Grammar Flashcards
Adding object pronoun to verb conjugated for انتم
Add a و between تم and object pronoun
درستم
You all studied
درستموها
You all studied it
Particle أنْ
Cannot be followed by a noun, has to be followed by a verb in subjunctive.
Comes after preposition if verb comes with preposition.
أنْ plus subjunctive verb Can be replaced by verbal noun
Use Impersonal passive
This is used when you’re making a verb passive that has a preposition attached to the meaning of the verb.
بحث عن = search
When this happens the passive verb will be massive singular
بحثنا عن الكتب
We searched for the books.
بحِث عن الكتب
بيدَ ان
However, although
Negative لو result clause
Done with ما before the verb usually with the ل attached
لما فهمت فصية فلسطين
Don’t confuse لما with لمّا that means when.
Also, ل can be dropped from لما.
Present tense verb + ليس
Laysa can be used to negate present tense verbs. Usage is rare and usually just used in literary works.
من حيث
” with regards to” …“with respect to”…
من حيث دراسة العربية
With regards to the study of Arabic.
Can also mean “from where” or “from whence”
Nisba adjective and the sound plural suffix
The يّ is always written.
مصريّون = Egyptians
مع مصريّين = with Egyptians
Result clause اذا variation verb use
The result clause can be in any tense that makes sense, if not in the past tense, the verb will be processed by ف. So future tense would be
اذا ذهبت الى المطعم فسوف تأكل طعاما عربيا ممتازا.
If you go to that restaurant you will eat excellent Arabic food.
فستأكل ….
You will eat…
فلن تأكلَ…..
You will not/never eat
فَكُل….
Eat! (Command)
sometimes the ف is left off when the conditional means When and not If*****
Verbal sentence structure
Verb comes first, and if the subject is mentioned it comes directly after verb
درس الطالبٌ كتابه العربيّ
The student studied his Arabic book.
Relative clauses and mentioning antecedent
Antecedent must always be mentioned in relative clauses
Verbal noun as a concept
You can use verbs like a noun. Like “reading is fundamental”
This usage is always definite (and mostly singular)
العمل ضروري
Work is necessary.
كم
How much/many?
Followed by a noun in the singular in the accusative with nunation. Adjectives and verbs following will agree with noun.
كم ساعةَ ؟
What time is it?
رغم + انّ
Despite the fact….
Second clause starts with ف
Interrogative: مَن
Means “who” and is referred to people.
مَن أنتَ ؟
Who are you?
كان + يجب + ان/ على
Puts it in the past tense
كان يجب ان اذهب
I had to go…
Can also negate with لم + jussive
لم يكن يجب ان اذهب
I didn’t have to go…
The ل plus pronoun with indefinite noun
The ل and object pronoun comes first.
لكم جامعة كثيرة في بلدكم.
You have a lot of universities in your country.
Jussive + لم
Negates past tense
لم + يعد + present tense verb
Idiomatic expression saying
“No longer _____”
لم تعد تذهب الى المدرسة.
She no longer went to school
Creating SFP
Take off ة and add ات
How to spot idaafa
- two or more nouns in a row
- first noun has no definite article or pronoun suffix
- adjective will never be the second term of idaafa
- when you come to a definite article on a suffix pronoun. You have reached the end of the idaafa.
Elided hamza on sun letters
Not only does the hamza elide from the final vowel of the preceding word, but the ل does as well.
انتِ الطالبُ
Antittalib
Negating اذا conditional clause
اذا + لم + jussive
There is no other way.
Conditional إِنْ being followed by Jussive
Sometimes the jussive version of a verb can be used following إِنْ,
When a jussive verb is used in the conditional clause a jussive verb must be used in the result clause.
ان تذهبْ الى المطعم تأكلْ طعاما عربيا منتازا!!
Dhamma as prefix vowel
Is prefix vowel for verb form 2, 3 and 4
بعد ان + subjunctive verb
It has present/ future meaning
بعد ان يتعلمَ العربية يذهبَ….
After he learns Arabic he will go…
3 main uses of Verbal Noun
- Replace subjunctive verb
2 as a concept
3 concrete noun
Pronoun of separation
Demonstratives (and other words) + هو / هي + definite noun
Creates a sentence of specificity:
____ is the ____
هذا هو الرجل.
This is the man.
First person pronoun suffix with SMP
Remove ن and add يَّ
موظفيَّ
Muwathafiiyya - my employees
same for all cases
Context will tell you if it is singular or plural.
موظفي ذهبوا الى المطار
My employees went to the airport.
مع ان
Means although and can be used almost interchangably with رغم and all of its variations.
SFP and idaafa and pronoun suffix.
Sound female plurals act completely regular and take none of the changes the SMP do.
Question words effect on case in the rest of the sentence
Questions words have no effect on case of other words in sentence.
Indirect commands “Let’s”
Add ل + jussive
لندرسْ
Let’s study
ليدرس ْ
Let him study
ما + دام
As long as…
ما دمتُ حيّا…
….as long as I’m alive…
دام
is a verb and must be conjugated
Definite article plus ل
The ا is omitted so it looks like لل
Case of noun following منذ
In genetive
Elidable hamza
When the definitive article أَل, or any other word beginning with hamza ء is proceeded by another word. The final vowel of that word takes over the hamza and fatha and only the ل is pronounced. Basically pronounced like one word.
أنتَ المديرُ
Antalmadiiru
انتِ المديرةُ
Antilmadiiratu
ما + أن + past tense
Means “no sooner than….”
