Masculine and feminine

Most feminine nouns and adjectives end in taa marbuta, ة: طالب, طالبة; كبير, كبيرة. At a pause it sounds like a soft h, but it is written with two dots.

Some nouns are feminine without ة: شمس, أرض, نار, and the names of most countries and cities. Words for female people are feminine too: أم, بنت.

Demonstratives and pronouns follow the gender: هذا and هو for masculine, هذه and هي for feminine: هذا بيت كبير, هذه سيارة جديدة.