Language Learning

The noun in Arabic is a word that can be a subject of a verb فَاعِل, a topic of a nominal sentence مُبْتَدَأ, a predicate of a nominal sentence خَبَر, an object of a verb مَفْعُول, or an object of a preposition اٍسْم مَجْرُور.

    كِتَاب – a book

    أَحْمَد – Ahmed

    شَجَرَة – a tree

    كَلْب – a dog

    خَطَر – a danger

اِسْم

Noun

The نَكِرَة in Arabic is a noun that is indefinite (i.e., it does not refer to a specific entity). The indefiniteness marker is Arabic is the tanween. It is added to the end of words. 

كِتَابٌ    

شَجَرَةً    

كَلْبٍ    

خَطَرٌ   

ٌنَكِرَة

an indefinite noun

The definite noun in Arabic is noun that refers to a specific entity. A نَكِرَة is made مَعْرِفَة by prefixing ال (e.g., الْخَطَرُ) or suffixing possessive pronoun ضَمِيْر مِلْكِيَّة (e.g., كِتَابُهَا).

    كِتَابُهَا – her book

الشَّجَرَةُ   

    كَلْبُهُم – their dog

الْخَطَرُ   

ٌمَعْرِفَة

a definite noun

The masculine noun in Arabic is a noun that denotes a male person, animal, or thing. It is almost always the default form from which the feminine noun is derived. 

    مُدَرِِّسٌ – a teacher

    أَسَدًا – a lion

    قَلَمٍ – a pen

    لَاعِبٌ – a player

مُذَكَّر

a masculine noun

The feminine noun in Arabic is a noun that denotes a female person, animal, or thing. It usually ends with ـة taa marbuta. So, most masculine nouns are changed to feminine nouns by adding the feminine prefix ـة. The taa marbuta is called the feminine marker.

    مُدَرِّسَةٌ   

طَبِيبَةٌ   

صَدِيقَةٌ   

لَاعِبَةٌ   

    سَيَّارَةٌ – a car

    بَقَرَةٌ - a cow

ٌمُؤَنَّث

a feminine noun

The weak letters are basically the long vowels. They are called weak because they are affected in process of verb conjugation; that is, they are dropped or replaced by another weak letter.

ا - الْأَلِف    

 و - الْوَاو    

 ي - الْيَاء    

أَحْرُفُ الْعِلَّةِ

the weak letters

The regular/strong verb is the verb of which the root does not include a weak letter. It is called regular/strong because its root letters don't change when conjugated with different nouns/pronouns.

    شَرَحَ – he explained

    نَزَلَ – he came down

    شَجَّعَ – he encouraged

    اِنْفَعَلَ – he got emotional

فِعْلٌ صَحِيحٌ

a regular/strong verb

The irregular/weak verb is the verb the root of which includes a weak letter. It is weak because its root letters (namely the weak ones) change when conjugated.

    قَامَ – he stood up

    وَجَدَ – he found

    بَاعَ – he sold

    رَمَى – he threw

فِعْلٌ مُعْتَلٌ

an irregular/weak verb

The basic/simple verb is the verb the root of which can include three, four, or five letters. None of these letters can be dropped as they are essential to its meaning. Take the word صَاَمَ. If [alif] is dropped from it, the remainder صَمْ has no meaning. 

    قَطَعَ – he cut

    صَامَ – he fasted

    وَصَلَ – he arrived

    حَفِظَ – he memorized / kept

    تَكَلَّمَ – he spoke

    بَعْثَرَ – he scattered

فِعْلٌ مُجَرََّدٌ

a simple/basic verb

The complex verb is verb the root of which includes one, two, or three additional letters. If the additional letter(s) is/are dropped, it still has a related meaning. If the [alif] is dropped from شَاهَدَ, the remainder شَهِدَ still has meaning that is related to شَاهَدَ.

    شَاهَدَ – he watched

    خَمَّنَ – he guessed

    أَوْقَفَ – he detained

    اِجْتَمَعَ – he met with

    اِسْتَخْرَجَ – he extracted

فِعْلٌ مَزِيدٌ

a complex verb

The intransitive verb is the verb that does not require an object مَفْعُول to make a complete sentence. That is, the verb and the subject الْفَاعِل form a meaningful sentence.

