The Basic Arabic Nominal Sentence

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.