- In this lesson we will learn the following things:
- The rules for using prepositions (the words used to connect two or more words or sentences) and the four most common prepositions (Click on the Arabic words to hear the correct pronunciation of that word).
- The rule for the use of interrogative expressions - i.e. the sentences used to ask the questions, and some of the interrogative (questioning) words like:
- Some of the Personal pronouns - e.g.:
English
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Person
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Gender
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Arabic
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I
|
1st
(person speaking) |
Masculine/Feminine
| |
You
|
2nd
(person being spoken to) |
Masculine
| |
You
|
2nd
(person being spoken to) |
Feminine
| |
He
|
3rd
(person being spoken about - i.e. not present) |
Masculine
| |
She
|
3rd
(person being spoken about - i.e. not present) |
Feminine
|
- The difference between the masculine and the feminine words and their punctuation and the three ways of changing a masculine noun to the feminine.
English
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Arabic Symbol
|
Arabic
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By adding /ta’ marbūta/
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By adding /alif maqŝūra/
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By adding /alif mamdūda/
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- The difference between the nominal sentences (starting –originally- with a noun) and the verbal sentences (starting –originally- with a verb):
Grammatical term
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The Nominal Sentence
/Al ĵumla tul Ismiyya/
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The Verbal Sentence
/Al ĵumla tul Fiξliyya/
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Arabic
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Transliteration
|
/Ahmadu dhahaba ilal ĵāmiξati/
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/Dhahaba Ahmadu ilal ĵāmiξati/
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Literally Reading
|
Ahmad went to the university
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Went Ahmad to the university
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The Cases – الإعْرَابُ
- An important part of learning any language is to learn the grammar. Grammar is the study of how words combine to form sentences. For example, we may learn that:
- A word is written differently in the past tense as compared to the future tense.
- A word referring to a person may be different depending on the gender (male or female) of the person being called.
- A sentence starting with a verb (action word - e.g. run, eat, drink) has different rules to a sentence starting with a noun (object, place or thing - e.g. cat, door, man).
- Whilst the examples above are simple, one has to make an effort to understand grammar as this is a very important part of the language and becomes more complicated later on - in particular relating to verbs. Your emphasis should be to focus on the rules - e.g. what happens in each circumstance and over time the terms used for each rule will become easier (both in Arabic and English) - In-Shā'-Allâh (God willing).
- This should be balanced with an effort to increase your vocabulary and general understanding of the language. Our goal will be to help you to take the rules gradually and understand how they relate to each other so that you can begin to understand the language In-Shā'-Allâh (God-Willing).
- Cases of the nouns in the Arabic Language:
- A noun in Arabic grammar has three 'cases' which are called nominative, accusative and genitive cases (we will cover the Arabic terms for these a bit later).
- Something will cause a word to be in one of these 'cases'. For example, where a sentence begins with a subject noun, the noun will be in nominative case.
- There will be a consequence of a word being in a certain 'case'. In each of these cases the last letter of the word will change to a different vowel - e.g. if the noun is in genitive case as a result of a certain rule, the last letter of that noun will change from a /đammah/ to a /kasrah/ (this is assuming that it is not already carrying the same vowel in which case no change will occur).
- See below for a summary of the cases and the signs used for each of these cases:
- A word being in the nominative case will end (originally) with a /đammah/ or /đammatain/.
- A word being in the accusative case will end (originally) with a /fatħah/ or /fatħatain/.
- A word being in the genitive case will (originally) end with a /kasrah/ or /kasratain/.
- At this stage it is important to understand the principle that there are causes of a word changing to a certain case and consequences of a word being in a certain case - i.e. the change in the form or ending of the word.
- The rules of what causes a word to be in each case and what consequences arise in each case will be discussed and repeated throughout the course, there are many such rules and these are an important part of learning the Arabic language. Below you will find a summary of the terms used for each of the cases and the consequences.
