Grammar Flashcards
This and That
THIS: هدا/هده
Note that THIS can be abbreviated to ها and joined as prefix to nouns
THAT: هداك/هديك
This black pen is cheap
هدا القلم الأسود رخيص
Listing. Use of و?
Always use و, regardless of number of items in your list
Plural: masculine or feminine?
Feminine, always
Lunar or solar letters?
There is…
Note about use?
في
NB: also means ‘in’. But we use ب when describing ‘there is…in…’
There is no…
ما في…
Yes, there is…
No, there is not…
بعم في…
لا ما في…
In…
In the…
ب
بال…
OR في
This is used normally. ب is used to avoid repetition
Note about pronunciation of ‘in the…’
Don’t pronounce ال.
However, still pronounce the letters that are made based on whether the word you’re describing is lunar/solar.
For example:
بالتّلاجة
Pronounced ‘b-talajeh’
بالجرار
Pronounced ‘b-Ljarrar’
I have…
أنا عندي…
I know…
I only know…
بعرف
بس بعرف
Barif
I don’t know
ما بَعرف…
I want…
I don’t want…
أنا بِدّي
أنا ما بِدّي
I like
I don’t like
NB about use with nouns
أنا بَحِب
أنا ما بَحِبّ
bah-heb
Nouns must be definitive with ال
Because
لأني
لأنك
لأنكم
لأنه
…
Pronouns in sentences
No need to DOUBLE pronoun sentences. For example, ‘What do I have today’
شو عندي اليوم
No need to add أبا
You have…
أنت عندَك
انتِ عندِك
You have… [plural]
انتو عندكم/عندكن…
into endkm/endkn
We have…
احنا عنّا
eh-na ah-na
Note about use of pronouns
Not used in Arabic in most sentences. Just a formality. Omit when using full sentences
What do you have…?
شو في عندكم…
Use of كل
Always follows ال in noun
He has
هو عنده
Who end-ou
She has
هي عندها
He endhaa
They have
هم عندهم
Hom endhom
My pen
أنا قلمي
Your pen
انتَِ قلمَِك
Your (pl) pen
انتو قلمكم
His pen
هو قلمه
Her pen
هي قلمها
Their pen
هم قلمهم
Our pen
إحنا قلمنا
My, your, their…
Applied to female nouns
Tamah buttah if noun is pronounced ت
When adding adjective to nouns described as mine, yours, theirs…
They are described with ال
Because they are possessive
But never add ال to the noun, as we have already possessed it with a suffix
Describing other people’s objects?
Use the same prefixes you would for people…
هو
هي
Three ways to use ‘definite’ to construct sentences
- Use ال
For example, The boy’s name is Oliver
‘Name’ is the SUBJECT, so goes first. Then add ال to the thing you are describe - ‘boy’.
إسم الولد أوليفر - Use pronouns
For example, Oliver’s pen is nice
Remember, ‘pen’ is the subject, so this goes first
قلم أليفر حلو
In cases where the subject is FEMININE, ة is pronounced ت - Suffixes
For example, My Uncle’s school is big
مدرسة عمي كبيرة
Reminder that Uncle has the suffix since this is what we’re referencing. School has ة pronounced ت
YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE FORM OF THE DEFINITE IN EACH SENTENCE.
When describing ‘your’ M/F for words ending in a vowel?
For example, ‘Your father’
Short vowels are added to the suffix
أبوكَ
أبوكِ
Ahbook-AH
Ahbook-II
He works
She works
بيشتِغِل
بتِشتِغِل
Beesh-tarill
Btee-shtarill
Using ‘definite’ in sentences with more than one descriptor - ال, pronoun, suffixes?
ال
For example, the man’s dog is small
كلب الرجال صغير
The subject is ‘dog’ so goes first. ال is applied to ‘man’
PRONOUN
For example, Sami’s son’s dog is small
كلب ابن سامي صغير
Sami is last
SUFFIXES
For example, my son’s dog is small
كلب ابني صغير
Including descriptor in the definite?
For example:
- My small brother
- My small and smart brother
- Sami’s small brother
Denoted with ال.
أخوي الصغير
أخوي الصغير و الدكي
أخو سامي الصغير
Double descriptor + adjective in the definite?
For example, Her near room’s colour is pink.
لون غرفتها القريبة زهري
Adjective goes last in your definite sequence.
