جمع المذكر السالم — Sound Masculine Plural
The Sound Masculine Plural (jamʿ mudhakkar sālim) is a "sound" plural — so-called because the root letters remain intact (sālim = unbroken), unlike broken plurals (jamʿ mukassar) which rearrange the root.
It adds ُون in the marfūʿ state and ِين in the manṣūb and majrūr states.
When Is the Sound Masculine Plural Used?
Standard Conditions
Two categories of nouns take the sound masculine plural by rule (qiyāsī):
| Category | Condition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Proper names of males | Any proper male name | المحمدون، الإبراهيمون |
| Derived adjectives/nouns (مشتق) referring to male humans | Noun must describe a quality; must be applicable to males | صالِحون، مُهندِسون، مُسلِمون |
Proper Name + Al
When a proper name is pluralised it is no longer a proper name — it refers to a group. At that point, Al can be prefixed (previously impossible with proper names):
جاء الإبراهيمون — "The Ibrahims came" (group of people named Ibrahim)
The Rule About Derived vs Non-Derived (Jāmid)
جامد (jāmid) nouns — those not derived from a verb, describing no quality (e.g. كتاب، رجل، ولد) — generally do not take the sound masculine plural. They take broken plurals instead.
مشتق (mushtaqq) nouns — derived from a verb, describing a quality applicable to a male human — can take the sound masculine plural.
Exceptions (Samāʿī)
Some important nouns take the sound masculine plural by convention, even though they do not meet the standard conditions. These must be memorised:
| Noun | Meaning | Sound Plural |
|---|---|---|
| عالَم | world | عالَمُون / عالَمِين |
| أهل | family / community | أَهلُون / أَهلِين (also broken: أَهالِي) |
| سَنة | year | سِنُون / سِنِين (also: سَنَوَات) |
| أرض | earth | أَرَضُون / أَرَضِين |
| مِئة | hundred | مِئُون / مِئِين (also: مِئَات) |
| لغة | language | لُغُون / لُغِين |
Multiples of ten (20–90) also follow the sound masculine plural pattern: عِشرُون، ثَلاثُون... → manṣūb/majrūr: عِشرِين...
Nūn Dropped in Iḍāfah
The nūn of the sound masculine plural is dropped when the noun becomes muḍāf:
رَبُّ العالَمِين — not رَبُّ العالَمِينَ (the nūn is dropped) ذَوُون → ذَوُو المال (possessors of wealth — nūn dropped)
This is because the nūn in the SMP serves a function similar to tanwīn (marking indefiniteness), and tanwīn is also dropped in iḍāfah.
Comparison: Sound Plural vs Broken Plural
| Sound Masculine Plural (جمع مذكر سالم) | Broken Plural (جمع مكسر) |
|---|---|
| Root letters intact | Root letters rearranged into a new pattern |
| Only for male humans (mostly) | For anything — male, female, non-human |
| One standard pattern (+ون/ين) | Many different patterns |
| Qiyāsī with exceptions | Mostly samāʿī |
Session References
- Selections from the Glorious Quran Session 3: Full explanation with examples from Sūrat al-Fātiḥah vocabulary (ʿĀlam, Ahl, Arḍ, Sanah, Miʾah, Lughah); jāmid vs mushtaqq distinction; exceptions as samāʿī.