ما أن ذهبت الى السوق حتى شاهدتُ…
No sooner than I went to the store, I saw….
- Particle ان followed by past tense verb
- final clause begins with حتى
- حتى followed by past tense verb
بحيث
“In such a manner that” …“so that”
طفي الملك على النس بحيث ثاروا عليه.
The king terrorized the people in such a manner that they rebooted against him.
Pronoun suffixes and idaafa
Technically when a pronoun suffix modifies a noun it is technically creating an idaafa. So it is extremely common to actually see an idaafa made up of several terms end in a personal pronoun.
مكتبُ مديرِ شركتِكم
The office of the director of your company.
حيث
Relative adverb meaning “where”
سافرنا الى الأراق حيث درسنا….
We traveled to Iraq where we studied.
When كم isn’t followed by noun in the accusative singular?
For phrases that have it omitted due to comfort.
كم عمرك؟
Is actually, كم سنة عمرك؟
In the same way, كم can be followed by a verb…
كم قرأت؟
How much did you read?
أمّا……ف…..
Topic / comment construct used in newspapers.
اما doesn’t effect noun case
ف left untranslated
As far as……etc….
Both can be dropped in the sentence.
Starting a sentence with indefinite noun
You cannot begin a sentence with an indefinite noun.
Accusative and Pausal form
Most times case endings are not pronounced when at the end of the sentence. Except when the sentence ends in the indefinite accusative, the n falls off the -aan and sounds like a regular feminine singular
درستُ كتاباً.
Darastu kitaaba
درستُ كتاباً جديداً
Darastu kitaaban jadiida
Definite noun + definite adjective
A definitive descriptive phrase:
الكتابُ الجديدُ
The new book…
Pronunciation of indefinite case markers
Called “تنوين” or nunation, meaning adding a ن to the end of the noun or adjective
Noun adjective agreement
Adjectives must agree:
1 in gender
2 in number *
3 in case
4 in definite/ indefinite
بعد إِنْ + past tense verb
“After having done something”
بعد ان تعلم العربية ذهب…
After learning Arabic he went
The word ما as a suffix meaning ever.
Usually a word with ما as its ending will add the meaning of “ever”
أين = where
أينما =wherever
Fatha as prefix vowel
For verb form 1 and 5-10
Superlative + definite plural
Means “the most….of the….”
دمشق اجمل المدن العربية
Damascus is the most beautiful of the Arabic cities.
Haal clauses with differing subjects
Subject of Haal clause can be different than subject of sentence.
ألقيت محاضرة وطالبي ينامون.
I delivered a lecture while my students slept.
Uses of jussive
- negative past
- base for commands
- negative commands
- base for saying “so lets”
قد + present tense
Means may or might
Additional shade of meaning for passive / passive participle Form I Verbs
- able
مأكول - edible
مسموع - permissible
مكروه -detestable
ك + ما
كما
“Just as” / “likewise”
It is always followed by a verb….if it is to followed by a noun or pronoun. It must first have انّ
Verbal noun replacing subjunctive
Subjunctive can be replaced by verbal noun.
If preceded by أن the verbal noun replaces both and takes a ل
(noun becomes genetive). Verbal noun will be definite, unless first term of idaafa.
اريد ان اذهبَ ….—-> اريد للذهابِ
If verb has ل already then ل stays and takes all other changes.
ذهب الى الكويت الى ليدرسَ هناك
He went to Kuwait to study there
ذهب الى الكويت لدراسةِ هناك
Same sentence with changes.
Use of كل + indefinite
Translate to each or every
قرأتُ كُلَّ كتابٍ في المكتبةِ
I read every book in the library.
The word كل is noun so it creates an idaafa with indefinite noun.
Meaning of كل من
“Every / each one of”
Rare Conditional words
There are words that have conditional qualities that come before a past tense verb but have present tense meanings.
Just be aware of such words.
Haal construction without verb in following clause
Begin clause with….
و + subject pronoun
that matches subject of sentence.
سافر الى الكويت وهو طالب.
He traveled to Kuwait when he was a student
Or you can omit pronoun and و and put the predicate in Accusative if the predicate is indefinite.
سافر الى الكويت طالباً
Relative clause with antecedent being object of a verb
Antecedent is referred as an object pronoun on the end of the verb
هذه فكرة سمعتها أمس
This is an idea I heard yesterday
Relative pronoun with definite antecedent
This needs a relative pronoun to be actually written. All other rules of relative pronouns also apply.
Plural verbs + كل
Also used for emphasis
فهم كلهم
Means they all understood
فهموا كلهم
Stresses that All of them understood
When كل comes before a verb, the verb matches the pronoun suffix
كلهم يجلسون
All of them are sitting.
Conditional إِنْ
Works exactly the same way as اذا, but has no expectation of something happening. This has the closest meaning to “if”
Two primary uses of nominative case
- subject of any sentence
(That is to say, unless told otherwise the subject of a sentence is always in the nominative)
- predicate of an equational sentence
3 ways of saying “there is no”
ما + من
ليس هناك
لا يوجد
ما مِن لغة اجمل من العربية.
There is no language more beautiful than Arabic
Saying “even if”
وَإِنْ / حتى ان
وإذا / حتى اذا
ولو / وحتى
ما + لم
As long as (you) don’t..
….ما لم تدرس كل يوم.
As long as you don’t study everyday….
