Basic Nahw Flashcards
Ism ( اِسْمٌ )
Noun, adjective, adverb and more.
A person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb, etc.
Example: Maryam
Fi’l ( فِعْلٌ )
Verb.
Has a tense, past, present or future
Example: He stopped. He stops. He will stop. He is stopping.
Harf ( حَرْفٌ )
Particle.
A word that does not have a meaning on its own and is understood from the context of the sentence and words in it. Prepositions, prefixes, conjunctions, articles, etc.
Example:
و Wa - And, لا Laa - No, نعم Na’am - Yes, مِنْ Min - From, إلى Ila - To
4 Properties of an Ism ( اِسْمٌ )
Status (إِعْرَاب)
Number (عَدَد)
Gender (جِنْس)
Type (قِسْم)
Raf’ رَفْعٌ
Status #3 - After Of
DOER. Who or what is DOING something?
Nasb نَصْبٌ
DETAILS about the act. Who, what, when, why where, how did the DOER do the DOING?
Jarr جَرّ
AFTER AN OF (explicit or implied). The religion of Islam. Abdullah’s house. He taught his companions. Adds a meaning to other words.
Ending Sounds of an Ism ( اِسْمٌ )
Rafa - u or u. Look for Dhammah.
Nasb - a or an. Look for Fathah.
Jarr - i or in. Look for Kasrah.
Ending Combinations of an Ism ( اِسْمٌ )
DUAL:
“aani” is for Raf’ Ex: مسلمَانِ
“ayni” is for Nasb and Jarr Ex: مسلمَيِْ
PLURAL:
“oona” is for Raf’ Ex: مسلمُوْنَ
“eena” is for Nasb and Jarr Ex: مسلمِيَْ
Feminine Ending Combinations of an Ism ( اِسْمٌ )
SINGLE: Add a ة Ex: مسلمَةٌ is Raf' مسلمَةً is Nasb مسلمَةٍ is Jarr
DUAL: Add a ت before the ending combination Ex: مسلمَتانِ is Raf' مسلمَتَيِْ is Nasb مسلمَتَيِْ is Jarr
PLURAL: Add a ات Ex: مسلمَاتٌ is Raf' مسلمَاتٍ is Nasb مسلمَاتٍ is Jarr
Hādhā هَـٰذَا
This.
Arabic demonstrative noun, or Arabic demonstrative article.
Ex: هَـٰذَا كِتَابٌ. “This is a book.”
مَا هَـٰذَا؟
What is this?
Ex response: هَـٰذَا بَيْتٌ. “This is a house.”
أَهَـٰذَا…..؟
Is this a…..?
Ex question & response:
أَهَـٰذَا بَيْتٌ؟ “Is this a house?”
نَعَمْ، هَـٰذَا بَيْتٌ. “Yes, this is a house.”
نَعَمْ
Yes
لا
No
مَنْ هَـٰذَا؟
Who is this?
Ex response:
هَـٰذَا طَبِيبٌ. “This is a doctor.”
Dhālika ذَلِكَ
That.
Demonstrative pronoun, Arabic demonstrative noun or Arabic demonstrative article for far object. Used to refer to objects that are further away whereas هَـٰذَا (this) is used to refer to objects that are closer.
مَا ذَلِكَ؟
What is that?
Ex response: ذَلِكَ نَجْمٌ. “That is a star.”
مَا هَـٰذَا وَمَا ذَلِكَ؟
What is this and what is that?
Ex response: هَـٰذَا مَسْجِدٌ وَذلِكَ بَيْتٌ. “This is a mosque and that is a house.”
الْ
The. Arabic definite article. Refers to a specific object.
Indefinite vs. Definite الْ
The vowel ending changes when a word is changed to its definite form.
Tanwīn (double vowel)represents the indefinite form (ex: a house)
A single vowel is the definite form. (ex: the house)
A word can never take الْ at the beginning and tanwīn at the same time (It can never be both indefinite and definite at the same time).
Ex: مَسْجِدٌ: الْمَسْجِدُ The mosque: A mosque كِتَابٌ: الْكِتَابُ The book: A book قَلَمٌ: الْقَلَمُ The pen: A pen بَيْتٌ: الْبَيْتُ The house: A house
When NOT to use Diacritics on Articles
- The Alif followed by laam ال (while the laam itself can be signed with a vowel)
- The laam followed by alif لا (while the Alif itself can be signed when it comes with hamzah).
- Do not put the small Alif on words like هٰذا.
- Do not put diacritics on long vowels.
The Moon and Sun Letters
Arabic has 28 letters. 14 letters are called Solar Letters, and the other 14 are called Lunar letters.
Solar Letter Articulation
The tip or blade of the tongue is involved as in t, n, r, s, etc.
Lunar Letter Articulation
The tip or blade of the tongue does not play any part in the articulation of the Lunar Letters as in b, w, m, k etc.
Solar Letter /alif-lām/ “al”
When /alif-lām/ “al” is prefixed to a noun beginning with a solar letter, the “l” of “al” is assimilated (joined) to the solar letter.
Ex: al-shamsu (the sun) is pronounced /ash-shamsu/
No change takes place in writing اَلشَّمْسُ.
The assimilation is indicated by the /shaddah/ on the first letter of the noun after “al”.
Lunar Letter /alif-lām/ “al” Rule
No assimilation takes place with the lunar letters.
Ex: /al-qamaru/ (the moon) is pronounced /al-qamaru/ اَلْقَمَرُ.
