The

(B) The Categories of

(8) The

(a)

comprises six categories

(fully-declinable noun) whether it be

( singular) or

(broken plural) and its declension is that it is

with the

with the
and
with the
e.g.

(The student came)

(I asked the student)

(I greeted the student)

(The students came)

(I asked the students)

(I greeted the students)

(broken plural)
In the
:
(b) the

(semi-declinable noun) whether it be

( singular) or

(Ahmad came)

(I asked Ahmad)

(I greeted the student)
In the

(Friends came)

(I asked friends)

(I greeted the friends)

 (c) the

) (The female students came

) (I asked the female students

) (I greeted the female students

)(d
) (dual

) (The two male students came

) (I asked the two male students

) (I greeted the two male students
)(e

) (sound masculine plural

) (The male students came

) (I asked the male students

) (I greeted the male students
)(five nouns

)(f

) (Your father came

) (I asked your father

) (I greeted your father

The following table is a summary

Type of

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

(C) The Signs of

in the
:
Signs of

Case of

There are also certain other signs of

which are covert and implicit in that

they are not uttered and pronounced. The fact that they are not uttered and
pronounced is (commonly) due to one of three reasons: , and
.
(a) ( i.e. the impossibility of vowelling the
whether it is actually written as
an or as a dot-less ) is when of the words ending is an and the vowelmarkings on words ending have to be assumed due the impossibility of vowelling
the
) , e.g.
"

" (The young lad came)

"

" (I asked the young lad)
"

" (I greeted the young lad)
(b) ( i.e. the difficulty and heaviness on the tongue in pronouncing the

or

the

on the or ) is when the words ending is a preceded by a

(which applies to the only) or a preceded by a

, and the

or the

has to be assumed due to the difficulty and heaviness on the tongue in

pronouncing these two vowel-markings on them), e.g.
"

" (The judge came)

"

" (I asked the judge)
"


" (I greeted the judge)

( i.e. the necessary correspondence of vowel-marking to the

the denoting the second person feminine singular) is when the words ending
is followed by the
and the vowel-markings on the words ending have to
be assumed due to the
necessitating a corresponding
before it,
(c)

e.g.
"

" (My teacher came)

"



" (I asked my teacher)
"



" (I greeted my teacher)
The Places of
:
The places of
are six:
The Places of
:

(11) The places of

comprise all those places in which the categories of

are declined with one of the signs of

( i.e. the ,
,

and ) . In other words: an

cannot be declined with a sign of

except in one of the places of
.
The places of
are eleven:

..............

(B) The Categories of

(15) The categories of the

are many but they are almost all closed
classes i.e. their numbers are fixed. The following comprise the major categories /
classes of the


(a)

( plural of
) two major groups
normally at the beginning as shown in the table:

(detached) and occur

Used in
Case of

Used in Case of

He is a teacher
They (m.d.) are teachers

Him the teacher asked

Them (m.d.) the teacher asked

ii.
,suffixed to the word preceding them

Fem.

/ / /

/
/

Sing.

Masc.

Dual

Plural

to the

Attached

In the case of
Attached
to the

, with the exception of the dual , they are used to point to

( something

) whether physical abstract e.g.

(b) the

Attached
to the

In the case of
Attached
to the

In the case of

Attached to the




Masc.
Sing.

Dual

Plural

dual forms are not

In the case
of

In the cases
of

Fem.

Masc.

Fem.

/
/

/ /

but
instead and take the declension of the :

, "
, "
", "

"," or " "and the rest are merely particles. Thus, the " "is a

(particle for calling attention), the
a
(particle for
signifying long distance) and the a

(particle signifying the second
It should also be pointed out that the actual

is only """

person)1.
There is also another category of

( here)

used for indicating places

,
,

(there)

(c) the

, with the exception of the dual forms: comprise all those

that are in need of a

(sentence) called the

(relative
clause) that contains a

called the ( connector) which connects the

to these

and which agrees with these

in gender and number: e.g.

(the teacher, whose son is an outstanding

student, came)

(the female student, whose father is a teacher,

came)
are of two groups:
i.

(forms are distinct in terms of gender and number)

Masc.

Sing.
Dual
Plural

Fem.

(The male student, whom the teachers respect,

came)

(The female student, whom the teachers

respect, came).
ii. the

number):

(forms are not distinct in terms of gender and

) (the one who passed came)
)

) (the one who passed came)
7

(I memorised what I learnt yesterday)

the dual forms are also

taking the
of the
Masc.

