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 preposition اٍسْم مَجْرُور. | كِتَاب – a book أَحْمَد – Ahmed شَجَرَة – a tree كَلْب – a dog خَطَر – a danger | اِسْم Noun |
| The نَكِرَة in Arabic is a noun that is indefinite (i.e., it does not refer to a specific entity). The indefiniteness marker is Arabic is the tanween. It is added to the end of words. | كِتَابٌ شَجَرَةً كَلْبٍ خَطَرٌ | ٌنَكِرَة |
| The definite noun in Arabic is noun that refers to a specific entity. A نَكِرَة is made مَعْرِفَة by prefixing ال (e.g., الْخَطَرُ) or suffixing possessive pronoun ضَمِيْر مِلْكِيَّة (e.g., كِتَابُهَا). | كِتَابُهَا – her book الشَّجَرَةُ كَلْبُهُم – their dog الْخَطَرُ | ٌمَعْرِفَة |
| The masculine noun in Arabic is a noun that denotes a male person, animal, or thing. It is almost always the default form from which the feminine noun is derived. | مُدَرِِّسٌ – a teacher أَسَدًا – a lion قَلَمٍ – a pen لَاعِبٌ – a player | مُذَكَّر |
| The feminine noun in Arabic is a noun that denotes a female person, animal, or thing. It usually ends with ـة taa marbuta. So, most masculine nouns are changed to feminine nouns by adding the feminine prefix ـة. The taa marbuta is called the feminine marker. | مُدَرِّسَةٌ طَبِيبَةٌ صَدِيقَةٌ لَاعِبَةٌ سَيَّارَةٌ – a car بَقَرَةٌ – a cow | ٌمُؤَنَّث |
| The weak letters are basically the long vowels. They are called weak because they are affected in process of verb conjugation; that is, they are dropped or replaced by another weak letter. | ا – الْأَلِف و – الْوَاو ي – الْيَاء | أَحْرُفُ الْعِلَّةِ the weak letters |
| The regular/strong verb is the verb of which the root does not include a weak letter. It is called regular/strong because its root letters don’t change when conjugated with different nouns/pronouns. | شَرَحَ – he explained نَزَلَ – he came down شَجَّعَ – he encouraged اِنْفَعَلَ – he got emotional | a regular/strong verb |
| The irregular/weak verb is the verb the root of which includes a weak letter. It is weak because its root letters (namely the weak ones) change when conjugated. | قَامَ – he stood up وَجَدَ – he found بَاعَ – he sold رَمَى – he threw | فِعْلٌ مُعْتَلٌ an irregular/weak verb |
| The basic/simple verb is the verb the root of which can include three, four, or five letters. None of these letters can be dropped as they are essential to its meaning. Take the word صَاَمَ. If [alif] is dropped from it, the remainder صَمْ has no meaning. | قَطَعَ – he cut صَامَ – he fasted وَصَلَ – he arrived حَفِظَ – he memorized / kept تَكَلَّمَ – he spoke بَعْثَرَ – he scattered | a simple/basic verb |
| The complex verb is verb the root of which includes one, two, or three additional letters. If the additional letter(s) is/are dropped, it still has a related meaning. If the [alif] is dropped from شَاهَدَ, the remainder شَهِدَ still has meaning that is related to شَاهَدَ. | شَاهَدَ – he watched خَمَّنَ – he guessed أَوْقَفَ – he detained اِجْتَمَعَ – he met with اِسْتَخْرَجَ – he extracted | فِعْلٌ مَزِيدٌ a complex verb |
