The Basic Arabic Nominal Sentence
The basic Arabic nominal sentence is الْجُمْلَةُ الْاِسْمِيَّةُ الْبَسِيطَة. It starts with a noun, such as البَيْت ‘the house’, الرَّجُل ‘the man’, الجَامِعَة ‘the university’, كِتَابِي ‘my book’ صَدِيْقُهُ ‘his friend’ and so forth. This noun is almost always definite مَعْرِفَة, as in the table of examples. There are cases in which it can be indefinite. In these cases, the order of the subject/topic الْمُبْتَدَأ and the predicate الْخَبَر must change.
What is the definite noun in Arabic? The definite noun in Arabic is the noun that starts with the definite article ال ‘the’, such as الْبَيْتُ 'the house', الْكِتَابُ 'the book', and الْجَامِعَةُ 'the university'; the noun that is followed by an attached possessive pronoun, such as بَيْتُهُ 'his house', كِتَابِي 'my book', and جَامِعَتُنَا 'our university'; a proper noun (i.e. names of people / places) such as مُحَمَّد, سَارَة, and مِصْر ‘Egypt', or a genitive construction, such as كِتَابُ الْمُدَرِّسِ 'the teacher's book', مَكْتَبُ الْمُدِيرِ 'the manager's office', and بَابُ الْبَيْتِ 'the door of the house.'
Definite Nouns:
| الْهَاتِف the phone | السَّيْدَة the lady | أَخِي my brother | زَمِيلُهُ his classmate |
| الْجَو the weather | شَنْطَتِي my bag | التُّفَّاحَة the apple | مَدِينَتُكُم your city |
| الْيَمَن Yemen | مَدْرَسَتُنَا our school | اللُّغَة the language | الْمَطْعَم the restaurant |
| هَذَا this (m) | الصُّورَة the picture | هِيَ she | خَطُّهَا her handwriting |
| أَنَا I | هَذِهِ this - f | تِلْكَ that - f | الْبَاص the bus |
| قَلَمُ الْبِنْتِ the girls pen | ذَيْلُ الْقِطِّ the tail of the cat | سَيَّارَةُ سَامَ Sam's car | كُرَةُ الْوَلَدِ the boy's ball |
In Arabic grammar, this noun is the subject or topic مُبْتَدَأ. In the simplest form of the nominal sentence, the topic مُبْتَدَأ is followed by either an indefinite noun, an indefinite adjective, or a prepositional phrase. The indefinite noun, adjective or the prepositional phrase is the predicate خَبَر. Hence, the nominal sentence الجُمْلَة الاِسْمِيَّة is composed of the topic الْمُبْتَدَأ and the predicate الْخَبَر.
Indefinite Nouns and Adjectives:
| طَالِب a student | جَدِيد new | مُهَنْدِس an engineer | كَبِير big |
| جَمِيل nice / beautiful | سَيَّارَة a car | ذكِيّ smart | مَطْعَم a restaurant |
| صَيْدَلِي a pharmacist | حَار hot | بَارِد cold | شَاي tea |
| لَذِيذ delicious | خَيْمَة a tent | سَائِق driver | صَعْب difficult |
A prepositional phrase شِبْهُ جُمْلَة (literally means semi-sentence) is composed of a preposition حَرْفُ جَر, such as فِي ‘in’, مِنْ ‘from’, فَوْقَ ‘on’, and alike, followed by a definite noun. The whole phrase (i.e. the preposition and the noun) is the predicate الْخَبَر.
Prepositional Phrases:
| مِنَ اليَمَنِ from Yemen | فِي البَيْتِ in the house |
| دَاخِلَ الغُرْفَةِ inside the room | تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ under the tree |
| أَمَامَ السَّيَّارَةِ in front of the car | خَلْفَ الَمَدْرَسَةِ behind the school |
To make a basic nominal sentence in Arabic, therefore, we simply start with a definite noun. According to the meaning that we intend to make, the definite is followed by an indefinite noun, an indefinite adjective, or a prepositional phrase, as in the following table:
|
جُمْلَة اِسْمِيَّة |
مُبْتَدَأ |
خَبَر |
| الْهَاتِفُ جَدِيْدٌ. The phone is new | الْهَاتِفُ | جَدِيدٌ |
| أَنَا مِنَ الْيَمَنِ. I am from Yemen | أَنَأ | مِنَ الْيَمَنِ |
| الرَّجُلُ مُهَنْدِسٌ. The man is an engineer | الرَّجُلُ | مُهَنْدِسٌ |
| مِصْرُ فِي أَفْرِيقِيَا. Egypt is in Africa | مِصْرُ | فِي أَفْرِيْقِيَا |
| السَّيَّارَةُ أَمَامَ البَيْتِ. The car is in front of the house | السَّيَّارَةُ | أَمَامَ البَيْتَِ |
| التُّفَّاحَةُ لَذِيذَةٌ. The apple is delicious | التُّفَّاحَةُ | لَذِيذَةٌ |
| هَذِهِ خَيْمَةٌ. This is a tent | هَذِهِ | خَيْمَةٌ |
| بَيْتُنَا خَلْفَ المَدْرَِسَةِ. Our house is behind the school | بِيْتُنَا | خَلْفَ المَدْرَسَةِ |
| هِيَ طَبِيْبَةٌ. She is a physician | هِيَ | طَبِيْبَةٌ |
| هُوَ طَالِبٌ. He is a student | هُوََ | طَالِبٌ |
| الْجَوُ جَمِيلٌ. The weather is beautiful | الْجَوُ | جِمِيْلٌ |
| صَدِيقُ سَامَ قَصِيرٌ. Sam's friend is short | صَدِيقُ سَامَ | قَصِيرٌ |
Using the list of words in this lesson and the previous lesson, try to write basic simple sentences. Then, try the following test, paying attention to both form and meaning of words.