لا بدَّ من
Translated to “inevitable” or “must
لا بد من دارسة العربية!
Arabic must be studied.
First word in idaafa
- Is the thing being possessed
- can be in any case based on function in sentence
- can never have ال or nunation/ tanwiin
The expression of :
ما لبث
Or
لم لبث
Means “it wasn’t long before”
لبث is conjugated
Case ending for Definite elative or elative as first term in any idaafa
Can end in any case.
The dual
Completely regular:
ان = m
تان = f
In accusative and genitive ين = m تين = f When in acc/genitive it can Look like sound plural but will be pronounced differently. Context.
In idaafa the ن falls off just like masculine sound plurals
Relative clauses with antecedent as object of verb with a preposition
Object pronoun added on the end of the preposition.
هذه شهادة حصلت عليها من جامعية المشيجان.
This is a degree that I obtained from the university of Michigan.
Idaafa containing ة
The ة is pronounced like a ت except the last term in idaafa
The use of ل + pronoun suffix
Means belonging to / to have
لنا بيت كبير
We have a big house
Literally -
To us is a big house:
Remember: the thing that is owned is subject and ل and object pronoun is the predicate even if it comes first in the sentence. Treat the cases appropriately
Demonstratives and idaafa
Demonstratives can come in between terms of an idaafa without ruining the idaafa…. NOTHING ELSE CAN!!
Superlative pattern
Elative + indefinite noun
“The most….”
The meaning will be definite even though the noun is indefinite.
Noun can be singular or plural but elative is singular masculine.
Relative clause with indefinite antecedent
A relative pronouns aren’t used in Arabic when the antecedent is indefinite
هم طلاب درسوا في المغرب
They are the students WHO studied in Morocco
indefinite nouns cannot begin a sentence so will start with something like a pronoun
Superlative and relative clauses
Superlatives are a lot of times antecedents for relative clauses.
Superlative pattern uses indefinite nouns.
اكبر بناء the biggest building
It’s grammatically indefinite so will not require a relative pronoun. But will still have object pronoun on verb.
هذا اكبر بناء شاهدته في القاهرة .
This is the biggest building that I saw in Cairo.
Even though it is grammatically indefinite, the meaning is definite so it’s translated as such.
Conditional لو conditional clause
Used in contrary to the fact conditions.
Usually in past tense..
لو قرأت الكتاب….
If you would have read the book….
Use of هؤلاء and أولئك
Used for both genders and only used for humans
Subjunctive + ل / لكي / كي / حتى
Used to mean “in order to” or “to”
Particle ل is connected to word
Particle حتى can also mean until (context)
ذهب الى المكتبة ليدرسَ اللغة العربية الجميلة
He went to the library to study the beautiful Arabic language.
إما….او / وإما
Construct for
Either……..or…….
Negating لو conditional clause
لم + jussive
لو لم تقرأ الكتاب….
If you had not read the book…
Particle إنَّ
- Begins sentences, indeed verily usually goes untranslated
- Used to mean, that or to after verb انَّ
This has to be followed by a noun or pronoun suffix in the accusative, or prepositional phrase with an object In the accusative indefinite. Cannot be followed by a verb.
إنَّ المراسلةَ ذكيُ.
Indeed, the reporter is smart
إنَّكَ طالبٌ عظيمٌ.
Certainly, you are an amazing student.
إنَّ على الطويلة كتاباً
On the table is a book
أنَّ هناك كتاباً على الطويلة
There is a book on the table.
(Followed by a prepositional phrase)
What is an equational sentence?
A sentence that does not contain a verb.
The subject (which can be any noun or proper noun) is followed directly by the predicate (which can be any noun or adjective)
انا سمير
I am Samir
محمد طويل
Muhammad is tall
Definite noun with ل and object pronoun or other noun
The definite noun comes first and is followed by ل and noun
هذه السيارة له
This cares is belongs to him
هذا البيت لسميرة
This house is Samira’s
بما في ذلك
“Including”
The word ذلك can be replaced with ها or ه depending of the subject.
Past Future Tense
Created by:
كان + سوف / س + present tense verb
If subject mentioned add between verbs.
كنّا سنذهب آلى الشرق الأوسط
We were going to go to the Middle East.
Habitual past
Created by:
كان + present tense verb
كان سمير قد يزور آبه كل سنة
Samir used to visit his father every year.
Usually a time marker will accompany this sentence.
You can add قد between the verbs but not required.
If subject is mentioned add between verbs.
If both are mentioned, subject comes before قد
Interrogative: أَيْن
Means “where” and is only used in questions.
أين المديرُ؟
Where is the director?
To ask where someone is from…add مِن before أين,
(not to be confused with مَن)
مِن أين أنتَ؟
Where are you from?
Relative clause: مّما and الامر الذي
Means “which” and is used when a sentence is itself an antecedent
Followed by verb in masculine singular because ما as a relative pronoun is always masculine singular
كنت مريضا الامر الذي منعني من الذهاب الى الحديقة
I was sick which prevented me from going to the park.
Forming the Jussive
Take Present tense form.
All the conjugations that end in ُ become ْ
The ن on all other conjugations , except female plurals, fall off. If long vowel ي remains leave it, if و remains add Alif.
Using passive participles as passive noun adjective agreement
بحث = discuss
بحث عن = search
مبحوث = passive participle
الكتب المبحوثة the books were discussed
Noun / adjectives phrase agree in normal way.
