Course Code: TAS004A

Saqib Hussain
Saqib Hussain 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced stored or
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Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................................2
1 Definite and Indefinite Nouns, and the Nominal Sentence....................................................3
2 Adecti!es and Definiteness A"reement..................................................................................#
3 $ender......................................................................................................................................1%
4 The $rammatical Cases and &re'ositions............................................................................22
% (er)s * The &erfect Tense.......................................................................................................30
+ Dual Nouns...............................................................................................................................3,
- &lural Nouns............................................................................................................................43
, The Detached &ronouns and the Irre"ular Nominal Sentence...........................................%1
# The Im'erfect Tense and Ne"ati!e (er)al Sentences..........................................................%+
10 .sin" !er)s and adecti!es correctl/.....................................................................................+1
#
Introduction
$his is the first part of a series of four courses %Basic Arabic Grammar: Parts A - D&. 'y the end of
the fourth course students should be able to recognise almost all of the grammatical constructions in
any Arabic te(t and understand the te(t !ith the use of an appropriate dictionary.
$his first part focuses on correctly forming basic nominal and verbal sentences.
$here are ten video lessons !hich accompany this te(tboo). Students !ill also need the follo!ing
te(ts to derive the ma(imum benefit from this course*
'asic Arabic +rammar* ,art A - Ans!er .ey
/ocabulary $ic)ets ,ac)
$his grammar course assumes an understanding of the Arabic alphabet and vo!el system and the
basic rules for reading and !riting Arabic as covered in the course Reading and Writing the Arabic
Script %$AS00#A&.
"t is suggested that students !or) through the ten chapters in this course in the follo!ing manner*
#. 0ead through each chapter1
2. 2atch the video lesson for the chapter1
3. 0e-read the chapter - you should no! have a thorough understanding of the main grammar
points covered1
4. 5emorise the vocabulary for the chapter using the /ocabulary $ic)ets ,ac)1
6. Attempt all of the translation e(ercises in !riting chec) your ans!ers in the Ans!er .ey
and ma)e sure you7ve understood any mista)es that you made1
8. As you !or) through the te(tboo) periodically revie! the translation e(ercises from prior
chapters until you7re able to complete them orally !ithout hesitation.
'efore beginning this grammar course students should read through the course Introduction to
Learning Arabic %$AS003A& !hich e(plains ho! the vocabulary lists are organised and gives a
vocabulary memori9ation technique.
2
1 Definite and Indefinite Nouns, and the Nominal Sentence
A The Noun in Arabic
Arabic nouns are either indefinite or definite.
"ndefinite nouns ta)e a tan!:n on their final letter and are generally translated into ;nglish using
the !ord 7a7*
a boy `
a boo) `
a man `
$o ma)e these nouns definite !e remove the tan!:n and fi( the !ord 1 to the beginning of the
!ord. $his is generally translated using the !ord 7the7*
the boy `
the boo) `
the man ``
<nli)e in ;nglish ad=ectives in Arabic are also either definite or indefinite =ust li)e the nouns. 2e7ll
come bac) to this point in the ne(t chapter.
B The Nominal Sentence
$he most basic sentence in Arabic is called the nominal sentence. $his is of the form 7> is?are @7
such as 7$he boy is tall7 or 7$he boo)s are big.7
> is usually a definite noun and is )no!n as the subect. @ is usually an indefinite noun or an
indefinite ad=ective and is called the predicate.
$his is illustrated belo!. Note that in Arabic !e don7t have a !ord for 7is?are7 in the nominal
sentence.
3
Aonsider the follo!ing nominal sentences*
$he door is big ` ``
$he man is a teacher `` `'
C The Singular Detached Pronouns
2e can replace the sub=ect of a nominal sentence !ith a pronoun. Bor e(ample rather than saying
7$he man is tall7 !e might !ant to say 7He is tall7. $he Arabic pronouns !e use for this replacement
are called the detached pronouns.
Cetached pronouns are fully covered in Ahapter D1 only the singular forms are given here. Note
there are different !ords for 7you7 in Arabic for addressing a male and a female person. 2e7 ll
differentiate in ;nglish by using SRm %singular masculine& and SRf %singular feminine& in subscript.
" '
#
you
S0m
.`'
you
S0f
.`'
he?it
2
`
she?it
# $he of ' # is silent so it is pronounced as if it !ere* .' # .
2 Note that there is no separate pronoun for 7it7. "nstead !e =ust use ` 1 or 1 depending on !hether the sub=ect
being referred to is masculine or feminine respectively %see Ahapter 3&.