Case
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Arabic term
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Arabic term (Transliteration)
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Consequence
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Nominative
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Hālat-ur-rafξ
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A word in this case ends (originally) in a /đammah/ ,/đammatain/
| |
Accusative
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Hālat-un-naŝb
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A word in this case ends (originally) in a /fatħah/,/fatħatain/
| |
Genitive
|
Hālat-ul-ĵarr
|
A word in this case ends (originally) in a /kasrah/,/kasratain/
|
- In the next part of the lesson we will learn about some prepositions used commonly in the Arabic language In-Shā'-Allâh (God willing). We will also learn the rules for their application.The Prepositions - حُرُوفُ الْجَرِّ
- In this lesson we will learn about some of the prepositions, In-Shā'-Allâh (God willing). A preposition is a word which shows the relation of one word to another. For example, "....the key is in the car...." or "....the book is on the table....".
- Some of the most common prepositions are:
- We will also learn about the rule applied for the use of prepositions in Arabic Language. The following rules are applied for the use of prepositions:
- A preposition (حَرْفُ الْجَرِّ- called /harf ul ĵarr/ in Arabic) is a single letter or a word which connects two nouns, or a verb and a noun to form a sentence. As above this is generally showing the position of one word to another. It always precedes a word and never follows the word.
- A preposition always comes before a noun and it does not come before a verb.
- The noun following a preposition is changed from nominative case to genitive case. This means that the last letter of the word will be changed from a /đammah/ or /đammatain/ to a /kasrah/ or /kasratain/.
- The noun followed by a preposition is called /Maĵrūr/ مَجْرُورٌ which means the preposition has caused a change in its case (from nominative to genitive case) as mentioned in the previous rule.
- Let’s look at an example (please read from right to left):
Phrase (preposition before word)Word without prepositionPrepositionArabicIn the houseThe houseInEnglish- When a proposition precedes an indefinite noun (e.g. "a house"), the noun is affected in the same way. As we learnt earlier, a noun which is indefinite takes two /đammahs/ (đammatain) and is also in the nominative case. The two /đammahs/ change to two /kasrahs/ (kasratain) when a preposition comes before the noun . Let us examine the example as above with relation to an indefinite noun:
Phrase (preposition before word)Word without prepositionPrepositionArabicIn a houseA houseInEnglishSome more examples can be found below.Picture:Phrase with prepositionPhrase without prepositionIn a kitchenA KitchenTo a mosqueA MosqueFrom a houseA houseOn a bookA book- In this part of the lesson we will study some practical sentences using the prepositions and understand the rules relating to prepositions.
- In Arabic language when it is required to make a noun definite, الْ is added to that noun. You have also learnt in the previous lessons about the solar and the lunar letters.
- However when a preposition comes before a definite word the /alif/ - i.e. "a" sound - of الْ is dropped and hence not pronounced. Please note that the "a" of "al" is pronounced only when it is notpreceded by any other word but when "al" is preceded by any word the letter "a" is dropped and hence not pronounced.
- So we will read the sentence as /Fil Baiti/ and not /Fee Al baiti/ but this rule is applicable in reading only and not while writing the sentence - i.e. the /alif/ will still be written but not pronounced in spoken language.
Please click on the words to hear speech, i.e. how the words should be pronounced.PictureTranslationTransliterationArabicThe moon is in the sky./Alhilālu fis Samā’-i/To the door/Ilal bābi/From the teacher/Minal muddarrisi/The key is on the book/Almiftāħu ξalal kitābi/- We shall continue with some more practical sentences, please make an effort to memorise the words and common sentence structures.
Please click on the words to hear speech.PictureTranslationArabicA horse in the farmThe man is from India.The lion is on a rock.The boy is in the garden.- In the next part of the lesson we will go over some interrogative expressions (i.e. expressions used for asking questions) covering the areas you have learnt in this lesson In-Shā'-Allâh (God willing).
- In this part of lesson 4 we will learn about the formation of the interrogative (questioning) expressions, In-Shā’-Allâh (God-Willing).