    نَزَل: نَزَلَ الْمَطَر – the rain fell

    قَامَ: قَامَ الْوَلَدُ – the boy stood up

    اِنْفَعَلَ: اِنْفَعَلَتِ الْبِنْتُ – the girl got emotional

    وَصَل: وَصَلَ الْأُسْتَاذُ – the teacher arrived

فِعْلٌ لَازِمٌ

an intransitive verb

The transitive verb is the verb that requires an object مَفْعُول to form a complete sentence. That is, without an object, the verb and the subject does not form a meaningful sentence.

    شَجَّعَ: شَجَّعْنَا نَادَالَ – we cheered Nadal up

    شَرَحَ: شَرَحْتُ الدَّرْسَ – I explained the lesson

    شَاهَدَ: شَاهَدْتُ الْمُبَارَاةَ – I watched the match

    بَاعَ: بَاعَ سَمِيْرٌ سَيَّارَتَهُ – Samir sold his car

فِعْلٌ مُتَعَدِّيٌ

a transitive verb

The perfective verb is the past form of the verb. It expresses an action that started and finished at some/specific point in the past. 

    قَطَعُوا – they(m) cut

    صِمْنَ – they (f) fasted

    سَارَ – he walked

    وَعَدْتُ – I promised

فِعْلٌ مَاضٍ / مَاضِي

a perfective verb

The imperfective verb is the present form of the verb. It expresses an action that happens habitually or is happening at the time of speaking.

    يَقْطَعُون – they cut / are cutting

    يَصِمْنَ – they fast /are fasting

    يَسِيرُ – he walks

    أَعْدُ – I promise

فِعْلٌ مُضَارِعٌ

an imperfective verb

The three-letter verb is the verb that is composed of three letters. شَرَحَ = شَ + رَ + حَ. 

    كَتَبَ    

صَامَ   

شَرَحَ   

وَعَدَ   

فِعْلٌ ثُلَاثِيٌّ

a three-letter verb

The four-letter verb is the verb that is composed of four letters. In شَجَّعَ, the ج is doubled, i.e. ـجَّـ = ـجْـجَـ, hence شَ + جْ + جَ + عَ.

بَعْثَرَ   

شَجَّعَ   

شَاهَدَ   

أَوْقَفَ   

فِعْلٌ رُبَاعِيٌّ

a four-letter verb

The five-letter verb is the verb that is composed of five letters.  In تَكَلَّمَ, the ل is doubled, hence تَ + كَ + لْ + لَ + مَ.

اِنْفَعَلَ   

اِجْتَمَعَ   

اِنْكَسَرَ   

تَكَلَّمَ   

فِعْلٌ خُمَاسِيٌّ

a five-letter verb

The six-letter verb is the verb that is composed of six letters; hence, اِسْتَغْفَرَ = اِ + سْ + تَ + غْ + فَ + ر. 

اِسْتَغْفَرَ   

اِسْتَخْدَمَ   

اِسْتَفْهَمَ   

فِعْلٌ سُدَاسِيٌّ

a six-letter Verb

It is the pronoun that can stand alone, i.e. not attached to another word. You will learn about the dual pronouns in future lessons.

أَنَا ، نَحْنُ   

أَنْتَ ، أَنْتِ ، أَنْتُم ، أَنْتُنَّ   

هُوَ ، هِيَ ، هُم ، هُنَّ   

ضَمِيرٌ مُنْفَصِل

a separate / personal pronoun

It is an attached pronoun that is added to the end of nouns to denote ownership.

    أَنَا: ـي، نَحْنُ: ـنَا (كِتَابِي ، كِتَابُنَا)

    أَنْتَ: ـكَ ، أَنْتِ: ـكِ (كِتَابُكَ ، كِتَابُكِ)

    أَنْتُم: ـكُم ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـكُنَّ (كِتَابُكُم ، كِتَابُكُنَّ)

    هُوَ: ـه ، هِيَ: ـهَا (كِتَابُهُ ، كِتَابُهَا)

    هُم: ـهُم ، هُنَّ: ـهُنَّ (كِتَابُهُم ، كِتَابُهُنَّ)

ضَمِيْر مِلْكِيَّة

a possessive pronoun

It is the subject attached pronoun that is appended to the verb to denote the subject / doer.

أَنَا: ـتُ ، نَحْنُ: ـنَا   

أَنْتَ: ـتَ ، أَنْتِ: ـتِ ، أَنْتُم: ـتُم ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـتُنَّ   

هُم: ـوا ، هُنَّ: ـنَ   

ضَمِيْر فَاعِل مُتَّصِل

an attached subject pronoun

It is the object attached pronoun that is appended to the verb to denote the object. If added to a preposition, it is its object اِسْم مَجْرُور.

