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Pronouns, gender and number 2 / 9
The dual pronoun does not mark gender
The dual pronoun هُمَا ("the two of them") is the same whether the two persons are two men, two women, or a man and a woman. In the plural, by contrast, Arabic distinguishes هُمْ (masculine or mixed) and هُنَّ (feminine).
Two examples side by side:
- 46:17: « وَهُمَا يَسْتَغِيثَانِ ٱللَّهَ », "while they both cry out to God for help": هُمَا is the father and the mother, a mixed pair;
- 9:40: « إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ », "when they were both in the cave": هُمَا is two men.
The form does not change. In the plural the distinction exists: « هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ », "they are a garment for you" (2:187).
The rule concerns pronouns only. The dual verb keeps gender: قَالَا ("the two of them [m.] said") against قَالَتَا ("the two of them [f.] said"). For translation, the gender of a pair is therefore read from the verb or the context, not from the pronoun.