4
is/are
tall is The man

The Nominal
Sentence
English Example
Arabic Example
PRDICAT S!B"CT
Aonsider the follo!ing sentences*
@ou
S0m
are tall .`' `,~
He is short ` ``.
" am young ' ``.
D !sing #And# in the Nominal Sentence
$he !ord for 7and7 in Arabic is 1 . "ts use in the nominal sentence is very intuitive. Aonsider the
follo!ing nominal sentences each of !hich has more than one predicate %note that !e !rite the 1
together !ith the follo!ing !ord !ithout a space bet!een them&*
$he door is big and beautiful ` `` `
$he man is a teacher and a student `` `' `.~
$he street is long and !ide `_` `,~ `_
7And7 can also be used to lin) t!o nominal sentences together*
$he sea is big and the river is small ``- `` ``,` ``.
$he man is a teacher and the boy is a student `` `' ` `.~
$he chair is old and the door is ne! '` `,`, ` ``,
6
$ocabular%
man E ,F `
boy son E ,F `.`' `
teacher E ,F ' `'
student E 2,FS
3
~ . `~ `.~
river E ,F `,`' ``,
sea E 2,FS ``-`,' . `-, ``-,
boo) E ,F `.` `
street E ,F `_ `_
4
chair E ,F ' `
door1 chapter E ,F ``,' `,
the Nile ``
big great E ,F
6
` ``
small young E ,F `. ``.
old ancient E ,F . `,`,
ne! E 2,FS ``` . `` ``,
long tall E ,F ~ `,~
short E ,F `. ``.
beautiful handsome E ,F `
3 A single Arabic !ord may have a number of plurals. $his is true of a fe! ;nglish !ords too %e.g. the plurals of
antenna are antennas and antennae the plurals of fungus are fungi and funguses& but is much more common in
Arabic.
4 Notice that unli)e most of the other !ords here `_ 1 doesn7t have a tan!:n ending. Such !ords are called
diptotes and !ill be covered in Basic Arabic Grammar: Part B. Bor no! treat such !ords li)e any other e(cept
that they must ne!er ha!e a tan01n endin". @ou !ill also encounter other odd-loo)ing plurals in the vocabulary
lists %e.g. ' 1 in Ahapter 3 and 1 in Ahapter #0&1 these !ords should of course be learnt but !ill be dealt
!ith in Basic Arabic Grammar: Part B.
6 5any Arabic ad=ectives have plurals. $his is needed for agreement bet!een nouns and ad=ectives %see Ahapter G&.
8
bro)en ```
broad !ide `_
Translation &ercises
!"ercise #A
.` `
.`.= `.
.``, `.
. .`,~ '
~ .`,`, ``
.``, ``
.`` ``-
.``` `,`, `
- .` `,`, `
.``. ` .``. `.=
.` ` .`,~ '`
.` ``. `
.` `_ `` `
. .` ' ` .`'
~ .`,~ `,`, ``,` ``. ``, `_`
!"ercise #B
#. $he river and the sea.
2. A boo) and a chair.
3. $he street is long.
4. He is a boy.
G
6. $he Nile is ancient.
8. " am a student and you
S0m
are a teacher.
G. $he door is tall.
D. $he sea is small and beautiful.
9. $he door is beautiful. "t is big.
#0. $he boy is young and short.
##. $he man is big and the boy is tall.
#2. @ou
S0m
are tall and he is short.
#3. $he chair is big old and bro)en
8
.
#4. $he teacher is tall and the student is short.
#6. $he boo) is small and ne! and the chapter is short and beautiful.
8 $his should be translated as if it !ere* 7$he chair is big and old and bro)en.7 As a general rule in Arabic !e use 1
to separate items in a list li)e the three predicates in this e(ample !here in ;nglish !e !ould use commas.
D
' Ad(ecti)es and Definiteness Agreement
A Ad(ecti)al Agreement
$here are t!o things !e must remember about ad=ectives in Arabic*
Birstly they come after the nouns that they describe unli)e in ;nglish !here they occur before the
nouns. So !hereas in ;nglish !e !ould say 7a narro! s!ord7 in Arabic !e say 7a s!ord narro!7*
``. `.` 1 .
Secondly the ad=ective must agree !ith the noun it describes in four !ays*
1. Definiteness
"f the noun is definite its ad=ective must also be definite1 if the noun is indefinite its
ad=ective must also be indefinite.
