pronoun

نحن • (niḥin)

1. we (subject pronoun)

See also

Gulf Arabic personal pronouns

		Singular	Plural
1st person		آنا (āna)	احنا (aḥna, iḥna) / نحن (niḥin)
2nd person	m	انت (inta, int)	انتو (intaw, intu)
	f	انتي (intay, inti)
3rd person	m	اهوه (uhwa) / اهو (uhu)	اهمه (uhma) / اهم (uhum)
	f	اهيه (ihya) / اهي (ihi)