Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
جَمْع مُؤَنَّث سَالِم
jam' mu'annath salim
Sound feminine plural
Sarf · morphologyNumber & plural typecore term1,052+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Jam' · Broken plural · Sound plural · Plurals
In one line
The sound feminine plural: alif + ta on the end — and its quirk: nasb shows a kasra, never a fatha.
Definition (modern)
هُوَ مَا دَلَّ عَلَى أَكْثَرَ مِنَ اثْنَتَيْنِ بِزِيَادَةِ أَلِفٍ وَتَاءٍ فِي آخِرِهِ. إِعْرَابُهُ: يُرْفَعُ بِالضَّمَّةِ، وَيُنْصَبُ وَيُجَرُّ بِالْكَسْرَةِ.
“It is what indicates more than two by the addition of alif and ta at its end. Its i'rab: rafa' with damma, nasb and jarr with kasra.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Key words in the Arabic
بِزِيَادَةِ أَلِفٍ وَتَاءٍby adding alif + ta
يُنْصَبُ بِالْكَسْرَةِnasb shown by kasra
Understand it
The test in the pin is that the الف والتاء are ADDED: مُسْلِمَات ,مُؤْمِنَات ,صَالِحَات. Words like أَبْيَات and أَمْوَات end in alif-ta too, but there the ta belongs to the root (بَيْت، مَوْت) — they are broken plurals and decline normally. The one rule to burn in: this plural never takes fatha; where you expect nasb, read the kasra as its stand-in.
How to spot it
Recognition test
An added ـَات ending on a plural: damma = rafa'; kasra = nasb OR jarr — check the sentence role, not the vowel, to tell which.
In the Qur'an
إِذَا نَكَحْتُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ
Al-Ahzab 33:49 — “When you marry believing women”
ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ is maf'ul bih — nasb — yet wears a kasra: this plural's signature marker.
Related terms
الجَمْع · al-jam'
جَمْع مُذَكَّر سَالِم · jam' mudhakkar salim
جَمْع تَكْسِير · jam' taksir
مُثَنَّى · muthanna
تَنْوِين · tanwin
▶ Watch the lessons
From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.