Elementary Arabic: Department of Religious Studies and Arabic

ARB1501/2014-2020
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND ARABIC
ELEMENTARY ARABIC
Only study guide for ARB1501
Dr MA Rafudeen
_________________________________
University of South Africa, Pretoria
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© 2013 University of South Africa
All Rights Reserved
Printed and published by the
University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
Design and layout by the Department of Religious Studies and Arabic
ARB1501/2014-2020
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
4
STUDY UNIT 1 The Arabic alphabet 8
STUDY UNIT 2 The definite article, singular personal pronouns

and simple nominal sentences 13
STUDY UNIT 3 Gender, the negation of nominal sentences, and some

particles of interrogation 22
STUDY UNIT 4 The singular demonstrative pronouns and the cases:

nominative, accusative and genitive 31
STUDY UNIT 5 Number of Arabic nouns and adjectives and the

verbal sentence 41
STUDY UNIT 6 The broken plural and the plural of the negation
“did not” 49
STUDY UNIT 7 More broken plurals, the diptotes, and the relative
adjective (nisbat) 58
STUDY UNIT 8 The genitive of possession (idafa) 66
STUDY UNIT 9 The attached pronouns: pronouns attached to nouns,

verbs and prepositions 77
STUDY UNIT 10 The demonstrative pronouns 87
STUDY UNIT 11 Adjectives 97
STUDY UNIT 12 The perfect of the verb 107
Answers to activities 116
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Getting started
It’s not that difficult...
Arabic can appear quite challenging to learn. The script might appear strange and
unfamiliar. The grammar can initially seem overwhelming. Then there is all that
vocabulary to learn. And so on.
Or so it appears. The good news is...it’s not that difficult! Once you start getting stuck
into it you will gradually say to yourself: “Hey...I can do this!”
The script is quick to learn- it’s like any other alphabet, just in a different shape.
Yes, the grammar is quite detailed and there appear lots of rules to learn. But on closer
inspection one finds them logical rather than difficult. They learnt gradually as a natural
process of learning the language. So don’t be daunted.
And learning the vocabulary? It’s initially an effort but becomes fun when you read or
hear something in Arabic and realize: “Hey, I studied that word!” or “I understood that!”
And you start getting into the language with even more relish.
But there is one GOLDEN RULE if you are to make any headway in Arabic: work
consistently and persevere.
Do your one hour
Put aside at least one hour of your day, five days a week, for studying Arabic. Make sure
your family, spouse and friends respect this time. Arabic is all about consistency. If you
can’t make this commitment, you can’t expect to see results.
And remember you in it for the long haul. You are looking at three years of
undergraduate study. At the end of that you would want to pick up a book in the
language and have a fair idea of what’s going on. Or you would want to understand and
express yourself reasonably well in a conversation.
And you can achieve this- if you work consistently. There are no shortcuts to Arabic or to
language study in general. Don’t expect to pick up fluent Arabic in a month or in a year.
It’s a long process. Even after three years you are not going to understand every book
and every conversation. But if have applied yourself consistently, you’ll have a good idea
of what is going on. More importantly, you’ll be equipped with the tools to become fluent
in the language. BUT DO YOUR ONE HOUR.
So what is this module all about? What can I hope to achieve?
This module guides you along the first steps of your Arabic journey. It introduces you to
basic spoken and written Arabic. By the end of the module you should:
- be able to recognize and write the Arabic script
- have acquired a basic vocabulary for a variety of everyday situations
- be able to communicate at a basic level in such situations
- be able to understand and write basic Arabic sentences relating to such situations
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- have acquired the initial grammar of the language