Fem

In the case of

In the cases
of

(the two male students who passed

and the two female students who passed came)

(d) the

with the exception of "

":

used to ask questions with and comprise the following:

Meaning

Example

( Who passed?)

( What is the name of the teacher?)

( When did the teacher arrive?)

( Where is the principal of the

Who
What
When
Where

school?)

( When is the examination?)

( How did the lazy student

When
How

pass?)

How
Which, Any

( How was the examination?)

( Which teacher teaches
Nahw?)

"
"is only and takes the
of the

e.g.

( Which student achieved the first prize?)

( Which book did you read?)

( In which class are you?)
(e) the

(conditional pronouns) with exception of "

":omprise more or

less the same forms as the

except that the former introduce a

condition (

) followed by a reply or response (

)

Meaning
Who, whosoever
What, whatever

Example

( whosoever works hard will pass)

( whatever you learn of
knowledge will benefit you)

When, whenever

What, whatever

Where

(whatever your gain of knowledge it will not benefit

you if you do not act on it)

( wherever the
student of knowledge is people will respect him)

When

Where, wherever

How

Where, wherever

Which, any

(when you
travel in the path of seeking knowledge you will reach
your goal)

(whenever the time of the examination is drawing near

the students are working harder)


( wherever a student of
knowledge resides he is honoured

( However
the teacher pronounces the letters the students
pronounce them)

(Wherever
the scholar lives people will benefit from his
knowledge)

( Whichever student works
hard will reach his goal)

only "
"is and takes the declension of the

e.g.

(Whichever student fails does not

advance to the next class)

( Whichever knowledge you seek it will benefit you)

(To whichever country you

travel to seek knowledge you will benefit from its scholars)

( "eleven) to "


"
(nineteen) with the exception of the first part of "

"and "

( "twelve):
(f) the

(compound numbers) "

These numbers are as follows:

Masc.

Fem.

Meaning

Of all these only the first part of "

eleven
twelve
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen

"or "

"is

and takes the

of the
e.g.

(Eleven male and eleven female students

came)

(I asked eleven male and eleven female

students)

(I greeted eleven male and eleven

female students)

( some adverbs): such as "( "the time when), "( "when, the time
when), "( "now), "
( "yesterday), "

" (where), etc.
(g)

(h) the

( verb-like nouns):
These are

which denote the meanings of

but do not accept their

defining features and comprise three groups:

i.


e.g.
meaning "( "was distant),

meaning "
"
(was far apart), etc.
ii.


e.g.
meaning "

( "am annoyed, irritated),

meaning "

( am impressed, wonderstruck), etc.
iii.

e.g.
meaning "( "Descend! Get down!),

meaning "

( "Accept! Answer!)
(i) the

(nouns denoting sounds):used to:

i. address animals such as "

"for goats and sheep, "

" for rebuking a horse,
etc. or
ii. copy the sounds made by animate and inanimate objects e.g. "

" for the sound
made by crows, "

" for the sound made by a stone, etc.

10

Section Two:

(B) The Categories of
(18) The categories of
(a) the

, which is

:
are three in number:

either on:

(i.e. ,
,
, , ,
) is
suffixed to it e.g. ,
,
, , ,
, etc.
(ii) the
when the

is suffixed to it e.g.
, etc.
(iii) the
when the vowelled
or

is not suffixed to it
e.g. , , ,
, etc.
(i) the

when the vowelled

(b) the

, which is

(i) the

e.g.

(ii) the

either on:
, etc.

(dropping of the Nun) e.g.

, (
)

, (
)

)) , etc.

(iii) the
when the is directly suffixed to it e.g.
, etc.
(iv) the

(dropping of the weak ending) e.g. , (
) , ()
)
), etc.
(c) the

to which is suffixed the

or

directly, which is

either on:

is suffixed to it e.g.
,
, etc.
(ii) the
when the is directly suffixed to it e.g. ,
,

, , etc.
(i) the

when the

11

(B) The Categories of

(20) The
comprises three categories, each of which has its own unique
declension. Here they are together with their respective declensions:

( the sound ending

which does not have anything suffixed to it) and its declension is that it is
with the
,
with the
and
with the
( also
referred as


i.e. dropping of the vowel-marking) e.g.
(a)

(b)

(the weak ending3

which does not have anything suffixed to it4) and its declension is that it is
with the
( that is implicit)5 ,
with the
( that is implicit in
the case of the weak ending being the
only) and
with the

(dropping of the weak ending) in place of the normal

e.g.