الكتب المبحوث عنها the books were looked for
Since this verb uses a preposition, the passive particle is masculine singular, and the object pronoun is feminine singular to agree with الكتب which is also grammatically singular because it is a non human plural.
Negative commands
لا + jussive
Never add لا with positive command. Can’t do it ever.
Cognate accusative
Adding the verbal noun of the verb of a sentence for emphasis.
Usually it is indefinite and in the accusative followed by an adjective.
درس اللغة العربية دارسةَ طويلةَ
He studied the Arabic language for a long time.
He studied the Arabic language a long study (lit.)
أكرمني اكرماً عظيماً
He honored me greatly.
He honored me a great honor (lit.)
Can be without an adjective but it doesn’t emphasis it much.
Basics of Pausal form
Case endings at the end of a sentence or before any other natural pause are not pronounced.
هذا طالبٌ جديدٌ.
Will be pronounced jadid and not jadidun.
Determining plurals of words
You cannot determine the plural of a word. You just have to learn it
Although, most of the time the plural of The passive and active participles of a verb use the SMP
Particle أنَّ
Used the same way as إنَّ but not for قال and not to begin a sentence.
Case of word following الا in negative sentence
The word following الا is in whatever case it would have been in a traditional sentence
لا يقرأ احد هذه الجريدة الا الشبابُ
No one reads that newspaper except for young people.
Agreeing All Non human plurals
All non human plurals are grammatically feminine singular.
This effects all words having to do with a non human plural: verbs, adjectives, pronouns, nouns etc.
Definite noun + indefinite adjective
Definitive equational sentence:
الكتابُ جديدٌ
The book is new.
Interrogative: هل
Used to form yes or no questions. هل is placed at the beginning of the statement.
هل المديرُ بليدٌ؟
Is the manager a moron?
Comparative pattern
Elative + من
Always masculine and singular, never has nunation and indefinite only comes in nomnative and accusative/ genetive use fatha.
Marks of Nominative Case
ال—-ُ definite
—- ٌindefinite
*The indefinite nominative is technically two dhammas ُ ُ but is written shorthand like ُ
Result clause اذا conditional verb traditional use
- also usually in past tense but meaning is in future tense.
اذا ذهبت الى ذلك المطعم …اكلت طعاما عربيا ممتازا
If you go to that restaurant you will eat excellent Arabic food
حيث ان / لأن
Because / due to the fact that / since
Conditional لو result clause
Almost always in the past tense and proceeded by ل ( not mandatory but usually done)
لو قرأت الكتاب لفهمت قضية فلسطين
If you would have read the book, you would have understood the issue of Palestine.
Using ك as “like” / “as”
Combined to noun. Any noun following it must be in the genetive.
كرجل ….
As a man….
Written relative pronoun followed by prepositional phrase or predicate of equational sentence
Can be followed by both, he point is the following clause doesn’t have to contain a verb.
مَن الطالب الذي من الكويت؟
Who is the student that is from Kuwait?
Also a pronoun of separation can be added after relative pronoun, but isn’t necessary.
من الطالب الذي هو من الكويت؟
يجب ان
Must / should
Followed by verb in subjunctive conjugated for the person
يجب ان اذهبَ
I must go
Subjunctive can be replaced by verbal noun in nominative
The particle على is used in place of ان sometimes.
Sometimes the يجب is taken off and just used with conjugated على. The word يجب is implied.
Second/ subsequent word in idaafa
- Always in genitive
- Can only carry the definite article ال (last word)
(if definite, the whole idaafa is definite and if indefinite the whole idaafa is indefinite)
- can carry nunation (last word)
Masculine sound plurals in idaafa
If not last word in an idaafa: the ن falls off and either remains و in nomative or ي if accusative/genitive
If last word: it is ين
شاهدتُ مراسلي الجريدة
Negating Haal clauses
Use لا or وما before present tense verb
درس الطالب العربية وما يبتسم
The student studied Arabic while not smiling.
بعد / قبل with ما instead of ان
Works exactly the same way as ان.
Use of بعض with a verb
Following Verb : verb will be masculine singular regardless of noun or pronouns following بعض
يريد بعصهم الطعام
They want some food
Before verb: verb will agree in number and gender with pronoun or noun following بعض
بعضهن درسن العربية
Some of them studied Arabic
**rule isn’t always used*
Verb / Subject Agreement with nominal sentences
The verb matches in gender and number with the subject or subjects that comes before it.
المراسلون المصريون كتبوا المقالة.
The Egyptian reporters wrote the article
محمد سميرة وفريد كتبوا المقالة.
Muhammad, Samira and fareed wrote the article
Using كم in an exclamatory way
كم + من
You can say
كم من كتابِ قرأت!
How many books have I read!!
But you can also omit the من, but the noun will still be in the genetive case.
كاد / يكاد
Means to be on the verge of something/ almost
Most times used in past tense with a present tense verb following…translated as almost
كادنا نذهب….
We almost went
Sometimes there is an ان following كاد and the present tense verb will be in subjunctive. No change in meaning.
Verb agreement with multiple subjects
When several individual subjects are mentioned in a verbal sentence, the verb agrees with the subject immediately following it.
ذهبت سميرة ياسر وعرفات الى المطعم اراقي
Samira, Yasir and Arafat went to the Iraqi restaurant
Marks of Accusative case
Definite َ —-ال
Indefinite ً—–
If the word had a ة just add case endings like normal.