- In other words, you will have acquired the basic tools for speaking, reading and writing
the language.
(That is, if you apply yourself!!)
The textbook: You simply can’t do without it
Your most valuable possession for the foreseeable future is going to be your textbook.
The entire course is based on this book and you are going to need it at every step of the
way. The textbook is does not merely need to be read: it needs to be mastered.
So make sure you fully grasp and understand its explanation of every concept and every
rule. (And if you can’t, that’s what we here for). Make sure that you’re thoroughly
familiar with the vocabulary it provides. Listen carefully to its accompanying CDs. And
above all, do every exercise it contains (without looking at the answers in advance: if
you do that the course will be of little benefit.) In a nutshell, make sure you know it from
cover to cover.
The textbook that will be used is called Mastering Arabic 1 by Jane Wightwick and
Mahmoud Gaafar (Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2007). This module is based on
Chapters 1 to 11 of that work. The balance of the book (chapters 12- 19) will form the
basis of the follow up module, Pre-intermediate Arabic.
The textbook has a key to exercises at the end. You are not going to progress in your
language if you look at the key while doing the exercises. And doing so will certainly not
help you prepare properly for the exams. The purpose of the key is to help you see if
you on the right track AFTER doing the exercises. You then have a better idea of what
things you need to go over again. Strongly resist the temptation to jump to the key
while doing your exercises.
Companion Website
The textbook has a great companion website. The website has a range of learning
support materials such as audio flashcards, PowerPoint presentations and additional
activities. The website will help you consolidate the material you learn in the textbook.
Refer regularly to this website to ensure that your Arabic learning experience is a rich
and rewarding one. The website is available at:
http://www.palgrave.com/modernlanguages/masteringarabic/index.asp
The role of the study guide
The study guide is an essential supplement to the textbook. It gives more detail on the
concepts and rules contained in the textbook. It includes some added vocabulary. It also
point to you to online links and other material that will enrich and facilitate your study of
the language. And, most importantly, it provides some more exercises to fine-
tune your skills in basic Arabic grammar.
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The study guide is there to help make your experience of Arabic a full and well-rounded
one.
While going in between the textbook and the study guide in your studies, you will often
find that things are repeated. This is done deliberately. If you have come studied a
concept before, and come across it again, use it as an opportunity to reinforce your
grasp of the concept. Reinforcing concepts is a key to learning language.
How will I be tested?
You will be assessed in a variety of ways. These include vocabulary tests, seen and
unseen exercises, and the standard examination. This variety helps ensure that you are
studying Arabic in a way that truly and meaningfully builds your language skills.
The most important way in you are going to test your knowledge of Arabic is by doing
the exercises in your prescribed textbook. Each unit in the textbook has a number of
exercises. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP ANY OF THE EXERCISES. And as was mentioned, there
are also exercises at the end of this study guide.
And finally...
Remember the golden rule and enjoy your study of the language! It’s a gateway to a
fascinating universe.
Structure of this study guide
This study is divided into eleven units, corresponding to the first eleven units found in
your textbook. Each unit will have three sections:
A. Outcomes : This block provides a quick overview of what you will learn in the
unit.
B. Textbook notes: This block provides some brief notes that you will help you
before studying the required unit in the textbook.
C. Study guide notes: These are extensive notes contained in this study guide.
Their main purpose is to strengthen your knowledge of Arabic grammar. You are
also required to study these notes and do the accompanying exercises.
Note: You don’t need to study the corresponding “Study Guide notes” after each unit in
the textbook. You can first study all the units in the textbook and then come back to
these notes. We especially recommend this to those of you with no previous background
in the Arabic script. Just remember to plan your studies in such a way that there is
enough time to cover the work in the study guide as well. For those who know the Arabic
script you can study them together if you wish, that is, after every unit you can go to the
study notes.
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STUDY UNIT 1
A. Outcomes for Study Unit One
On completion of this study unit the learner will be able to:

A. Outcomes for Study Unit One
1. completion
On Recognizeofthe
thistwo forms
study unitof
theArabic
learner writing.
will be able to:
2. recognize
1. Write outthe
Arabic lettersofand
two forms script
Arabic in either one of these forms.
writing
2. To recognize
3. write out Arabicthe sounds
letters and of the in
script letters.
either one of these forms.
3. to recognize the sounds of the letters
B. Textbook notes for Study Unit One
Read the following notes before carefully going through Unit One in your textbook. After
you have fully studied the unit and done each exercise, read these notes again as a form
of revision.
1. Try to write letters in both styles: the printed or naskh style and the handwritten
or riq’a style. This can be done from the very beginning while learning Arabic. You
will then get immediately accustomed to both styles. The printed style will be
found in books, newspapers and magazines while the handwritten style is often
used when writing notes to each other or by teachers in their classrooms.
2. There’s only one way to learn the Arabic script: practise, practise and more
practise. Some of you may have been lucky enough to have learnt the script
while growing up, but it’s still useful revising it. Some of the old stuff may have
been forgotten and you’ll be surprised by how new and fresh many things now
sound! You may still need additional practice in writing out the printed or naskh
script. In any case, you would not have normally learnt the handwritten or riq’a
script so there’s still something new for you to learn. To those who come “blank”
into Arabic without any previous background- don’t despair. The script is very
quick to learn as long as you apply yourself and you will soon find yourself
catching up to those who had an advantage. But just make sure you work extra
hard in the very beginning stages. It can be tough to get used to but it’s exciting
and deeply rewarding at the same time. Also, once you know the script keep on
practising: you will gradually become comfortable with writing. Here’s a good
resource to complement what you learn in the textbook:
http://www.madinaharabic.com/Arabic_Reading_Course/Lessons/L000_001.html
3. As the textbook informs us, Arabic letters are normally written unvowelled, that
is, without the little vowel on or under each letter that tell us what sound it
makes. For example, “a book” in vowelled Arabic is written as ‫ب‬ ٌ َ ‫( ِآ‬kitābun).
However, in normal unvowelled Arabic it is written as ‫( آ ب‬kitāb). But you will
gradually recognize the sounds they need to make by knowing your grammatical
rules and the patterns associated with words. This is one of the reasons why you
have to go through your textbook exercise by exercise, unit by unit, making sure
you’ve fully mastered the stage you studying before moving on to the next one.
You will then start finding that you can read the words without needing the
vowels.
4. When practising your writing, it’s a good idea to write out a particular letter or
word more than once. At least three times would be good practise and more if
you have time. In any case, practise until you’ve mastered the script.
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5. Dialogues and conversation can be difficult to begin with. Sometimes it appears

to move along too fast. Don’t worry at the beginning if it appears to move to fast
or that you can’t understand everything. The initial important thing is to simply
listen to the dialogue often so that your ear becomes attuned to the pace. Once
this happens you can then focus on the meaning. Repeat the dialogue as often as
you need to until you get it.
6. The section on vocabulary learning on Page 12 of your textbook needs to be

carefully followed (unless you have a more preferred method for learning
vocabulary). It gives great tips for building up your vocabulary and you need to
get into the habit of doing so from the very beginning of your studies. Put regular
time aside specifically for learning vocabulary. Your aim in this module is to fully
recognize and know the meanings of the approximately 200 words that are
contained in units one to eleven of the textbook. Before moving on to the next
unit, make sure that you know the vocabulary list at the end of the previous one.
There’s a great resource for learning vocabulary on the companion website to the
book. It provides the flashcards for you online. Go to:
http://www.palgrave.com/modernlanguages/masteringarabic/audioflashcards/ind
ex.html
(*A correction: Unit 1 Exercise 6, No. 5 : the answer is yathibu ( ), not yathib
( )as given in the key.)
(If you want a general overview of the Arabic letters and writing, Haywood and Nahmad
chapter one will be quite useful.)
C. Study Guide notes for Study Unit 1
The following tables are offered as a brief introduction to the shape and sound of Arabic
letters. If you don’t already know them you will have to study these shapes and sounds
from your textbook. You may also learn the Arabic script from:
http://www.madinaharabic.com/Arabic_Reading_Course/Lessons/L000_001.html
It is from Madinah Arabic that the following tables are taken
1. These are the Arabic letters in full:
Arabic Character
/Jīm/ /Thā’/ /Tā’/ /Bā’/ /Alif/ Letter Name
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j Th ( T b A Letter Sound
‫ر‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫د‬ ‫خ‬ ‫ح‬ Arabic Character
/Râ’/ /Dhāl/ /Dāl/ /Khâ’/ /ħā’/ Letter Name
r Dh D kh H Letter Sound
‫ض‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ش‬ ‫س‬ ‫ز‬ Arabic Character
/đâd/ /ŝâd/ /Shīn/ /Sīn/ /Zāy/ Letter Name
d S Sh s z Letter Sound
‫ف‬ ‫غ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ظ‬ ‫ط‬ Arabic Character
/Fā’/ /Ghayn/ /ξayn/ /Zâ’/ /ŧâ’/ Letter Name
f Gh ` Z t Letter Sound
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‫ن‬ ‫م‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ق‬ Arabic Character
/Nūn/ /Mīm/ /Lām/ /Kāf/ /Qâf/ Letter Name
n M L K q Letter Sound
‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫هـ‬ Arabic Character
/Yā’/ /Wāw/ /Hā’/ Letter Name
Y w h Letter Sound
2. These are the vowel sounds (the little signs over or under a letter). The letter used
is just an example and these vowel sounds can be used on all letters.
‫ُد‬ ‫ِد‬ ‫َد‬ Arabic Character
/Đammah/ /Kasrah/ /Fatħah/ Vowel Name
U I A Vowel Sound
The 'u' in The 'i' in The 'a' in /ba/ English word with similar sound
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put win
3. These are the double vowel sounds:
‫ٌد‬ ‫ٍد‬ ‫ًد‬ Arabic Character
/Đammatān/ /Kasratān/ /Fatħatān/ Vowel Name
'un' 'in' 'an' Vowel Sound
Like the “oon”