()

(
)

(
)

(
)

2
3

See the second last footnote.

5

A sign becomes implicit (

)when there is something that prevents that sign from being explicit
or pronounceable like when the

or
proves heavy and difficult to pronounce on the

or and is therefore dropped, or like when it is impossible for a letter such as the
to

take any of the three

. Even though these
are not pronounced they are still
assumed to exist and must therefore be accounted for in analysis.

12

}={

}{

{
}

(five verbs)6 and the declension of each is that it is
with the
in place of the normal
,
with the

(dropping of the Nun) in place of the normal

and
also with the

in place of the normal

(c) the

e.g.

{
}

{
}
together with

{
}

{
}

The following table is a summary of the six categories of

their respective declensions:

/
)

(

)(

{
}

{
}

Type of

1.
2.
3.

(C) The Signs of

: in the

(a) Signs of
: the
and the

comprise every

( that has one of the following personal pronouns

The

) suffixed to it:
(a) the
e.g.
,
, etc.
(b) the

e.g.
,
, etc.
(c) the

e.g.
, etc.

The following verbs are generally representative of the ,

and
.

13

(b) Signs of
: the
and the

(c) Signs of
: the , the

and the

This is illustrated in the following table:

Case of

Signs of

(a).

are: the

for , the
for
and the

for

, and
(b)

are all the signs other than the

and the
for
.

for
, the
for

(D) Places of

in the :
The places of

in the are only three in number: a place of , a

place of
and a place of
.
The Place of
in the :
(24) The occupies a place of
becoming when it is stripped of a

and a

(which will explained in the places of
and

respectively), like:
"
( "I write / will write)
The Place of

in the :

( i.e. a particle producing the effect of

at the end of a ) . The
( the plural of
) are four in number:
(25) when it is preceded by a

(a)
( to, that) whether it is mentioned as in:

book) or dropped optionally as in
or necessarily after:

14

(I want to study

(I will work hard in order to pass)

 the

( Lam of denial which reinforces a previous negation) as in:

( Allah never intended to wrong them)

(until) as in:

(I will work hard until I pass)
the
( Fa' denoting reason or cause) and ( Waw denoting
the meaning of "
' "with') when preceded by ( negation) or

(request)7 e.g.

( A student is not lazy and then passes)

( Do you encourage others to work hard while

you yourself are lazy?)

that has the meaning of "( "until) or "( "unless) e.g.

(I will work hard until I pass)

(the student will fail unless he works hard)

(b)
( will not) e.g.

(I will not fail, if Allah wills)

(c)
( in that case, thus, there, hence) in reply to a previous statement on
condition it occurs at the beginning of the sentence followed immediately and directly
by a

signifying the future tense e.g.

(in that case you will pass) in reply to the statement: "


" (I will work

hard)
(d)
( to) whether the
implied e.g.

(Lam denoting reason or cause) is mentioned or

(I go to school to learn the Arabic

language)

language) i.e. "
"

(I go to school to learn the Arabic

The Place of

in the :

The
comprises approximately eight types:

( questioning, asking)
(b)
( ordering, commanding)
(c)
( prohibiting, forbidding)
(d)
( supplicating)
(e)
( urgent request)
(f)
( mild or gentle request)
(g)
( hoping)
(h)
( wishing)
(a)

15

(26) when it is preceded by a

. The
( the plural of
) are sixteen in
number which are divided into two groups:
(a) a group that only makes one verb

and comprises four
(particles
only):
(i) ( did not) e.g.

( The principal of the school was not
present)
(ii)
( did not yet) e.g.



( The results of the examination did
not appear yet)
(iii) the
( Lam denoting a command i.e. "let") e.g.





(Let every student sit in his seat)
(iv) the "
( " prohibitive La i.e. "do not", "do not let ") e.g.

( Do not be lazy)

(Do not let any student leave the classroom)

the first of which is called the

(conditional verb) and the second the


(reply to the condition) or

( result of the condition) and comprise twelve words two of which are

(particles) and the rest

( nouns):
(b) a group that makes two verbs

( Particles):
(i)
( if) e.g.

( If you work hard you will pass)
(ii)
( if) e.g.

( If you are lazy you will fail)

( Nouns):
(i)
( who, whosoever, anyone) e.g.