    أنَا: ـي (ضَرَبَنِي) ، نَحْنُ: ـنَا ( ضَرَبَنَا)

    أَنْتَ: ـكَ (ضَرَبَكَ) ، أَنْتِ: ـكِ (ضَرَبَكِ)

    أَنْتُم: ـكُم (ضَرَبَكُم) ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـكُنَّ (ضَرَبَكُنَّ)

    هُوَ: ـهُ (ضَرَبَهُ) ، هِيَ: ـهَا (ضَرَبَهَا)

    هُم: ـهُم (ضَرَبَهُم) ، هُنَّ: ـهُنَّ (ضَرَبَهُنَّ)

ضَمِيْر مَفْعُول مُتَّصِل

an attached object pronoun

It is a subject pronoun that does not appear on the verb. Instead, it is implied and can be inferred from the prefix on the verb.

    أَكْتُبُ: (أَنَا) ، نَكْتُبُ: نَحْنُ

    تَكْتُبُ: (أَنْتَ)

    كَتَب ، يَكْتُبُ : (هُو)

    كَتَبَتْ ، تَكْتُبُ: (هِيَ)

ضَمِيْر مُسْتَتِر

a covert pronoun

A preposition in Arabic is a word that is always followed by a noun / an attached pronoun.

ِمِنْ: مِنَ الْيَمَنِ ، إِلَى: إِلَى الْبَيْت   

ِتَحْتَ: تَحْتَ الطَّاوِلَةِ ، فَوْقَ: فَوْقَ الشَّجَرَة   

عَلَى: عَلَيْهُم ، فِي: فِيهََا   

حَرْف جَر

a preposition

The topic is the noun or pronoun with which we start the nominal sentence (see below). It is almost always definite مَعْرِفَة.

الطَّالِبُ ، هُوَ ، هَذَا ، أَنَا   

البَيْتُ ، السَّيَارةُ ، نَحْنُ   

مُبْتَدَأ

a subject / topic

The predicate is a proper noun, a noun, an adjective, or prepositional phrase (see below) that completes the nominal sentence. If it is a noun or an adjective, it is always indefinite (except pronoun nouns and nouns with attached possessive pronouns).

ٌجَدِيدٌ ، كَبِيرَةٌ ، ذَكِيٌّ ، كِتَابِي ، مُحَمَّد   

ِمِنَ الْيَمَنِ ، فِي الْبيتِ ، خَلْفَ السَّيَّارَة   

خَبَر

a predicate

A semi-sentence is generally a preposition or an adverb followed by a noun. Words like خَلْفَ and تَحْتَ are referred to as an adverb ظَرْف in Arabic.

ِمِنْ الْيَمَنِ

ِفِي الْبَيْت   

ِخَلْفَ السَّيَارَة   

ِفَوْقَ الشَّجَرَة   

شِبْه جُمْلَة

a semi-sentence / prepositional phrase

The nominal sentence is the sentence that starts with a noun. it has two parts: a subject / topic مُبْتَدَأ and a predicate خَبَر.

    هَذَا كِتَابِي. هُوَ مُحَمْدٌ.

    السَّيَّارَةُ جَدِيْدَةٌ.

    أَنَا مِنَ الْيَمَنِ.

    الطَّالِبُ ذَكِيٌّ.

جُمْلَة اِسْمِيَّة

a nominal sentence

The subject is a noun / a proper noun that functions as the doer/agent of the verb/the action (see below).

ٌّطَالِبٌ ، الطَّالِبُ ، قِط   

ٌّالْكَلْبُ ، فَاطَمَةُ ، عَلِي   

فَاعِل

a subject

The object is a noun / a proper noun that functions as the receiver of the action (see below).

طَالِبًا ، الطَّالِبَ ، قِطًّا   

الْكَلْبَ ، فَاطَمَةَ ، عَلِيًّا   

مَفْعُول

an object

The verb sentence is the sentence that starts with a verb. It is composed of a verb and a subject (with intransitive verbs) or a verb, a subject, and an object (with transitive verbs).

    نَزَلَ الْمَطَرُ.

    شَرَحْتُ الدَّرْسَ.

    بَاعَ سَمِيرٌ سَيَّارَتَهُ.

    وَصَلَ الْأُسْتَاذُ.

جُمْلَة فِعْلِيَّة

a verbal sentence