A possessive suffix is an ending to a word that indicates possession, similar to the apostrophe-'s' in "John's notebook". Possessive suffixes are the Arabic equivalents of the words "my", "your", "his", "her", "our", and "their". هذِهِ صِديقتي. haadhihi Sadiiqatii. This is my friend. (The word صَديقة means a female friend. The silent taa' marbuta (ة) becomes a pronounced taa' (ت) when you attach a suffix to it.) ما إسْمُكَ؟ ma ismuka? What is your name? (when asking a man) ما إسْمُكِ؟ ma ismuki? What is your name? (when asking a woman)

Try to write your own sentences and stop by the Learning Center to check out the Grammar Bank, Dictionary, and more to check your work and build your Arabic to a whole new level! Need ideas? Try expressing these sentences in Arabic. This is my brother. What is his name? His name is Robert. This is my sister. What is her name? Her name is Sarah.

The Middle East is as culturally diverse as any other region of the world. Within the Arabic world you'll find people who are very traditional as well as people who take pride in adhering to principles derived from foreign influences. Here we'll discuss the types of casual relationships that occur between men and women from the Middle East. On one extreme, we have the very conservative and traditional families. These people adhere to the core principles of their religious identity, be it Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or other faiths. For most of these groups, their faith is a way of life. The reason this has an impact on gender relations, particularly Islam which is the religious majority in the Middle East, is that there's a significant jurisprudence dedicated to creating a social system which minimizes the negative consequences of sexual expression in favor of economic productivity and social order. Unfortunately, these principles have sometimes been abused to restrict women's involvement in multiple arenas of society. People in this group identify with the humility, chastity, and modesty encouraged by their faith and they take pride in limiting what they deem to be unnecessary intermingling. An example of somebody in this group is May's friend Sara. Sara dresses completely covered, doesn't talk to her male co-workers about anything outside of work, and does not shake hands when greeting men. On the more moderate side, we have people who follow their faith and are more accepting of forming relations with the opposite sex, but within boundaries. For example, Danya's cousin, Hala, likes to go to organized social events in public places with large groups of people. She has no problem interacting with men, shaking hands, and discussing family, but she avoids hugs and kisses when greeting as well as any flirtatious behavior in general. So we see that Hala has found a lifestyle that allows her to flourish in a more westernized social order while maintaining the humility, chastity, and modesty encouraged by her faith. These social limits are especially important to consider when intermingling occurs in semi-private or private areas, like Hala's home, even if the friendship is cordial, because such relationships might progress to more than just benign friendships. Middle Eastern society also includes people who identify with the principles derived from foreign influences. This affects not only relationships, but also fashion and musical tastes. Sometimes even their speech is effected as foreign words and phrases are inserted into regular talk. This is not necessarily a conscious choice, rather a result of cultures across the globe converging in the Middle East through modern-day media.