The 'in' in Like the 'on' in
in moon but English word with similar sound
win dragon
shorter
4. These are the ways the letters join to each other:
By Itself Joined End Middle Beginning Letter
‫א‬ ‫אאא‬ ‫א‬

/Alif/
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‫‪/Bā’/‬‬
‫ت‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Tā’/‬‬
‫ث‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Thā’/‬‬
‫ج‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ĵīm/‬‬
‫ح‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ħā’/‬‬
‫خ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Khâ’/‬‬
‫د‬ ‫ددد‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫د‬ ‫‪/Dāl/‬‬
‫ذ‬ ‫ذذذ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫‪/Dhāl/‬‬
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‫ر‬ ‫ررر‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫‪/Râ’/‬‬
‫ز‬ ‫ززز‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ز‬ ‫‪/Zāy/‬‬
‫س‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Sīn/‬‬
‫ش‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Shīn/‬‬
‫ص‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ŝâd/‬‬
‫ض‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Đâd/‬‬
‫ط‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ŧâ’/‬‬
‫ظ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Dhâ’/‬‬
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‫ع‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/ξayn/‬‬
‫غ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ghayn/‬‬
‫ف‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Fā’/‬‬
‫ق‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Qâf/‬‬
‫ك‬ ‫آ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫آـ‬ ‫‪/Kāf/‬‬
‫ل‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Lām/‬‬
‫م‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Mīm/‬‬
‫ن‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Nūn/‬‬
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‫ه‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫هـ‬ /Hā’/
‫و‬ ‫ووو‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫و‬ /Wāw/
‫ي‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ /Yā’/
5. Another sign is the stop sign, called the sukūn
ِْ ٌ َْ ٌِ ْ َ Arabic Word
Nose From House Mosque Translation
/Anfon/ /Min/ /Baytun/ /Masĵidun/ Transliteration
6. Another sign is “double sound” sign, called the shadda
‫دُب‬ َ ٌ ِ Arabic Word
Bear Duck Cat Translation
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/Dubbun/ /Baŧŧun/ /Qiŧŧatun/ Transliteration
7. The long vowels. Arabic has three long vowels which lengthen the sound of a letter
The long vowels
are:
َ As in “bar”
ِ As in “bee”
ُ As in “qoo”
١‫ىو‬
EXERCISE:
The following is a useful reading practice exercise:
Final Form Changed Form
(i.e. how the (i.e. to see how
Meaning letters will each letter has Letters on their own
look when changed - joined
joined) form)
He Sat.
َ ‫َ َـ‬ َ ‫َـ ـ َـ ـ‬ ‫س‬
َ ‫ج َل‬
َ
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He wrote.
َ ‫َآ َـ‬ َ ‫آَـ ـ َـ ـ‬ ‫ب‬
َ ‫ت‬
َ ‫ك‬
َ
He drank.
‫ب‬
َ ِ ‫َـ‬ ‫ب‬
َ ِ ‫َـ ـ‬ ‫ب‬
َ ‫ش ِر‬
َ
He went out.
‫ج‬
َ َ ‫َـ‬ ‫ج‬
َ َ ‫َـ ـ‬ ‫ج‬
َ ‫خ َر‬
َ
He opened.
َ ‫َ َـ‬ َ ‫َـ ـ َـ ـ‬ ‫ح‬
َ ‫ت‬
َ ‫ف‬
َ
He understood.
َ ‫َ ِـ‬ َ ‫َـ ـ ِـ ـ‬ ‫ف ِ َم‬
َ
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STUDY UNIT 2
A. Outcomes for Study Unit 2
After you complete this study unit you should be able to:
1. Increase familiarity with Arabic letters and script like….