(Whosoever works hard will

pass)
(ii)
(what, whatever) e.g.



( What you seek as regards
knowledge will benefit you)
(iii)
( no matter what, whatever) e.g.



(Whatever you learn of knowledge people will honour you)
(iv)
(when, whenever) e.g. ( Whenever you learn you will
advance)
(v)
( where, wherever) e.g.

( Wherever you study you will
benefit)
(vi)
( when, wherever) e.g.

( when the results of the examination appear it will be known who is the one
who passed and the one who failed)
(vii) ( where, wherever) e.g.



( Wherever you sit in the
class you will benefit)
16

(viii)
( any, whichever) e.g.

( Any student
who passes will advance to the next class)
(ix)

(where, wherever) e.g.




(Wherever you
reside people will respect you for your knowledge)
(x)
( how, however) e.g.

( However you revise

your lessons I revise my lessons)

Section Three:

The

is
only
all the

that exist in the Arabic language and which number approximately
eighty, are all

and none of them is

. Thus,
does not feature in

the

at all. Therefore is not governed.

The


(A) The Types of

in the

(27) The types of in the

are four:
(a)

( adherence to the
) , like: "
( "from, of)
(b)
( adherence to the
) , like: "

" (will, shall)
(c)

( adherence to the
) , like: "
" (yes)
(d)
( adherence to the
) , like: "( "since, from the time)
(B) The Categories of

according meaning and function:

(28) Since the

is only one type and that is

talk about the categories of "

it does not make sense to

"as we have done in the case of the

. Nevertheless, from the point of view of gaining a better

perspective on the

we will discuss in the following pages the categories of

the

according to the meanings that it denotes and functions that it performs.

and

The following are some of the

grouped according to the meanings they
denote and the functions they perform:

17

(i)

(particles of negation):

( did not) e.g.

( I did not fail in the examination)
( did not yet) e.g.

( the principal of the school did not

arrive yet)

(not) e.g.

( I do not like being absent)

( will not) e.g.

( I will not neglect my studies)
( not) e.g.


( the student did not work hard, so he failed)
( not) e.g.

":

( "the teacher said to the lazy student who failed in the examination: "It is not

the time for regret")

( not) e.g.

(ii)

(You are not save a hardworking student)

(Particles used to respond and answer):

(yes) e.g. ":

"

":

( " My father
said to me: "Are you going to school?" So I said: "Yes")

(no) e.g. ":"



" :

( "I asked the teacher:
"Is the examination difficult?" So he said: "No")
( indeed) e.g.

":
"


" :
( " It was
said to me: "Do you not like Nahw?" So I said: "Indeed, I do like Nahw")

( indeed) e.g.
":"


":

( " The stubborn ignorant person asked the scholar: "Is seeking

knowledge compulsory?" So he said: "Indeed, by Allah, it is compulsory")

( yes) e.g.
":
"




":

( " The
teacher said to me: You revised the previous lesson?" So I said: "Yes")

(yes) e.g.
" :
" :

( " The student
asked his friend: "Do you understand the lesson?" So he said: "Yes")

(yes) e.g.
" :
"


":

( " The teacher
said to me: "Do you know the answer?" So I said: "Yes")
( yes) e.g.

" "



":

( " My friend said
to me: "You are good in Nahw because you love it" So I said: "Yes")

(iii)

(two particles of elaboration/clarification):

( that is) e.g.

( I read a Sifr, that is, a book)

( The teacher indicated to the students that
they should go)

(iv)

(conditional particles):

18

( if) e.g.



( If you are lazy you will fail)
( if) e.g.

( If you pass you advance to the

next level)
( if, had) e.g.

( if you had revised the
lesson then you would have passed in the test)
( if it was/were not, had it not) e.g.




( If it was not for
the student working hard then he would have failed)
( if it was/were not, had it not) e.g.

( If it was not for
laziness the student would have passed)
( As for) e.g.

( As for the
hardworking student, he passed, and as for the lazy student, he failed)

(v)

(particles expressing an urgent request or remorse):

(why not) e.g.

( Why do you not revise
your lessons before the time passes?)

( Why not) e.g.


( Do you not want to pass)

(Why not) e.g.

( Why do you not work hard in your
studies)

( why not) e.g.

( Why do you not abandon this laziness)

(why not) e.g.

( Why do you not
listen to the explanation of the teacher and you will understand)

( why not) e.g.