- We know that "Interrogative expression” is the term used to refer to a group of words which are used to ask a question (e.g. Where is the book? What is on the book? Is the key on the book? Who is on the rock? etc are all interrogative expressions and the words which are used to ask a question are called the “Interrogative Articles" which we cover below:
Interrogative ArticleWhere…?What…?Is…?Who…?- Take a look of the following examples of interrogative expressions:
PictureTranslationTransliterationArabicWhere is the key?/Ainal miftāħu?/What is on the book?/Mādhā ξalal kitābi?/Is a key on the book?/A miftāħun ξalal kitābi?/Who is in the kitchen?/Man fil maŧbakhi?/What is on the rock?/Mādhā ξalal ħaĵari?/- The following are the rules governed for the use of the interrogative articles (i.e. words used for asking questions such as where?, what? etc.):
- When an interrogative article comes before a noun, it will take the nominative case - i.e. the last letter will be changed to a /đammah/ (if it is not already a /đammah/).
CaseRuleArabicInterrogative Article proceeding a definite nounThe definite noun will take one /đammah/ on its ending letterInterrogative Article proceeding a noun without definite ArticleThe noun without the definite article will take two /đammahs/ on its ending letterInterrogative Article preceding a prepositionThe preposition will not take the nominative case when preceded by interrogative article - see below for the reasons for this.- A definite noun preceded by an interrogative article will take one /đammah/ and the indefinite noun will take two /đammahs/).
- However when a preposition is preceded by an interrogative article, it will not take the nominative case and its last letter will remain with the same ending sound. This is because the preposition is indeclinable meaning it does not change its ending - this is an important principle - we will learn in Arabic that some rules take precedence (priority over other rules).
- Please take a careful look to the ending vowels of the nouns in both the interrogative (questioning) sentences and the answering expressions in the text below.
Please click on the words to hear speech, i.e. how the words should be pronounced.PictureTranslationArabicWhere is Muhammad?Muhammad is in the room.And where is Yasir?Yasir is in the wash room.Where is Aminah?Aminah is in the kitchen.Where is the book?The book is on the desk.And where is the watch?The watch is on the bed.Is Muhammad in the wash room?No, but in the room.Who is in the Kitchen?Aminah is in the kitchen.What is on the bed?The watch is on the bed.- In the next part of the lesson we will have multiple questions /In-Shā'-Allâh/ (God-Willing) to test your understanding of the principles we have learnt so far.The masculine and the feminine - الْمُذَكَّرُ وَالْمُؤَنَّثُ
- In Arabic both living things and inanimate (non-living) things are treated as either masculine or feminine.
- In this part of the lesson /In-Shā'-Allâh/ (God willing) we will learn about the masculine and the feminine words. We will also learn how to change a masculine word into a feminine word. There are three symbols which change a masculine word to a feminine word when added on the end of a masculine word and they are:
EnglishSymbol of feminine wordArabicFeminineMasculineFeminineMasculineFemale studentMale studentLeft (for feminine words)LeftNoble womanNoble man- It should be remembered that the penultimate (second to last) letter of a feminine word always takes a /fatħah/.
- Following are some examples to better understand the above mentioned rules:
PictureTranslationTransliterationArabicI am a doctor./Anā ŧabībun/I am a femalestudent./Anā ŧālibatun/You are a male teacher./Anta mudarrisun/You are a lady doctor./Anti ŧabībatun/He is an engineer./Huwa muhandisun/She is a female nurse./Hiya mumarriđatun/Aminah is in thekitchen./āminatu fil maŧbakhi/Where are you from?/Min ayna anta/I am from China./Ana min-aŝ ŝīni/The Nominal Sentence - الْجُمْلَةُ الاسْمِيَّةُ- In Arabic language there are two types of sentences:
- The Nominal Sentence meaning /Al ĵumla tul Ismiyya/ - this sentence starts (mostly) with a noun.
- The Verbal Sentence meaning /Al ĵumla tul Feξliyya/ - this sentence starts (mostly) with a verb.