‘Near’ is feminine because you’re describing a room
‘Pink’ is masculine because you’re describe a colour
Roots, Professions, Nouns
Will follow any of the following rules:
- Root فعل
Profession فاعل
Noun (also used to describe hobbies): no rule
For example:
- Write: كتب, Noun:
- Do: عِمِل, Noun: عَمَل
- Play: لِعِن, Noun: اِعِن - Root فعل
Profession فعّال
Noun: no rule
For example:
- Draw: رَسَم, Noun: رَسِم
- Cook: طَنَخ, Noun: طَبِخ
- Fly: طار, Noun: طيَران - Root فعل
Profession مُفعّل
Noun: no rule
For example:
- Sing: غنّى, Noun: غِنا
- Act: مَثّل, Noun: تمثيل
- Teach: علّم, Noun: تعليم
- Engineering: هندَس, Noun: هندسة
- Illness: مِرِض, Noun: تمريض
- Employ: وظّف, Noun: توظيف
Plurals
NOTE use in people vs objects
Plural M +ين
Plural F +ات
Feminine have no exceptions
Masculine plurals DO. These are known as broken plurals
Plural people - where there are mixed genders - uses the M plural
NOTE THAT ات is used as suffix for plural feminine PEOPLE adjectives. For THINGS, natives use ة for adjectives of object nouns.
Broken plurals
Applying plural nouns: remove any vowel and the ta marboota
The form فعيل becomes فعال
The form فاعل becomes فعل+اء (this applies also to words ending in ير)
The form فعل becomes أفعال
Shortcut way of describing, for example, ‘clever people’
Don’t use the word ‘people’. Just use the plural adjective.
For example: أذكيا
Type possessive
Similar construct to saying ‘proper noun’s’ noun
Some examples:
- Arabic lesson: درس عربي
- Toolbox: صندوق كهربا
- Hair brush: فرشاية شعر
The ة is pronounced in each case!
Type possessive in definite form
The ال is added to the TYPE word only:
Some examples —
- The Arabic lesson: درس العربي
- My bed room: غرفتي النوم
Have POSSESSION
I have أنا معي
You have انت معك
You P have انتو معكم
He has هو معه
She has هي معها
They have هم معهم
We have إحنا معنا
All of (noun)
All of it
Half of (noun)/it
كل ال___ [adjective]
كله/كلها [adjective]
Same with HALF
Past tense:
(1) Had, didn’t have
(2) Was, was not (existence)
(3) Was (with adjectives)
(1) Had: كان - ما كان
Comes BEFORE verbs. It does not change gender
e.g. كان عندي سيارة
(2) Was: كان; There was/wasn’t: كان في
Comes BEFORE verbs. Doesn’t change with gender
e.g. كان في أكل على الطاولة
e.g. شو كان في بالشنتة
(3) This changes with gender and changes with position in the sentence.
كان - كانت
Became
صار
صارت
Want
Although it’s a verb, this is a special case word as it can have pronoun suffixes. It’s treated like an adverb
أنا بدي
أنت بدك
انتو بدكم
هو بده
…
Counting rules for flowers, paper, trees
Same as fruits and vegetables
Was/were with different pronouns
أنا كُنت
أنت كُنت/ي
انتو كنتو
هو كان
هي كانَت
هم كانوا
احنا كنا
Don’t pronounce أ in هم
Was/were in question forms
Where are you? وينك
Where were you? وين كُنت/ي
Don’t get confused with cases where we just use كان
Was/were in relation to places
Use لمُا
For example, ‘Was he in his house when you were there?’
هو كان في بيته لما إنت كنت هناك؟
Became with pronouns
أنا صِرت
أنت صِرت/ي
انتو صرتو
هو صار
هي صارت
هم صِاروا
احنا صرنا
Whose?
