Gulf Arabic Grammar

The Dual Form

A foreigner have coffee with Emirati Arabs in the desert

That's easy: duals express the quantity of two. There is a special ending in Gulf Arabic ين –ayn, which gets attached to a noun. Notice that the so-called hidden -t- in feminine nouns appears (In writing, ة becomes ت .) For example:

صديق -> صديقين
Sadeeg (friend, masc.) -> Sadeegayn – two friends (males)

صديقة -> صديقتين
Sadeega(t) (friend, fem.) -> Sadeegatayn or in fast/relaxed speech Sadeegtayn – two friends (females)

شركة -> شركتين
sharika (company, fem.) -> sharikatayn – two companies

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