- Please read the following carefully and note the difference between the sentences:
The Nominal Sentence"Al ĵumla tul Ismiyya"The Verbal Sentence"Al ĵumla tul Feξliyya"ArabicTransliteration/Aħmadu dhahaba ilal /ĵāmiξati/Dhahaba Aħmadu ilal /ĵāmiξati/Literally ReadingAhmad went to the universityWent Ahmad to the universityArabicTransliterationAl mudarrisu kharaĵa min faŝlinKharaĵa al mudarrisu min faŝlinLiterally ReadingThe teacher went out of a classWent out the teacher of a class- Two of the sentences in the above table are the nominal sentences and the other two are verbal sentences.
- A nominal sentence is called /al ĵumla tul Ismiyya/ and a verbal sentence is called /al ĵumla tul Feξliyya/
- A nominal sentence /al ĵumla tul Ismiyya/ follows the following rules:
- It (originally) starts with a noun or a pronoun.
- It has two parts. The first part is the “subject” of the sentence and is called /Mubtada’/ and the second part is the “predicate” and called /Khabar/.
- The subject /Mubtada’/ should always be a noun or a pronoun but it is not necessary for the predicate /Khabar/ to be a noun or a pronoun so it may or may not be a noun.
- Each of the subject /Mubtada’/ and the predicate /Khabar/ are originally in the nominative case i.e. the last letter takes a single /đammah/ if definite (with definite article /al/) and takes two /dhammas/ if indefinite (without the definite article al).
- /Mubtada’/ is the subject of the sentence i.e., it represents a person or thing which is described in a sentence and the /Khabar/ is the description or the explanation of the /Mubtada’/ e.g., when it is said Muhammad is standing then “Muhammad” is the subject and "is standing" describes his condition and is the predicate. Similar is the case with Arabic sentences. The subject is highlighted in red below, the rest of the sentence is the predicate.
TranslationTransliterationArabicAhmad is a student/Aħmadu ŧâlibun/He is a good student./Huwa ŧâlibun ĵayyidun/Muhammad went out of the university./Muhammadun kharaĵa minal ĵāmiξati/Khalid is in the hospital./Khâlidun fil mustashfā/- In the above sentences all the words appearing in red are the /Mubtada’/ which must be noun or pronoun while the remaining parts of the sentences in black are the /khabar/. A /mubtada’/ must be in the nominative case and takes –originally- single /đammah/ when definite and two /đammas/ when indefinite.
- Therefore the subject /Mubtada’/ is always a single noun or pronoun, while the predicate /Khabar/ can be of the following types:
Types of /Khabar/EnglishArabicA Noun/Ismun/Muhammad is a student.A nominal Sentence/ĵumla Ismiyya/Ahmad, his father is intelligent.A verbal Sentence/ĵumla Fiξliyya/Khalid went to the hospital.An expression with a preposition/ĵār wa Maĵrūr/Fatima is in the kitchen.- When the /Khabar/, is a nominal sentence (/ĵumla ismiyyah/), a verbal sentence (/ĵumla fīξliyya/) or a prepositional phrase ( /ĵār wa maĵrūr/) it will not be signed with the main sign of the nominative case (a /đammah/ or /đammatain/) because each word in these structures will be signed according to its own position in the small sentence.
- In this section we have learnt many principles and rules. Please go over this section a few times as the rules we have learnt are very important for understanding later lessons. Please remember that revision is a very important part of the learning process and you have to have a foundation to build upon and progress. If that foundation is weak, then learning the language will become more difficult. Our goal is to make the learning process an easier and more enjoyable one, In-Shā'-Allâh (God willing). We will continue revising these principles so please do not worry if everything is not clear or understood at this stage.
- In the next part of the lesson /In-Shā'-Allâh/ we will take some exercises to test your understanding of the lesson.The Verbal Sentence - الْجُمْلَةُ اَلْفِعْلِيَّةُ
- In this part of lesson we will learn The Verbal Sentence In-Shā'-Allâh (God-Welling), this is called /ĵumlatun Feξliyyatun/جُمْلَةٌ فِعْلِيَّةٌ in Arabic.