If it doesn’t have a ة and indefinite, add an Alif
كتاباً
Subjects and objects with كان
Works same way as ليس
Pronoun suffix + كل following a direct object of a verb.
Is added for emphasis.
قرأت الكتاب كلهُ
I read the book, all of it.
The pronoun suffix will always agree in gender and number to the direct object of verb.
قرأت المقالة كلها.
Sound Plural
A plural created by adding a suffix to the base of word.
Sound plurals also show gender and case
SFP in different cases
Nominative : اتٌ
Accusative / genitive : اتٍ
Meaning of لولا
Means “if not for”
Must be followed by a noun in the nominative.
لولا الاسلامُ لما انتشارت اللغة العربية
If not for Islam the Arabic language would not have spread.
Use following لو with a present tense verb
Can have the meaning of “if only”
Or “if such and such were so”
This usage usually comes after a verb like to wish, to desire.
وددت لو يستطيع المراسل ان فهمت كلمة عربية واحدة.
I wished that that reporter would have understood one word of Arabic.
Use of Genitive Case
- a noun or adjective following a preposition will always be in the genitive
- second and any subsequent words in an idaafa
Subject / Verb Agreement
In a verbal sentence, if the subject is plural and mentioned, the verb proceeding it will only match in gender (will be singular)
جلس الطلاب على كراسي
The students sat in the chairs
If any verbs follow the subject will agree on both gender and number
ذهب الطلاب في الصف وجلسوا على كراسي
The students went and sat on the chairs
If the subject isn’t mentioned, the initial verb will have both gender and plural
جلسوا على الكراسي
They sat on the chairs.
Mark signifying an elided hamza
Is a wasla and is written above the Alif
Conditional clauses as commands
Rarely, in proverbs and literary works the conditional particle is removed and the jussive is used, which also makes the verb in the result clause jussive.
ادرسْ هذه اللغة تكنْ ناجحاً
Study this language and you will be successful.
compound tense saying :
had / already have
Used to say “had”
كان + past tense verb
You can add قد between the verbs but not required.
If subject is mentioned add between verbs.
If both are mentioned, subject comes before قد
كنتُ درستُ اللغة العربية
I had studied Arabic.
كان سمير قد درس اللغة العربية
Samir had studied Arabic.
Hum, hunna, hu preceded by kasra
Becomes hi, hinna, him
في مكتِبهِ
In his office
Negating يجب ان
Put الا after يجب
يجب الا اذهبَ
I must not go
Also you can put لا before يجب to add different shade of meaning
لا يجب ان اذهب
It’s not necessary that I leave
Equational sentence + كان / كانت
Places sentence in past tense.
Nisba adjective
The relative noun in Arabic. Often used for place names by adding يّ on the end.
Example مصر = Egypt
مصريّ = Egyptian
To make it feminine you add يّة ex. مصرية
Places that have ال in their name like السودان you drop the ال and add nisba يّ or يّة if you want to make it indefinite. Reattach ال if you want to make definite.
سودانيّ / سودانية
A Sudanese male/female
السوداني / السودانية
The Sundanese make/ female
If the word you are making into an adjective ends in a Alif or an ة , just remove and place appropriate nisba
جمعة =
جمعيّ or جمعيّة
The nisba also carries a case ending
سواء كان
Whether …..or….
The meaning can be past or present because the verb is being used in a conditional sense.
SMP and Pronoun suffix
When you add a pronoun suffix you remove the ن like you do in idaafa
موظفوك
Your employees
Negate قد + present tense
Add لا between قد and present tense verb.
قد + past tense
Means already, has, had….
Kind of an intensifier a lot of times better to be left untranslated.
The two types of sentences of Arabic are….
Equational sentence and verbal sentence
Dummy pronouns
Always ه, used to be able to follow إنَّ with a verb.
Negating ل / كي / لكي / حتى
ل - لئلا
كي - كيلا
لكي - لكيلا
حتى - حتى لا
درست العربية، هي لغة سهلة، لئلا تدرس إسبانية، هي لغة صعبة
She studied Arabic, an easy language, in order not to study Spanish, a difficult language.
Use of بعض with definite plural noun
Can have a dual meaning that should be read with context.
قراتُ بعض الكتاب
I read some of the book
قرأت بعض الكتب
I read some books / I read some of the books
اريد ان أسألك بعض الأسئلة
I want to ask you some questions
not some of the questions**
Marks of Genitive case
Definite ِ —–ال
Indefinite ٍ—–
Adding object pronoun to verb conjugated for هم
Remove Alif on وا
Add object pronoun
درسوا
They studied
درسوه
They studied it
Object pronoun for first person singular
Is written ني
شاهدني
He saw me.
Equational sentences and بعض
The predicate will usually agree with noun following بعض
بعضُ المدرسين لبنانيون
Some of the teachers are Lebanese
Subjunctive + لن
Negates the future
very strong meaning*
Making conditionals past tense
Use a form of كان immediately after the conditional particle ان / اذا / لو
اذا كان ذهبت الى المطعم …
If you have gone to that restaurant…
You can also use قد in addition to كان…
اذا كان قد ذهبت…
The word قد will come after كان and before the other verb. If the subject is mentioned it will become between كان and قد…
اذا كان المدير قد ذهبت….
If the manager had gone…
Tamyiiz construct with a verb
When there is a verb involved and a verb has preposition use the normal preposition with the object.
If not, use ل
شركة في = participate
فهم = understand
هي اكثر من مني مشركةَ في البرنامج!
