Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
نُون النِّسْوَة
nun al-niswa
Feminine-plural nun
Nahw · syntaxAttached-pronoun letteradvanced term
In one line
The women's nun: the نَ of كَتَبْنَ / يَكْتُبْنَ is 'they (women)' — a pronoun in mahall rafa' that also freezes its verb.
Definition (modern)
نُونُ النِّسْوَةِ مِنَ الضَّمَائِرِ الْخَمْسَةِ الَّتِي تَخْتَصُّ بِمَحَلِّ الرَّفْعِ، وَتَتَّصِلُ بِالْمَاضِي وَالْمُضَارِعِ وَالْأَمْرِ.
“The nun of the women is among the five pronouns confined to the place of rafa'; it attaches to the past, the present and the command verb.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Key words in the Arabic
نُونُ النِّسْوَةِthe nun of the women
مَبْنِيّbuilt — the verb freezes
Understand it
A fatha-carrying nun meaning 'they (feminine)': كَتَبْنَ، يَكْتُبْنَ، ٱكْتُبْنَ. Its grammatical quirk is what it does to the mudari': a present verb with nun al-niswa becomes MABNI on sukun — يَكْتُبْنَ never changes for nasb or jazm (لَمْ يَكْتُبْنَ, not يَكْتُبُوا-style dropping). The pronoun itself is always in mahall rafa'.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Verb + نَ where 'they-women / you-women' is meant: nun al-niswa. Don't confuse it with nun al-tawkid (emphasis, نَّ/نْ) or the i'rab-nun of the five verbs (which drops in nasb/jazm — this one never does).
In the Qur'an
وَأَقِمْنَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتِينَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ
Al-Ahzab 33:33 — “and establish prayer and give zakah”
The نَ of أَقِمْنَ addresses the women of the Prophet's household — the pronoun is the fa'il, in mahall rafa'.
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