- Please read the following sentences carefully:
Verbal Sentence /ĵumla Fiξliyya/ArabicTransliteration/đahaba Aħmadu ilal ĵāmiξati/Literally ReadingWent Ahmad to the universityArabicTransliteration/Kharaĵa almudarrisu min faŝlin/Literally ReadingWent out the teacher of a class- The two sentences above are the examples of verbal sentence /ĵumlatun Feξliyyatun/.
- A verbal sentence is called /ĵumla Feξliyya/ and the rules relating to such sentences are:
- It mostly starts with a verb.
- It has three parts.
- The first part is a word that describes an action. This word is called "Verb" in English language and /Fiξlun/ in Arabic. In English language the verb can be a single word or combination of two or more words but in Arabic verb /Fiξlun/ is always a single word. A verb generally refers to three times: Past, Present or Future. In Arabic, the verb is the most important part of the language and therefore it is very important to learn verbs and the verbal sentences to understand Arabic properly.
In this part of lesson we will be discussing the masculine verb used to describe something done in the past time. This type of verb is called Past Tense in English and /Fiξlun Māđin/فِعْلٌ مَاضٍ in Arabic. A masculine /Fiξlun Māđin/ always takes accusative case but no nunation - a single /fatħah/ and no /fatħatain/. We will learn the present and future tenses at a later stage In-Shā'-Allâh (God-Willing). Unlike English, in Arabic language different types of the verb الْفِعْلُ are used for masculine and feminine subjects, we will learn the verbs used for feminine subjects later also In-Shā’-Allâh (God-Willing). - The second part of a verbal sentence /ĵumla Feξliyya/ is the person or the thing doing the action described by the verb. This person or the thing is called Subject of the verb in English and /Fāξilun/ فَاعِلٌ in Arabic. A "Fāξilun" always takes nominative case - single /đammah/ when it is definite i.e., appearing with the definite article al - and /đammatain/ when it is indefinite i.e., appearing without the definite article al.
- The third part of a verbal sentence /ĵumla Feξliyya/ is the thing on which the action has been done. This thing is called the Object in English and /Mafξūlun/ in Arabic language. A /Mafξūlun/ can be of the following types:
Types of Object /Mafξūlun/ArabicEnglishA nounAhmad ate applesGenitive Construction /ĵārrun wa Maĵrūrun/Yasir went out of the schoolThe man went to the home- In the above sentences all the words appearing in red are the /Mafξūlun/ which might be a noun or the genitive construction /ĵārrun wa Maĵrūrun/.
- When a /Mafξūlun/ is a noun it always takes accusative case i.e., it will be originally signed with a single /fatħah/ when appearing definite - (i.e. with the definite article al) - and double /fatħah/ (fatħatain) when appearing indefinite (i.e. without the definite article al). However when the object /Mafξūlun/ is an expression with preposition /ĵārrun wa Maĵrūrun/ then it takes the genitive case as a result of the preposition.
- We will have some tests in the next part of the lesson to test your understanding In-Shā’-Allâh (God-Willing).
Revision - مُرَاجَعَةٌVocabulary Revision – مُرَاجَعَةُ الْمُفْرَدَاتِEnglishArabicEnglishArabicThe universityThe schoolJapanChinaIndiaThe directorThe gardenThe farmThe rockThe lionThe class roomThe roomThe toiletThe wash roomThe watchThe kitchenHe wentHe went outOnInFromToIs…?WhereIWhatYou (Feminine)You (Masculine)SheHeVerbal SentenceNominal SentenceAccusative CaseNominative CaseThe CasesGenitive CaseThe bedPrepositionA loctorA lady doctorA female engineerAn engineerA lady nurseA motherThe hospitalNiceHard workingIntelligentAn appleNoble BookDrankAte- Now that you have covered this lesson, please also try some of the additional features we have including:
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