| The intransitive verb is the verb that does not require an object مَفْعُول to make a complete sentence. That is, the verb and the subject الْفَاعِل form a meaningful sentence. | نَزَل: نَزَلَ الْمَطَر – the rain fell قَامَ: قَامَ الْوَلَدُ – the boy stood up اِنْفَعَلَ: اِنْفَعَلَتِ الْبِنْتُ – the girl got emotional وَصَل: وَصَلَ الْأُسْتَاذُ – the teacher arrived | فِعْلٌ لَازِمٌ an intransitive verb |
| The transitive verb is the verb that requires an object مَفْعُول to form a complete sentence. That is, without an object, the verb and the subject does not form a meaningful sentence. | شَجَّعَ: شَجَّعْنَا نَادَالَ – we cheered Nadal up شَرَحَ: شَرَحْتُ الدَّرْسَ – I explained the lesson شَاهَدَ: شَاهَدْتُ الْمُبَارَاةَ – I watched the match بَاعَ: بَاعَ سَمِيْرٌ سَيَّارَتَهُ – Samir sold his car | فِعْلٌ مُتَعَدِّيٌ a transitive verb |
| The perfective verb is the past form of the verb. It expresses an action that started and finished at some/specific point in the past. | قَطَعُوا – they(m) cut صِمْنَ – they (f) fasted سَارَ – he walked وَعَدْتُ – I promised | فِعْلٌ مَاضٍ / مَاضِي a perfective verb |
| The imperfective verb is the present form of the verb. It expresses an action that happens habitually or is happening at the time of speaking. | يَقْطَعُون – they cut / are cutting يَصِمْنَ – they fast /are fasting يَسِيرُ – he walks أَعْدُ – I promise | فِعْلٌ مُضَارِعٌ an imperfective verb |
| The three-letter verb is the verb that is composed of three letters. شَرَحَ = شَ + رَ + حَ. | كَتَبَ صَامَ شَرَحَ وَعَدَ | فِعْلٌ ثُلَاثِيٌّ a three-letter verb |
| The four-letter verb is the verb that is composed of four letters. In شَجَّعَ, the ج is doubled, i.e. ـجَّـ = ـجْـجَـ, hence شَ + جْ + جَ + عَ. | بَعْثَرَ شَجَّعَ شَاهَدَ أَوْقَفَ | فِعْلٌ رُبَاعِيٌّ a four-letter verb |
| The five-letter verb is the verb that is composed of five letters. In تَكَلَّمَ, the ل is doubled, hence تَ + كَ + لْ + لَ + مَ. | اِنْفَعَلَ اِجْتَمَعَ اِنْكَسَرَ تَكَلَّمَ | فِعْلٌ خُمَاسِيٌّ a five-letter verb |
| The six-letter verb is the verb that is composed of six letters; hence, اِسْتَغْفَرَ = اِ + سْ + تَ + غْ + فَ + ر. | اِسْتَغْفَرَ اِسْتَخْدَمَ اِسْتَفْهَمَ | فِعْلٌ سُدَاسِيٌّ a six-letter Verb |
| It is the pronoun that can stand alone, i.e. not attached to another word. You will learn about the dual pronouns in future lessons. | أَنَا ، نَحْنُ أَنْتَ ، أَنْتِ ، أَنْتُم ، أَنْتُنَّ هُوَ ، هِيَ ، هُم ، هُنَّ | a separate / personal pronoun |
| It is an attached pronoun that is added to the end of nouns to denote ownership. | أَنَا: ـي، نَحْنُ: ـنَا (كِتَابِي ، كِتَابُنَا) أَنْتَ: ـكَ ، أَنْتِ: ـكِ (كِتَابُكَ ، كِتَابُكِ) أَنْتُم: ـكُم ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـكُنَّ (كِتَابُكُم ، كِتَابُكُنَّ) هُوَ: ـه ، هِيَ: ـهَا (كِتَابُهُ ، كِتَابُهَا) هُم: ـهُم ، هُنَّ: ـهُنَّ (كِتَابُهُم ، كِتَابُهُنَّ) | ضَمِيْر مِلْكِيَّة |
| It is the subject attached pronoun that is appended to the verb to denote the subject / doer. | أَنَا: ـتُ ، نَحْنُ: ـنَا أَنْتَ: ـتَ ، أَنْتِ: ـتِ ، أَنْتُم: ـتُم ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـتُنَّ هُم: ـوا ، هُنَّ: ـنَ | ضَمِيْر فَاعِل مُتَّصِل an attached subject pronoun |
