نحن

See also: نجن‎ and نخن‎

Arabic

Etymology 1

Compare Hebrew אֲנַחְנוּ‎ (anákhnu) and Classical Syriac ܐܢܚܢܢ‎ (ʾənaḥnan).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /naħ.nu/
  • Audio(file)

Pronoun

نَحْنُ • (naḥnu) m pl or f pl

(enclitic form ـنَا‎ (-nā))
  1. we (subject pronoun)
See also
Arabic personal pronouns
Isolated nominative pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person أَنَا‎ (ʾanā) نَحْنُ‎ (naḥnu)
2nd person m أَنْتَ‎ (ʾanta) أَنْتُمَا‎ (ʾantumā) أَنْتُمْ‎ (ʾantum)
f أَنْتِ‎ (ʾanti) أَنْتُنَّ‎ (ʾantunna)
3rd person m هُوَ‎ (huwa) هُمَا‎ (humā) هُمْ‎ (hum)
f هِيَ‎ (hiya) هُنَّ‎ (hunna)
Isolated accusative pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person إِيَّايَ‎ (ʾiyyāya) إِيَّانَا‎ (ʾiyyānā)
2nd person m إِيَّاكَ‎ (ʾiyyāka) إِيَّاكُمَا‎ (ʾiyyākumā) إِيَّاكُم‎ (ʾiyyākum)
f إِيَّاكِ‎ (ʾiyyāki) إِيَّاكُنَّ‎ (ʾiyyākunna)
3rd person m إِيَّاهُ‎ (ʾiyyāhu) إِيَّاهُمَا‎ (ʾiyyāhumā) إِيَّاهُمْ‎ (ʾiyyāhum)
f إِيَّاهَا‎ (ʾiyyāhā) إِيَّاهُنَّ‎ (ʾiyyāhunna)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person ـنِي‎ (-nī), ـي‎ (-ī), ـيَ‎ (-ya)* ـنَا‎ (-nā)
2nd person m ـكَ‎ (-ka) ـكُمَا‎ (-kumā) ـكُم‎ (-kum)
f ـكِ‎ (-ki) ـكُنَّ‎ (-kunna)
3rd person m ـهُ‎ (-hu), ـهِ‎ (-hi)** ـهُمَا‎ (-humā), ـهِمَا‎ (-himā)** ـهُم‎ (-hum), ـهِم‎ (-him)**
f ـهَا‎ (-hā) ـهُنَّ‎ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ‎ (-hinna)**
* Specifically, ـنِي‎ (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـي‎ (-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 ـي‎ (-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 (ʾinnanī) or إِنِّي‎ (ʾinnī)), but the longer form (e.g. إِنَّنِي‎ (ʾinnanī)) is usually preferred.
** ـهِـ‎ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ‎ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw).
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.

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

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /naħ.nu/
Verb

نَحْنُ • (naḥnu) (form I)

  1. first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَا‎ (ḥanā)
  2. first-person plural non-past active jussive of حَنَى‎ (ḥanā)

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /nuħ.na/
Verb

نُحْنَ • (nuḥna) (form I)

  1. first-person plural non-past passive jussive of حَنَا‎ (ḥanā)
  2. first-person plural non-past passive jussive of حَنَى‎ (ḥanā)

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