She participates in the program more than me!
هو أحسن منا فهمًا للعربية!
He understands Arabic more than us.
Hall construction with verb in following clause
Can be done the same way as without a verb, but additionally:
Verb can be replaced by its active participle. Must be indefinite, accusative and agree in gender and number.
ضحك الطالب قرائا عن الشرق الأوسط
The student laughed while reading about the Middle East.
If active participle is used in conjunction with و+ subject pronoun, the active participle goes back in the nomnative case
ضحك الطالب وهو قرائٌ عن الشرق الأوسط.
Negating كاد
When this is negated with ما and past tense or with لم and jussive. It has the meaning of “barely to have done something” / “almost not to have done something”
ما كدت افعله
I almost didn’t do it.
Can also mean “no sooner than” idiomatically.
Usual arrangement is ما كاد or لم يكد followed by subject Followed by present tense verb Second clause beginning with حتى Followed by past tense verb.
Meaning of اذا ما
When / whenever (emphasis)
Case of the objects of verbal nouns of transitive verbs.
The object of Verbal nouns from transitive verbs go in the accusative
Study is a transitive verb
تكلم عن دراسته الأزهارَ
The ه breaks up idaafa between دراسة and أزهار so ازهار goes in accusative.
The object can also take a ل and the object will then be genetive.
تكلم عن دراسته الازهارِ
Adjectives modifying nouns with pronoun suffixes
Have to be definite to match the noun, which is definite
كتابُكَ الجديدُ…
Your new book…
Meaning الكل
All of it
Or
Everyone (if it refers to people)
ك + انّ
Means as if….
تغني كأنها ملكٌ.
She sings as if she is an angel
The superlative as noun, adjective phrase
A noun adjective phrase can also be used in place of the superlative, of course this is very rare. But in this case the elative will have feminine singular and feminine masculine plurals.
أشهر رئيس
Can be written as:
الرئيس الأشهر
The use of ون and ين as a sound masculine Plural
The ون is used in nominative case
The ين is for both accusative and genitive.
Use of ل with verbs
Usually means “to”
استمعت للراديو
I listened to the radio.
Indefinite noun + indefinite adjective
Indefinite descriptive phrase:
كتابٌ جديدٌ
A new book…
Verb separated from subject by a one or more words
When this happens, the verb can doesn’t have to match the gender or number
حصل بعد سنوات من الجهد الموظفات على حقوقهن.
The employees obtained their rights after years of trying.
Case of word following الا in a positive sentence
The thing coming after الا is in the accusative case
يقرأ كل الناس هذه الجريدة الا الشبابَ.
Everyone reads this newspaper except young people.
رغم without انّ
Usually just means despite
Second clause starts with ف
Use of accusative case
Direct object of a verb
درستُ الكتابَ
I studied the book.
Demonstratives + definite (ال) noun
Creates a phrase of description
هذا الرجل..
This man…
These phrases are often times the subject of equational sentences.
Also, these two words create one unit…so when one of these descriptions follows a preposition for example the noun goes into the genitive even though it looks as its separate from the demonstrative and therefore not following the prepositions directly.
في ذلك الْبَيْتِ
In that house
Relative pronouns and ما and من
When also also result in the pronoun suffix ه attached with the verb.
ما قراته من كتبه…..
What I have read of his books…
اذا Conditional clause
- Heavy level of expectancy; means “if / when”
- usually verb is in past tense even though meaning is almost always present tense
اذا ذهبتَ الى ذلك المطعم….
If you go to that restaurant….
Word من + Superlative + definite plural
Means “among the most….of the…”
مكة من اجمل المدن في العالم.
Mecca is amongst the most beautiful cities in the world.
Haal construct + وقد + past tense verb
means “already having done something”
سافر الطالب الى مصر وقد درس العربية.
The student traveled to Egypt, having already studied Arabic.
Interrogative: ما
Means “what”. Not used with verbs or people.
ما هذا؟
What is this?
Use of بعض
A masculine singular noun meaning “some”
Usually followed by a definite noun or pronoun suffix. Creating an idaafa
Past tense verb + ما
Negative past tense
ما درستُ
I did not study
Verbal noun as a common noun
Verbal noun can be used as a regular old noun, usually it too is definite but can be indefinite as well.
لي عمل في هذا المكتب.
I have a job in this office.
Idaafa construct
Two nouns placed together to show possession.
Possessor (second) + possessed (first)
على انْ
On the condition that…./ provided that…
ستفهم اللغة العربية على ان تدرس كل يوم
You will understand Arabic provided you study everyday
بغض النظر عن / بصرف النظر عن
Used like”regardless”
Negating present tense
Put لا before present tense subject
The word ما and مَن agreement as relative pronouns
The word َمن can take any gender and be singular dual or plural.
The word ما is always treated as masculine singular.
Pronoun of separation with an idaafa
Sometimes pronouns of separation is optional. When a demonstrative is followed by an idaafa instead of a definite noun, the pronoun of separation becomes optional. But can be added for emphasis.
ما أهميةُ هذه المقالةِ؟
Or ما هي أهمية هذه المقالة؟
What is the importance of this article?
Note: هذه between أهمية and المقالة doesn’t break up the idaafa because remember demonstratives when followed definitive nouns become a unit and therefore can be inside idaafa.
Compound tense to say:
____ will have / had _____
Created by:
س + Present كان + past tense verb.