Mine, yours, his…
Whose? لمين
Mine إلي/لإلي
Yours لإلك
His لإله
Hers لإلها
Theirs لإلهم
Ours لإلنا
Those
هدول
Like (as a comparator)
E.g. like a cat
زي
COMPARATIVES: adjectives between two nouns
PATTERN: add alef and remove any vowels
NB that the rule applies the SAME, regardless of gender or plurals
Examples:
- Adjective قليل becomes Comparative أقلّ
- Very كتير becomes أكتر
There are a few EXCEPTIONS to the pattern:
(1) We do not apply the pattern to SOME adjectives: more faithful, hardworking, understanding, upset; busier, hungrier. We conjugate these as normal in sentences (i.e. gender, plural applies). Instead, we add أكتر AFTER to denote ‘more’
(2) If و is pronounced ‘w’, we don’t remove
(3) If removing a vowel duplicates letters, you change slightly also: حفيف become أحفّ
(4) If there is a vowel at the end of the adjective, this becomes ى
(5) If starts with م, remove
SENTENCE: when using in sentence, add من
For example, ‘My pen is more expensive than yours’
قلمي أغلى من قلمك
NB: while in English, we compare by using ‘mine’, ‘yours’; in Arabic, we use the full word for the noun AGAIN
COMPARATIVES: word for ‘better’ and ‘worse’
Better: أحسن
Worse: أسوَأ
COMPARATIVES: What to do when comparing pronouns?
You can keep it simple and conjugate من
For example: ‘I am better than you’
أنا أحسن منك
COMPARATIVES: comparing VERBS
We add من ما
For example, ‘He spoke to me more than he spoke to you’
هم حكى معي أكتر من ما حكى معك
COMPARATIVES: characterising the comparative (x2)
We use كتير and شوي
There are two ways to use them: can put them BEFORE the comparative,
…كتير أرخص من…
OR we can use AFTER, but must use ب،
…أرخص بكتير…
We can use these principles to create the following comparisons too:
- Much more: أكتر بكتير
- Little bit more: أكتر بشوي
- Much less: أول بكتير
- Little bit less: أول بشوي
SUPERLATIVES: basic principles
The superlative uses the same pattern as comparative.
(1) The noun + The superlative
Your noun and superlative are preceded by ال
For example: ‘The most important thing’: الشي الأهم
(2) Superlative + Noun
There is no preceding ال
For example: أهم شي
SUPERLATIVES: how to utilise in a sentence?
We use a PRONOUN after the superlative to show that it’s a superlative.
For example,
- ‘The fastest student IS Ahmed’: أسرع طالب هو أحمد
- ‘What is most important in life?’: شو أهم شي بالحياة؟
NB: we can still add ال here, but we would need to switch the order of the superlative and noun around.
The pronoun can be هو، هي، هم depending on context
You can drop the NOUN from the sentence entirely if your subject understands what you’re referring to. But you MUST use ال
For example,
- ‘Fahmane is the most beautiful’: فهمانة هي الأحلى
Here, we have removed the word ‘girl’ or ‘person’
NB: this is the form preferred in asking questions.
SUPERLATIVES: use with VERBS
Rather than using pronouns to indicate your superlative, you add SUFFIXES to your VERB to indicate the superlative, IF the verb comes AFTER the superlative
For example,
- ‘This is the cleanest table I have FOUND in this place’: هده أنضف طاولة أنا لقيتها في هدا المكان
- ‘Oliver is my tallest student I have ever taught’: أوليفر هو أطول طالب أنا علّمته
SUPERLATIVES: how to use when exception applies: Cases where the pattern is omitted e.g. Happy مبسوط - Happier مبسوط أكتر
The subject/pronoun sits between the components that make up the superlative, and أكتر comes first.
Remember, the adjective still gets conjugated.
For example,
- The happiest one: أكتر حدا مبسوط
- The happiest girl: أكتر بنت مبسوطة
- The happiest people: أكتر ناس مبسوطين
- Sami is the most faithful: سلمي هو حدا مخلص
Use of كل
When PLURAL comes after it, it means ALL
When SINGULAR comes after it, it means EVERY
How are plurals utilised in sentences with ال?
When plurals are subjects or spoken about specifically, they need to be made definite.
This applies to sentences like: ‘Books are important’, ‘Dogs are cute’
When plurals are referred to, there’s not a need to add ال. For example, ‘I have books in my room’
Using ‘have’ or ‘has’ when describing persons and living things?
We describe things DIRECTLY and don’t use ‘have’ or ‘has’. Instead, we conjugate the noun to indicate who we’re referring to.
For example:
- He has a nice personality: شخصيته حلوة
- Ahmed has long hair: أحمد شعره طويل
NB: This includes body parts
Note that the adjective is NOT made definite. If you did, the meaning would be different:
- For example: هي خدودها حُمُر translates to ‘She has red cheeks’
- But: هي خدودها الخمر translates to ‘Her red cheeks are…’
Characterising verbs
You treat your adjective like an adverb. It is NOT gendered
e.g., ‘He studied hard/well/…’
NB that ‘well’ is written as كويس or منيح