( Why do you not seeking on
order that you may benefit people thereby)

(vi)

(particles expressing a lenient and mild request):

[Why do (you) not] e.g.

( ! Why do you not visit me, so
that we can revise together!)

[ Do (you) not] e.g.

( ! Do you not want
to be amongst the outstanding students!)

(vii)

(particles for calling attention):

(Alas!) e.g.

( Indeed, the hardworking
students will be the successful ones)

( Alas!) e.g.

(Alas! By Allah I know indeed that you, O students, are the Hope of the
Muslim Ummah)

e.g.
( Here I am , Teacher)
e.g.

" :

"How I wish I had worked hard")

( " The student who failed said:

19

(viii)


( infinitive particles which together with verb are interpreted
as an infinitive):

(to, that) e.g.

( I want to learn the Arabic language)
(that, to) e.g.




( I know that the examination is

near)

( to, that) e.g.

(I work hard in order to pass)

( together with the verb it conveys the meaning of the gerund) e.g.

( The student was
happy with his hardworkingness after finishing writing of the examination)

(ix)

(that) e.g.

(I would like that you work hard)

(particles indicating the future):

( to) e.g.

( I want to go to school)
( will never, not) e.g.

( the lazy student will never pass)
( in that case, thus, hence) e.g.

( In that case you will pass) in
response to a student saying:


(I will hard)
( to) e.g.

( I go to school in order to learn)
( Lam of command meaning "let") e.g.

(Let every student write a topic about himself)

"
( " Prohibitive La) e.g.

( Do not neglect your studies)

( if) e.g.


( If you fail you will regret)
( if) e.g.

( If you fail then do not blame except
yourself)

(x)

( verily, indeed, truly) e.g.

( Verily, knowledge is light)
( Lam of Inception) e.g.

( Indeed, a student who works hard and fails is more liked by me than a

(particles of corroboration and reinforcement):

student who is lazy and passes)

( The two Nuns of Corroboration and Emphasis) e.g.

(Everyone of you will

definitely pass and definitely advance to the next level)

( Lam of Oath) e.g.

( By Allah, All the
students passed)
( indeed, definitely) e.g.

( Indeed, the lazy student
failed)

20

(xi)

(two interrogative particles):

e.g.

( Did the teacher come?),
Khalid or Zayd pass?)

e.g.

( Did you read the Nahw?)

(xii)

(Did

(particles denoting wishing):

e.g.

( I wished that the student worked hard and then
passed)

e.g.


( How I wished I had time so I could revise
more)

e.g.

( If only we had a better teacher
then we would have benefited more)

(xiii)

e.g.

easy)

(xiv)

(particle of hope):

(two particles denoting likening, resembling):

(like) e.g.

food)

( as if) e.g.

darkness)
(xv)

(Perhaps/Hopefully, the examination will be

or

(Nahw in speech is like salt in

(As if knowledge is light and ignorance

(redundant particles):

e.g.

( I did not do anything that the teacher
dislikes)

e.g.

( when the teacher entered the
classroom the students kept quiet)

e.g.





(the student was absent for no reason)

e.g.

( Do you have any questions?)
e.g.

( I am not neglectful)
e.g.

( No one is like Zayd in working hard)

e.g. ( I understand the lesson)

(xvi)

(particle of femininity):

21

(unvowelled Ta' of femininity) e.g.

female principal of the school came)

(xvii)

(the

(particle used for pausing):

e.g.


" :





to the student that failed: "You have failed. Why?")

(xviii)

( "the teacher said

(particles of request):

The following groups of

already covered in this section comprise the

:


"
"

(xviii)

(particles of addressing):

( O) e.g.

( O students of knowledge, work hard)

( O) e.g.

( O sleeping one, wake up)
( O) e.g.


( O you who are far away from

us. Come closer to us so that you can benefit)

( O) e.g.



( O student of knowledge, learn the
sciences and teach them)

( O) e.g.

( O Zayd, Work hard in order to pass)

(Alas!) e.g.

!





[Alas for those who have failed (my anguish goes out to them)! How I wish that
they have worked hard, and be of those that have passed]

(xix)

(conjunctions):

(and) e.g.





(The male teachers and the female
teachers came)
( immediately thereafter) e.g.

( The students and then
immediately thereafter the teacher)
( a while thereafter) e.g.

(I will study Sarf and a while
thereafter Nahw)

22

( or) e.g.

