Language Learning

What is Alif al-Wasl? What is alif al-wasl أَلِفُ الْوَصْلِ? The word وَصْل wasl means ‘connection’. So, alif al-wasl أَلِفُ الْوَصْلِ is the ‘connective alif.’ It connects the word in which it occurs with the preceding word. The purpose of this is to make Arabic speech sound natural and connected. It always occurs at the beginning of certain verbs, certain nouns, and the defi…

What is Tanween in Arabic? The tanween (or nunation) in Arabic (also transliterated as tanwin/tenwin) 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 (and adjectives). Only nouns (and adjectives) get tanween, but not all nouns. Certain nouns; all types of pronouns, which are classified as noun…

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. 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 preposit…

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…