# Both of them



## Konstantinos

How can I say "they both" in Arabic? I am listening three phrases: kila huma / kilta huma / kulna huma. And what is the meaning of kila, kilta, kulna?


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## ahmedcowon

It is كلاهما "kilāhuma" for masculine and كلتاهما "kiltāhuma" for feminine, kilā, kiltā are the dual form of the word "kull" which means "all"

kulnahuma is wrong and has no meaning


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## Arabic_Police_999

I think it's in some dialects say kulna, it means we all


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## Konstantinos

Thank you both for your help...


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## chipulukusu

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Hello! 

I know that if I want to say _"They both" _in Arabic I can say كلاهما. Can you please help me understand which roots are involved in this expression?
I think I've also heard a variant that sound more like "kil-_da_-humma". If this is correct, what is the correct Arabic spelling of this word and what is the difference betwwen the two, please?
Thank you very much .


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## cherine

It's kiltaahuma كلتاهما, the feminine form of kilaahuma كلاهما. As for the root, I believe it's ك-ل-ل.


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## chipulukusu

Thank you very much @cherine, that was very helpful! 

Edit:... and sorry for not having bothered to search in advance...


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## cherine

You're welcome. And no problem, just make sure to search next time before opening a new thread.


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## Witiza

Hello everyone,

I'd like to ask you what would be the difference between kilahumaa/kiltahumaa and a plain humaa (both of them).

Is it possible these constructions with second ("kilaantumaa/kiltantumaa") and first persons (kilnaa/kiltanaa)?

Shokran jazeelan.


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## elroy

هما is just "they," where the referent is two people.  كلاهما/كلتاهما is "both of them."


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## cherine

Witiza said:


> Is it possible these constructions with second ("kilaantumaa/kiltantumaa") and first persons (kilnaa/kiltanaa)?


For "both of you", it's كلاكما kilaakuma, masc. and fem.
Both of us is كلانا kilaana.

As Elroy said, the "kil-" part indicates "both", not just "you, they, us".


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## Witiza

Wow,   !  شكرًا لِكِلاكُما


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## cherine

You're welcome.

And to add a little grammar note: كِلا is treated like any dual form word, it's كلا in the nominative and كِلَيْ in the genetive and accusative. So, it should be لِكِلَيْكُما.


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## Witiza

I had to guess that there was something else...

Thanks!


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## Matat

cherine said:


> You're welcome.
> 
> And to add a little grammar note: كِلا is treated like any dual form word, it's كلا in the nominative and كِلَيْ in the genetive and accusative. So, it should be لِكِلَيْكُما.



It is not exactly like any dual form noun. This is only true if the word is attached to a pronoun. You decline it as كلاهما/كليهما، كلاكما/كليكما ،كلانا/كلينا  depending on the case. Same thing with كلتا.

nominative: كلتاهما جميلة
accusative: رأيت كلتيهما
genitive: هنالك طلاب في كلتيهما

However, if there is not a pronoun, it would always just be كلا for masc. and كلتا for feminine.

nominative: كلتا المدرستين جميلة
accusative: رأيت كلتا المدرستين
genitive: هنالك طلاب في كلتا المدرستين


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## cherine

Yes, that's what I meant, sorry if I wasn't clear. By كلا I meant the first part of كلا+ضمير.


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