(Sit with the scholars or the preachers)
( or) e.g.

( Did the student pass or fail)

(including, even) e.g.

( All the

students passed including the lazy student)

(not) e.g.

( I respect the hardworking
student not the lazy student)

( but) e.g.

( the lazy student did

not pass but the hardworking student)

( instead, rather) e.g.






( Not one student
rather a hundred students attended)
(xx)

(particles causing the

to be

):

(to, that) e.g.

( It is necessary for the
student to work hard in order to realize his goal)

( will / shall never)e.g.

( You will not pass except through
hard work)

( in that case) e.g.

( In that case you will pass) in response to

someone saying:

(I will work hard)

(so as to, in order to) e.g.

lesson several time in order to memorise it)

(xxi)

(I read the

(particles causing the

to be
) :

( did not, has / have not) e.g.

( I have never failed)
( did not yet, has not yet) e.g.




( The students of the

school did not come out yet)

( let) e.g.

( Let the small students
enter then the big students)
"
( " Do not, Do let not) e.g.

( Work hard and do not be
lazy)

( if) e.g.

( If you work hard you will pass)

(if) e.g.

(If you are lazy you will fail)

(xxii)

( particles likened to the
causing the
to be
and the
to be ) :

(truly, indeed) e.g.

the Prophets)

( that indeed) e.g.



seeking knowledge is compulsory)

23

(Truly, the scholars are the heirs of

(I know that

(as if) e.g.

( As if knowledge is an ocean without
any shores)

( but) e.g.




( the scholar is young but his knowledge
is great)

( hopefully, hoping) e.g.


( Hopefully, the examination will be
easy)

( wishing) e.g.

( How I wish that knowledge is a fruit so
I could pick it)

"
"

( particles likened to "
"causing the

to be and the
to be
) :

(xxiii)

( not) e.g.


( the negligent student is not successful)
( not) e.g.



( No one failed in the examination)
( not) e.g.

( No student is better than

another except through diligence)

( not) e.g.


( Now is not the time for regret)
(xxiv)

(particles of

/ prepositions / genitive particles):

( from, than) e.g.

( This student is from Egypt)
( to, towards) e.g.

( I went to school)

(about, of) e.g.

( The student talked about his family)

(on, on top) e.g.

( The teacher wrote the

lesson on the board)

( in, at) e.g.

( The students are in the classroom)

( since, from) e.g.



( We started the lesson two since

weeks ago)
( since, from) e.g.

( I am studying the Arabic
language since a year)

(until, up to) e.g.

( I read the book until the
last page)
( perhaps, maybe) e.g.

( Maybe a lazy student will
pass)

(except, save) e.g.

( The student
understood all the lessons except one)

(except, save) e.g.

(The teachers
attended the meeting except two teachers)

(except, save) e.g.




( All the subjects are easy
except Sarf)
( with, by means of) e.g.
( I prefer writing with a pen)

24

( like, similar to) e.g. ( Knowledge is like light)

( to, belonging to) e.g.

( The car belongs to the

principal of the school)

( By) e.g.




( By Allah! Truly knowledge is
light and ignorance is darkness)
( By) e.g.





( By Allah! I will work hard throughout the
year)

NEXT
Is
always explicit i.e. clearly expressible?
possible for the
to be implicit, like when it annexed to pronominal suffix "
"

(My teacher came)

(I asked my teacher)
(I greeted my teacher)

Note that the

of " ", in all three sentences, vowelled with a
. this

necessitates a

( its corresponding vowel) on the letter before it. the fact

that the
is not explicit does not mean that there is no at all. In fact, we
believe that there is
except that this is implicit. The at the end of "

"is said to be

or
(implicit, assumed)

Other cases the

is also
or are when the word ends in one of the
three weak letters
(a) (- ), which applies to verbs only e.g. "

( "called / invited)
(b) (- ), which applies to both verbs and nouns only e.g. "
( "threw / cast), "

( "the judge),
(c) [either written as (- )or (- ] ),applies to both verbs and nouns e.g. "
"
(forgot), "
( "the stick), "( "the young lad).

25

In the case of the words ending being (a) or (b) only the

) as for the

on them is explicit (

and the

they are too heavy to be pronounced on (a)

and (b) and are therefore implicit or assumed (

)only, e.g.