Subject and قد if mentioned comes between verbs.
سأكون قد كتبتُ الكتاب.
I will have written the book.
Tamyiiz construction
Many adjectives, especially participles of verb forms II - X do not fall into the comparative pattern. So you must find the active participle and add it to the proper elative.
Verbal noun is placed in the accusative and elative is combined with من.
مخلص = sincere اخلص = verb form IV اخلاص = verbal noun
سميرة اكثر من سمير اخلاصاً.
Samiira is more sincere than Samir
Broken plural
Plural created by changing interior of the word.
Idaafa with more than one adjective
The last term in idaafa is modified first and first term is modified last. All agreements of noun/adjectives still take place
1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1
(Adj.) (Nouns)
Meaning of ما اذا
Means “whether”
ما following a noun with
Means “some”.
Noun can be in any case necessary
Will always be indefinite with nunation.
بيتٌ ما
“Some house”
شخصٌ ما
“Some one”
Haal construct, negating past tense verbs
Use وما + past tense verbs
Or ولم + jussive verb
سافر الطالب الى مصر ولم يدرسْ العربية.
سافر الطالب الى مصر وما درس العربية.
The student traveled to Egypt not having studied Arabic.
Relative clause with Indefinite antecedent being subject of a verb
Verb just shows subject in its conjugation, no extra needed.
هو رجلٌ يعمل في المصنع
He is a man who works in a factory.
Man is the subject of verb.
Keeping an eye of subject and objects of ليس
Sentences can look the same with differences being the case of word following ليس
ليس المديرُ في هذا المكتب
Al mudeer has dhamma so it is the subject, followed by prepositional phrase.
The manager is not in this office.
ليس المديرَ في هذا المكتب
Al mudeer has fatha because it is the object of the verb laysa, so the subject is “he” which is apart of conjugation of ليس. So the meaning is
He is not the manager of this office.
قَبْل انْ
Before -
Must always be followed by subjunctive verb. Context will tell you past or future.
ذهب الى مصر قبل ان يدرسَ….
He went to Egypt before he studied…
يذهب الى مصر فبل ان يدرسَ….
He will go to Egypt before studying….
Gender in Arabic
Nouns and adjectives have gender either masculine or feminine.
Non human nouns; are arbitrarily assigned gender…سيارة (f) كتاب (m)
Human nouns and adjectives have f and m forms. Usually by adding or subtracting ة
What the impersonal passive is not.
The preposition that goes with the meaning of the verb is the preposition that matters. Not just any preposition.
درسنا الكتب في المكتبة.
We studied the books in the library.
في isn’t part of the meaning of درس
So when we make the verb in the passive, the subject of the sentence (the would be object of the preposition if there was one with this verb) is feminine singular, because it’s a non human plural.
دُرِست الكتب في المكتبة!
Words ما and مَن as relative pronouns
Can be used as relative pronouns. The object pronoun that goes on the verbs becomes optional. Unless the verb has a preposition, then it is mandatory.
هل ذكر المدير مَن حضر الاجتماع؟
Did the director mention who attended the meeting?
No object pronoun on verb, verb has preposition.
افهم ما تشير اليه
I understand what you’re pointing to.
Verb with preposition, object pronoun on preposition.
Nouns and adjectives not placed in case system
- Pronouns
- Singular demonstratives
- Words to form questions (أين ، من)
ئذٍ
Added as a Suffix on to a measure of time, to indicate “at that time, on that day, at that hour” etc.
يومئذ
The word is in the accusative
كاد in present tense
Means almost in present tense, unlike “ I almost went”
تكاد تفهمه
You almost understand it.
Past progressive
Usually the same as Past habitual but will also have some other past tense event happening along with the past progressive going on.
كان سمير يجلس على كرسي يشرب الشاي عندما الشرطي دخل وأخذ الى شجن .
Samir was sitting down drinking tea when a policemen came in and took him to jail.
Case
Nouns and adjectives are in a certain demonstrating grammatical function in a sentence.
Connecting and starting a sentence withقد that has a direct correspondence to the previous sentence
فقد
Use of SMP suffix
Used nouns and adjectives referring to human males or mixed group of humans
Use of كل + definite noun
Translate as “All”
كل الْكِتَابِ
All of the book
Also an idaafa
كل is a noun so it can be in any case
Idaafa with one adjective
Most idaafas will have only one adjective, and that adjective will modify the last term in idaafa. But not always,
The adjective will match the case, gender, number and definite, but the only guaranteed way they can be told apart is by case. But the case isn’t always written if reading. So…you need common sense and context and practice
Adding pronoun suffixes to nouns
Makes the noun definite, so it will not have tanwiin. And all pronoun suffixes will besides انا/ ي will end have case endings in vowel before suffix.
كتابٌ
A book
كتابُكَ
Your (m) Book
Notice tanwiin is gone. And since the noun is now definite and in nominative, it takes ُ before pronoun suffix
If following preposition, noun would go in genitive so it would become
في كتابِكَ
In your book.
The ي for انا doesn’t apply…
كتابي
My book
Equational sentence with ليس + ب
This construct can be used instead of putting the the predicate in the accusative.
ليس سمير بطالب.
Samir is not a student
ليس سمير طالباً.
Samir is not a student
ما + elative
Makes a verb of wonder
ما اجمل صون فروق.
How beautiful farooq’s voice is!!
This is always masculine singular
Noun following will always be in accusative case.