| It is the object attached pronoun that is appended to the verb to denote the object. If added to a preposition, it is its object اِسْم مَجْرُور. | أنَا: ـي (ضَرَبَنِي) ، نَحْنُ: ـنَا ( ضَرَبَنَا) أَنْتَ: ـكَ (ضَرَبَكَ) ، أَنْتِ: ـكِ (ضَرَبَكِ) أَنْتُم: ـكُم (ضَرَبَكُم) ، أَنْتُنَّ: ـكُنَّ (ضَرَبَكُنَّ) هُوَ: ـهُ (ضَرَبَهُ) ، هِيَ: ـهَا (ضَرَبَهَا) هُم: ـهُم (ضَرَبَهُم) ، هُنَّ: ـهُنَّ (ضَرَبَهُنَّ) | ضَمِيْر مَفْعُول مُتَّصِل an attached object pronoun |
| It is a subject pronoun that does not appear on the verb. Instead, it is implied and can be inferred from the prefix on the verb. | أَكْتُبُ: (أَنَا) ، نَكْتُبُ: نَحْنُ تَكْتُبُ: (أَنْتَ) كَتَب ، يَكْتُبُ : (هُو) كَتَبَتْ ، تَكْتُبُ: (هِيَ) | ضَمِيْر مُسْتَتِر a covert pronoun |
| A preposition in Arabic is a word that is always followed by a noun / an attached pronoun. | ِمِنْ: مِنَ الْيَمَنِ ، إِلَى: إِلَى الْبَيْت ِتَحْتَ: تَحْتَ الطَّاوِلَةِ ، فَوْقَ: فَوْقَ الشَّجَرَة عَلَى: عَلَيْهُم ، فِي: فِيهََا | حَرْف جَر a preposition |
| The topic is the noun or pronoun with which we start the nominal sentence (see below). It is almost always definite مَعْرِفَة. | الطَّالِبُ ، هُوَ ، هَذَا ، أَنَا البَيْتُ ، السَّيَارةُ ، نَحْنُ | مُبْتَدَأ a subject / topic |
| The predicate is a proper noun, a noun, an adjective, or prepositional phrase (see below) that completes the nominal sentence. If it is a noun or an adjective, it is always indefinite (except pronoun nouns and nouns with attached possessive pronouns). | ٌجَدِيدٌ ، كَبِيرَةٌ ، ذَكِيٌّ ، كِتَابِي ، مُحَمَّد ِمِنَ الْيَمَنِ ، فِي الْبيتِ ، خَلْفَ السَّيَّارَة | خَبَر a predicate |
| A semi-sentence is generally a preposition or an adverb followed by a noun. Words like خَلْفَ and تَحْتَ are referred to as an adverb ظَرْف in Arabic. | ِمِنْ الْيَمَنِ ِفِي الْبَيْت ِخَلْفَ السَّيَارَة ِفَوْقَ الشَّجَرَة | شِبْه جُمْلَة a semi-sentence / prepositional phrase |
| The nominal sentence is the sentence that starts with a noun. it has two parts: a subject / topic مُبْتَدَأ and a predicate خَبَر. | هَذَا كِتَابِي. هُوَ مُحَمْدٌ. السَّيَّارَةُ جَدِيْدَةٌ. أَنَا مِنَ الْيَمَنِ. الطَّالِبُ ذَكِيٌّ. | a nominal sentence |
| The subject is a noun / a proper noun that functions as the doer/agent of the verb/the action (see below). | ٌّطَالِبٌ ، الطَّالِبُ ، قِط ٌّالْكَلْبُ ، فَاطَمَةُ ، عَلِي | فَاعِل a subject |
| The object is a noun / a proper noun that functions as the receiver of the action (see below). | طَالِبًا ، الطَّالِبَ ، قِطًّا الْكَلْبَ ، فَاطَمَةَ ، عَلِيًّا | مَفْعُول an object |
| The verb sentence is the sentence that starts with a verb. It is composed of a verb and a subject (with intransitive verbs) or a verb, a subject, and an object (with transitive verbs). | نَزَلَ الْمَطَرُ. شَرَحْتُ الدَّرْسَ. بَاعَ سَمِيرٌ سَيَّارَتَهُ. وَصَلَ الْأُسْتَاذُ. | a verbal sentence |
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