The Basic Arabic Nominal Sentence

The basic Arabic nominal sentence is الْجُمْلَةُ الْاِسْمِيَّةُ الْبَسِيطَة. It consists of two parts: the subject (also called topic)  الْمُبْتَدَأ and the predicate الْخَبَر. The subject, which the sentence starts with, is  almost always a definite (مَعْرِفَة) noun, such as الْبَيْت  ‘the house’, الرَّجُل ‘the man’, الْجَامِعَة ‘the university’, كِتَابِي ‘my book’ صَدِيقُهُ ‘his friend’, بَابُ الْبَيْتِ ‘the door of the house’ and so forth. The predicate can be an indefinite (نَكِرَة) noun, such as رَجُلٌ ‘a man’; an indefinite adjective, such as جَمِيلَة ‘beautiful’; or a prepositional phrase, such as فِي الْبَيْتِ ‘in the house.’

What is the definite noun in Arabic?

The definite noun in Arabic is the noun that starts with the definite article الْ‘the’, such as الْبَيْتُ ‘the house’, الْكِتَابُ ‘the book’, and الْجَامِعَةُ ‘the university.” Also, it is the noun that is followed by an attached possessive pronoun, such as بَيْتُهُ ‘his house’, كِتَابِي ‘my book’, and جَامِعَتُنَا ‘our university.” Further, proper nouns (i.e. names of people and places), such as مُحَمَّد, سَارَة, and مِصْر ‘Egypt’; pronouns, such as أَنَا ‘I’, هُم ‘they’, and أَنْتَ ‘you sing.’; and demonstrative pronouns, such as هَذَا ‘this’ are definite nouns. In addition, the first noun in the genitive constructions (called إِضَافَة in Arabic), such as كِتَابُ الْمُدَرِّسِ ‘the teacher’s book’, مَكْتَبُ الْمُدِيرِ ‘the manager’s office’, and بَابُ الْبَيْتِ ‘the door of the house’ is a definite noun. Here are more examples: 

الْهَاتِف  the phone	السَّيْدَة  the lady	أَخِي my brother	زَمِيلُهُ his classmate
الْجَو  the weather	حَقِيبَتِي my bag	التُّفَّاحَة  the apple	مَدِينَتُكُم your (pl) city
الْيَمَن  Yemen	مَدْرَسَتُنَا our school	اللُّغَة  the language	الْمَطْعَم  the restaurant
هَذَا  this (m)	الصُّورَة  the picture	هِيَ  she	خَطُّهَا her handwriting
أَنَا  I	هَذِهِ  this (f)	تِلْكَ  that (f)	الْبَاص  the bus
قَلَمُ الْبِنْتِ  the girl’s pen	ذَيْلُ الْقِطِّ tail of the cat	سَيَّارَةُ سَامَ  Sam’s car	كُرَةُ الْوَلَدِ  the boy’s ball

We use the definite noun, as in the above examples, at the start of the nominal sentence. Grammatically, it is called مُبْتَدَأ, that is a subject or a topic.

What is the indefinite noun and adjective?

The indefinite noun is the noun that does not refer to a specific entity/object. That is, it does not include any of the definiteness markers stated above. As for the adjective, it is indefinite when الْ is not prefixed to it. Following are some examples: 

طَالِب  a student	جَدِيد  new	مُهَنْدِس an engineer	كَبِير big
جَمِيل  beautiful	سَيَّارَة  a car	ذكِيّ  smart	مَطْعَم  a restaurant
صَيْدَلِي  a pharmacist	حَار  hot	بَارِد  cold	شَاي  tea
لَذِيذ  delicious	خَيْمَة  a tent	سَائِق  a driver	صَعْب  difficult

We use the indefinite noun/adjective to complete the meaning of the subject or topic مُبْتَدَأ of the nominal sentence. In grammar terms, it is called a predicate خَبَر. Hence, the nominal sentence is a subject مُبْتَدَأ + a predicate خَبَر, as in (1), (3), (6), (7), (9), (10), (11), and (12) in the table below. 

What is a prepositional phrase?

A prepositional phrase شِبْهُ جُمْلَة  (literally means semi-sentence) is composed of a preposition حَرْفُ جَر, such as فِي ‘in’, مِنْ ‘from’, فَوْقَ ‘on’, and alike, followed by a definite noun, hence فِي الْغُرْفَةِ ‘in the room’, مِنَ مِصْرَ ‘from Egypt’, and فَوْقَ الْكُرْسِي ‘on the chair.’ Following are some more examples: 

مِنَ الْيَمَنِ   from Yemen	فِي الْبَيْتِ   in the house
دَاخِلَ اْلغُرْفَةِ   inside the room	تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ   under the tree
أَمَامَ السَّيَّارَةِ   in front of the car	خَلْفَ الْمَدْرَسَةِ   behind the school

Similar to the indefinite noun/adjective, we use the prepositional phrase to complete the meaning of the subject or topic مُبْتَدَأ of the nominal sentence. Grammatically, the whole phrase is a prepositional phrase predicate خَبَرُ شِبْهِ جُمْلَة. Hence, the nominal sentence, in this case, is a subject + a prepositional phrase, as in (2), (4), (5), and (8) in the table below.

To summarize, the basic nominal sentence in Arabic is composed of two parts: the subject الْمُبْتَدَأ and the predicate الْخَبَر. The subject is always a definite noun, and the predicate is an indefinite noun, an indefinite adjective, or a prepositional phrase, as in the following table: 

الْجُمْلَةُ الْاِسْمِيَّة	الْمُبْتَدَأ	الْخَبَر
(1) الْهَاتِفُ جَدِيْدٌ.  The phone is new	الْهَاتِفُ	جَدِيدٌ
(2) أَنَا مِنَ الْيَمَنِ.  I am from Yemen	أَنَأ	مِنَ الْيَمَنِ
(3) الرَّجُلُ مُهَنْدِسٌ.  The man is an engineer	الرَّجُلُ	مُهَنْدِسٌ
(4) مِصْرُ فِي أَفْرِيقِيَا.  Egypt is in Africa	مِصْرُ	فِي أَفْرِيْقِيَا
(5) السَّيَّارَةُ أَمَامَ البَيْتِ.  The car is in front of the house	السَّيَّارَةُ	أَمَامَ البَيْتَِ
(6) التُّفَّاحَةُ لَذِيذَةٌ.  The apple is delicious	التُّفَّاحَةُ	لَذِيذَةٌ
(7) هَذِهِ خَيْمَةٌ.  This is a tent	هَذِهِ	خَيْمَةٌ
(8) بَيْتُنَا خَلْفَ المَدْرَِسَةِ.  Our house is behind the school	بِيْتُنَا	خَلْفَ المَدْرَسَةِ
(9) هِيَ طَبِيْبَةٌ.  She is a physician	هِيَ	طَبِيْبَةٌ
(10) هُوَ طَالِبٌ.  He is a student	هُوََ	طَالِبٌ
(11) الْجَوُ جَمِيلٌ.  The weather is beautiful	الْجَوُ	جِمِيْلٌ
(12) صَدِيقُ سَامَ قَصِيرٌ.  Sam’s friend is short	صَدِيقُ سَامَ	قَصِيرٌ

Using the list of words in this lesson and the previous lesson, try to write basic simple sentences. Then, try the following test, paying attention to both form and meaning of words.