Indefinite noun + definite adjective
Is not possible - an adjective has to match with the noun it modifies.
Meaning of الا اذا
Means unless
ما + أنْ + present tense
Means “as soon as….”
ما ان يدخلَ الاستاذ الصف حتى يكتبَ كلمات الحكمة على اللوح.
As soon as the proffessor enters the classroom he writes words of wisdom on the board.
Second clause begins with حتى as well
Negating اذا result clause
Can be negated in any appropriate way….although using لم + jussive is extremely rare.
What is a Haal Clause / Construct?
A way of saying two things are happening at once. In English we get this by using words like “when or while”
Compound tenses and placement of subject and قد
Compound tenses are made up of two verb types.
If subject or قد is mentioned it will go between verbs
Verb + subject + verb
Or
Verb + قد + verb
If both subject and قد are mentioned, subject comes first:
Verb + قد + subject + verb
اداة التعريف
Definition tool - أل
الحروف الشمسية
Sun letters
الحروف القمرية
Moon letters
Noun(s)
اسم / أسماء
Adjective(s)
صفة / صفات
Preposition(s)
حرف الجرِّ / حروف الجرِّ
Nominal case
حالة الرفع
Genitive case
حالة الجرِّ
The name of the noun that changes from nominal to genitive case after a preposition
مجرور
Interrogation article
اداة استفهام
Masculine
مذّكر
Feminine
مؤنث
تاء مربوطة
ة
الف مقصورة
ى
الف ممدودة
اء
Three feminine endings
ة ، ى ، اء
Nominal sentence
الجملة الاسمية
Verbal sentence
الجملة الفعلية
Predicate of nominal sentence
الخبر
Subject of nominal sentence
المبتدأة
How many words can المبتدأ be?
It can only be one word and it will be a noun or pronoun
4 types of الخبر
- اسم
- الجملة الاسمية
- الجملة الفعلية
- Prepositional phrase
Case of final word in الخبر might not be in the حالة الرفع but technically will still be in حالة الرفع because it is the predicate of جملة اسمية
Verb of a verbal sentence
الفعل
Do’er of the verb in a verbal sentence
فاعل
The thing being done in a verbal sentence
مفعول
Two types of مفعول
- اسم
2. جر مجرور
Prepositional phrase; genitive construction
جر مجرور
Case of اسم as مفعول
حالة النصب
Accusative case
حالة النصب
Case of مفعول when الجرِّ المجرور
حالة الجرِّ
Possession construction
الإضافة
First noun; possessed noun of اضافة
مضاف
Second noun; possessor noun of اضافة
مضاف اليه
Definite
معرف
Indefinite
نكرة
There are two types الف
همزة القطع
همزة الوصل
Alif where the sound is always pronounced
همزة القطع
Alif where sound isn’t pronounced if proceeded by another word
همزة الوصل
Indeclinable words
الكلمات المبنية
Words that don’t change to show their function
Types of indeclinable words
الضمير - pronouns
اداة استفهام - interrogation articles
اسم إشارة - demonstratives
حرف الجرِّ - prepositions
Grammatical case
إعراب
Noun that is described by صفة
موصوف
Adjective clause
المركب الوصفي
Adjectives that deal with feelings
Usually end in ان and take no تنوين
Relative pronoun
اسم موصول
Pronoun that shows relation between two nouns
هذا الباب [الذي] امام المسجد
What is an antecedent?
An antecedent is the noun that is being referred to in a relative clause by a relative pronoun
The man : antecedent
Who: relative pronoun
Lives there: predicate
The man who lives there : relative clause
What happens when a relative clause has an indefinite antecedent?
No relative pronoun is written
هو رجلٌ يعمل في المدرسة
He is the man who works in the school.
Indefinite nouns cant begin sentences so it will start with another word
Relative clause with an indefinite antecedent as the subject of the verb
The verb will be conjugated to agree with the antecedent
هو رجلٌ يعمل في المدرسة
He is a man who works in the school
Man is the antecedent therefore it has to be mentioned
It is also the subject of the verb so it is conjugated masculine singular يعمل
رجل يعمل
Work together to create =
man that works
Man who works
Relative clause with an indefinite antecedent that is the object of the verb
The verb is conjugated for its subject and on the end of it is placed an object pronoun referring to the antecedent
هذه فكرة سمعتها أمس
This is an idea that I heard yesterday
Idea is the antecedent so it must be mentioned
I am the subject so the verb سمع is translated to first person past making it سمعت : I heard
The antecedent is feminine and the object of the verb, because the idea is being heard so it takes ها and is placed on the end of the verb making سمعتها
Relative clauses with definite antecedent
Relative pronoun must be written
Relative clauses with definite antecedent subject of verb
No object pronoun needs to go on verb
Relative clauses with definite antecedent object of verb
Object pronoun agreeing with antecedent must be added to the end of conjugated verb
Does a relative clause have to contain a verb?
No it doesn’t, just like Arabic equational sentences don’t need a verb, neither do these
Does a relative clause have to contain a verb?
No it doesn’t, just like Arabic equational sentences don’t need a verb, neither do these
Superlative in relative clauses
Superlatives are made by making indefinite elative + indefinite noun
Many superlatives are antecedents for relative clauses. Since they are indefinite a relative will not be written.
Many times it will also be the object of a verb so it will take an object pronoun that agrees with antecedent
هذا اكبر بناء شاهدتُهُ في القاهرة
This is the biggest building I’ve seen in Cairo