(The judge came)

(The young lad came)

(I asked the judge)

(I greeted the judge)

(I asked the young lad)

(I greeted the young lad)

same can also be said for verbs when their endings are (a), (b) or (c) except that
verb endings are not vowelled with the

which is therefore not applicable in

their case. However, verbs, unlike, nouns can end in a
, and thus, a verb ending
can be any of the three weak letters.
Thus, in the case of (a) and (b) the

is
and the
is
, e.g.

(I call / will call or invite)

(I will not call)

and

(I throw / will throw)

(I will not throw)

Observe that in "

"and "
", the

that the
and is meant to

take is
due to it being heavy to pronounce.

at the end of "

"and "

"in "

"and "

"is

as easy to pronounce.

As for when the verb ending is (c) both the

and
are due to the

always being unvowlled, e.g.

Observe that in both instances, the

(I forget / will forget)

(I will not forget)

and
are

26

As for when these verbs have to take the

( in the case of
) , produced
by " ", for example, the weak letter is dropped (since the weak letter already carries
a

and there is no
for " "to drop)

)
)

)
)
)

(I did not call)

(I did not throw)
(I did not forget)

all three, weak ending dropped in the case of

in place of the normal

.
This, however, is not a case of the
being and, therefore, does not
concern us here. The reason for mentioning it, though, is merely to see how the
weak-ending verbs are declined in all three cases.
Do all Arabic words take the effect of the
implicitly?

Not all Arabic words when preceded by an

whether explicitly or

necessarily change or take an

effect at their endings whether explicitly like in the case of "

", or implicitly like
in the case of "

", some do not change at all but remain fixed despite the
action of different

on them, like " "in the following sentences:

(These / they came)

(I asked these / them)
(I greeted these / them)

fixed and stable with a

ending. does not mean, that no

exercised by the

but rather that this

gets distributed over the place that " "occupies

such that this place is charged with the action or power of the
. However, "

"itself is indifferent and impervious to the action of the and is said to be

firmly based or built on the

that it terminates in (


).
Because the
gets distributed over the place as a whole instead of causing the
ending to change we refer to it as


than end-related).

(i.e.
that is place-related rather

Words like "

"and "
"are called
( indeclinable, literally built) because
they are firmly built on the sign in which they end in never changing from it.
On the other hand, words like "
"and " "which do change at their endings
on account of the action of the

, are called
( declinable).

The following table sums up the six declensions in the

27

/
)

(

)(

, the , the
, the , the

Type of

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.



7.

Type of

4.
5.
6.

, five classes: are

)(1
, the (one letter),
the
, like: and the

)? (Did Zaid travel

) (I wrote with your pen

" ( two letters):

" " (or)," " (the),
" " (to, that),
" (rather," " (if),

)(2

" " (definitely, maybe, about to)," instead),

" " (if, had it been that, was it that) and

" (question article, interrogative), like:

)? (Is the travel near or far




) (It pleases me that you will be returning

"" " (all of a sudden, suddenly)," (composed of three letters), like:

" " (to)," (Alas!),
" " (indeed, verily),

" " (will, shall),
"" " (on, on top of),
" (yes), like:" (I wish) and
)(3

(I thought he was absent and then all of a sudden he
)was present

28

(4)
( four letters): "

( "if), "( "except, excluding), "( "as for), ""

(either/or), "
" (until, up to including, even), "
( "as if) and "( "I hope,
hopefully, hoping, in order), like:

( If you learn you will progress, advance)

( Everything will perish except His Countenance)
(5)

( five letters), like: "( "only, nothing except), "( "that) and "
"
(but), like:

( It was only revealed to me that your Lord is
One God)

( Yusuf is wealthy but he is stingy)

is called the nominative case when applied to nouns and the indicative
mood when applied to verbs,

is called the accusative case when applied to nouns and the subjunctive
mood when applied to verbs,

is called the genitive case and applies to nouns only and

is called the jussive mood and applies to verbs only.]
sentence either (a) and an
and the latter is either the
or the

or (b) is

first called " "second "
" both

"
":

)"
["
"is a and indeclinable and built on a

("

in a place of
],

"

" :

"
"
)
[the
is the
"
"and is indeclinable and built on a

] and
(

in a place of

We know the places in which the

is
,
, or

and hence it should not be difficult for us after that, when we see a particular
expression, to be able to:
read it correctly,
distinguish the words, by identifying the
, ,

isolate the
and

29

 distinguish the

,
, and
( among them) and
state the reason for that being the case.
This is called "

( "syntactic analysis / parsing).

30