Kinds of feminine gender in Arabic - أَقْسَامُ المُؤَنَّثِ

Examples:

• جَنَّةٌ – paradise
• صَلاةٌ – prayer
• زَكَاةٌ – charity
• زِلَّةٌ – humiliation
• أُمَّةٌ – community

وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا

And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect from every nation a witness. (16:84)

 وَإِذَا الْجَنَّةُ أُزْلِفَتْ

And when Paradise is brought near, (81:13)

Feminine nouns can be derived by adding the suffix ة (ta marboota) to their masculine counterparts. This change transforms the meaning or context to the feminine form, as demonstrated below:

• مُسْلِمٌ (Muslim) becomes مُسْلِمَةٌ (Muslim woman).

• اِبْنٌ (son/boy) becomes اِبْنَةٌ (daughter/girl).

• كَبِيرٌ (big, for masculine) becomes كَبِيْرَةٌ (big, for feminine).

• لَيْلٌ (night, in a masculine context) becomes لَيْلَةٌ (night, in a feminine context).

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ

Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree. (97:1)

وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ

 it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah] (2:45)

While many words ending in ة (ta marboota) are typically feminine, there are exceptions where words with this ending are considered masculine. For instance:

• خَلِيْفَةٌ (Khalifa) means “vicegerent” or “successor” and is treated as masculine despite its ta marboota ending.

إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً

“Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority.” (2:30)