$% Gender
HSee Ahapter 3I
&% 'ase
HSee Ahapter 4I
(% )umber
HSee Ahapters 8 and GI
$his chapter !ill focus on definiteness agreement. Aonsider the follo!ing phrases in !hich the
ad=ectives agree !ith their nouns in being definite or indefinite*
a narro! s!ord ``. `.`
the narro! s!ord ```. `.``
a clean cup `.`= .-`
the clean cup `.`=` .-`
a narro! ugly dirty house `_ `_` ``. `.`,
9
the narro! ugly dirty house `_ `_` ```. `.`
Note that !hen there is a series of ad=ectives as in the last t!o e(amples each one must agree !ith
its noun in the four !ays described above.
B Ad(ecti)es in the Nominal Sentence
2e can no! ma)e our nominal sentences more sophisticated by giving the sub=ect and?or the
predicate their o!n ad=ectives. $his is illustrated belo!*
Aonsider the follo!ing sentences*
The narro* house is clean ```. `
The good teacher is short v `- `=|
The ugl+ "arden is hot and dirt/ .. `_` _- `_
C *orming +uestions
'y putting the particle 1 or the particle ' 1 in front of a statement !e turn that statement into a
question %note that li)e the 1 !e !rite the ' 1 together !ith the follo!ing !ord !ith no space
bet!een them&*
@ou
S0m
are tall `,~ .`'
#0
is/are
`. `- `,=
The Nominal
Sentence
,-ith ad(s.
Arabic Example
PRDICAT
+ ADJ.
S!B"CT
+ ADJ.
English Example a good doctor is The tall man
Are you
S0m
tallJ `,~ .`'
He is short ``. `
"s he shortJ ``. `'
$he narro! house is clean `.` ```. `.`=
"s the narro! house clean
G
J `.` ```. `.`=
$he good teacher is short ``. `- `.
"s the good teacher shortJ ``. `- `.
"n response to such questions the !ord for 7yes7 is `, 1 and the !ord for 7no7 is . 1 .
Kuestions are fully covered in Ahapter #9.
G 2hen !e put the particle 1 in front of a !ord !hich begins !ith a connecting ham9ah such as 1 !e
encounter the double-su,-n problem* the of 1 and the of 1 both have a su)Ln and they are consecutive
letters %remember !e7re ignoring the connecting ham9ah&. $o ma)e the !ord pronounceable !e have to give the
first a )asrah !hich turns it into* 1 . $his is the default !ay to avoid double-su)Lns* change the first su)Ln to
a )asrah.
##
$ocabular%
garden E ,F .``, ``,
stone E ,F `-- `-`-'
house E ,F `.`, `.```,
!all E ,F - .=`-
pen E ,F `, `'
cup E ,F .-` ``
plate E ,F ``-. .``-`.
lesson E ,F `` ````
s!ord E ,F `.` ````
clean E ,F `.`= .=`
dirty `_
good beautiful E ,F `- .-
bad !ic)ed _`
ugly E ,F `_` `_
hard strong po!erful HthingI1 stern HpersonI E ,F ``, `
distant E ,F ``, .`,
present E ,F `.- ```.`-
narro! ``.
hot -
dead E ,F `.` `.`'
#2
Translation &ercises
!"ercise $A
.``. ```
.`.- ` `.- ' .`, `.- `
.`,`, `,
. .``. ``-.
~ .``, `.`=` .``
.``` ` .`, ``` '- .-`
.``. `_` `.`
.`,~ ` .`, `,~ `' .`_ ``, ``
- .`- ` ' .`, `- ` .`''
.`.` ` `.
``` `' .`_ `,= `,- `.``
.` ``,` `` `--
.`- ` .. `_` _` ` `.=
. .`,~ ` `' ``
~ .``. ``. `,`, ``,` -
!"ercise $B
#. A good lesson.
2. $he long !all.
3. A bro)en pen.
4. $he hot stone.
6. "s the ne! chair dirtyJ No it is clean.
8. $he strong door is narro!.
G. $he big garden is far.
#3
D. $he teacher is a man. He is a small man.
9. "s the Nile a seaJ No it is a big river.
#0. $he beautiful student is dead.
##. $he old house is ugly and the short street is bad.
#2. $he big !ide cup is clean and ne!.
#3. $he ugly old boo) is long and bad.
#4. $he beautiful distant sea is hot and po!erful.
#6. $he good small s!ord is dirty and bro)en.
#4