Language Learning

What is Tanween in Arabic? tanween in Arabic (also transliterated as tanwin) has to do with the sound ن noon. To be precise, it is an acoustic ن (i.e. said but not written). This ن is added to the end of nouns. Only nouns get tanween, but not all nouns. Certain nouns; all types of pronouns, which are classified as nouns in Arabic; verbs; and particles (e.g. prepositions, words…

Simple Arabic Grammar Terms (1) Arabic grammar terms of the previous lessons are listed and explained. Besides the explanation of the terms, examples are given. A word that can be a subject فَاعِل, a topic مُبْتَدَأ, a predicate خَبَر, an object of a verb مَفْعُول, or an object of a preposition اٍسْم مَجْرُور.     كِتَابٌ – a book     أَحْمَدُ – Ahmed     شَج…

The Basic Present Verbal Sentence in Arabic Similar to the basic past verbal sentence, the basic present verbal sentence in Arabic الْجُمْلَةُ الْفِعْلِيَّةُ الْبَسِيطَةُ is composed of a verb فِعْل, a subject فَاعِل, and an object مَفْعُول, which can be optional, depending on the type of the verb. It always starts with the verb. The verb can be intransitive لَازِم or transiti…

The Basic Past Verbal Sentence in Arabic The basic past verbal sentence in Arabic الْجُمْلَةُ الْفِعْلِيَّةُ الْبَسِيطَة can be a word or a group of words that express a completed action. It starts with a verb فِعْل which is always followed by a subject فَاعِل (i.e. the doer of the action). If the verb is intransitive لَازِم, it and the subject form a complete meaning. If the …

Familiarity with Arabic verb types is important for correct verb conjugation and usage. These types are based on the structure of the verb root, the component letters of the verb root, whether the verb requires a complement, and the tense or time of verb. Verb Root Structure: (1) The Simple Verb الفِعْل المُجَرَّد: These are simple triliteral verbs. Their…

As explained earlier, the irregular verb الفِعْلُ المُعْتَل in Arabic is the verb that includes a weak letter حَرْفُ عِلَّة (i.e. ا ، و ، ي). It is considered irregular because its root changes while appending attached subject pronouns to it. This change can be leaving a weak letter out or changing it to another weak letter. In this lesson, we will focus on the imperfect…