2. Recognise and formulate very simple sentences.
3. Recognize the difference between the definite and indefinite words.
4. Recognize and use the basic pronouns used in Arabic.
5. Understand the basic parts of the sentence.
B. Textbook notes for Study Unit 2
1. The letters in group two ( ١) are only joined to letters that come
before them. They don’t join with letters that follow them.
2. There is no word for “is”, “are” or “am” in Arabic. Their meanings are there, but
the words themselves are invisible. Look carefully at the examples given under
“simple sentences” on Page 22 of your textbook.
3. In Arabic, not only people but things as well are considered either masculine or
feminine. As you will gradually come to see, this affects the way words are
formed and pronounced.
Correction: Unit 2, Exercise 3, No. 7: the answer is bayna ( ), not bayn ( ) as

given in the key.
1. The basic parts of a sentence: The “a” and the “the”
In English, when we want to refer to something without being specific we use the
indefinite article “a”. So we talk about “a girl”, “a book”, “a table” and so on.
1.1 The “a”
When we want to refer to a specific person or item we use the definite article “the” as in
“the girl”, “the book” and “the table”.
In Arabic there is no separate word for “a”. But if we want to say “a book” we write the
word “book” in Arabic and then add a “n” sound at the end of it.
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Example: “A book” KitabUN
It can also be kitabAN or kitabIN depending on its place in a sentence
(more about this later in the guide). But all mean ‘a book”.
1.2 The “the”
The word for “the” in Arabic is “al”. If, for example, we want to say “the book” we do
two things:
(1) We put the “al” in front of “book”

(2) We drop the “n” sound since it is only used for indefinite words.
So we have AL-KitabU – The book
(We can also have or with both meaning "the book". More about this
later).
Danger! : When we add the “al” the word loses its “n” sound. We can NEVER say Al-
kitabun ٌ al-kitabun (or al-kitaban, or al-kitabin).
So remember if you add “the” you’ve got to drop the “n” sound.
2. Making a sentence
In Arabic there is no word for “is” or “are”. The “is” or “are” are hidden in the
sentence. So if want to say” “The house ( ) is big ( ) ” we write “The house

big”:
The house is big.
Notice here that that is definite and is indefinite. There is an invisible “is”
between the two words which makes the first definite and the second indefinite.
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3. The adjective
In Arabic the adjective (the word that describes something) comes AFTER the noun (the
word being described). So if we want to say “A big (ٌ ) house ( )” we write “A

house big”:
A big house
If we want to say “the big ( ُ ) house ( )” we write “The house big”
The big house
This is important for your learning:
Golden rule 1:
As seen from the two examples, if the noun is indefinite (has the “n” ending)
then the adjective must be indefinite. If the noun is definite (begins with an
“al”) then the adjective is definite.
Golden Rule 2:
The adjective takes the same sound ending as a noun. If the noun ends in “un”
(like in ) then the adjective ends in “un” (like in ). If the noun ends in
“u” (like in ) then the adjective ends in “un” like in ). And the same
applies to other sound endings of “an”(‫א‬ ), “a” ( ), “in”
( ) and “i” ( ) as will be seen later.
4. The personal pronouns
The following are the most common personal pronouns in Arabic:
(anā), I
(huwa), he
(hiya), she
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(anta), you (male)
(anti), you (female)
(nahnu) we
Additional Activity: Study chapter two of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
have learnt. Learn the vocabulary on Pages 24 to 25 and do exercises 1 and 2 on pages
25 and 26.
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STUDY UNIT 3
After completing this study, you should be able to:
1. Increased your familiarity with the Arabic letters and script.

2. Understand the difference between masculine and feminine words.
3. Recognize the interrogative particle in a sentence.
B. Textbook Notes for Study Unit 3
1. In Unit three Exercise 2, No. 4 c notice how the letter “ ” in the word “ ”
is pronounced. It’s pronounced “ZH” (like the “s” in version”) rather than “j” as
in “mawj”. Both “zh” and “j” are acceptable in everyday speech. Arabic
pronunciation often differs from country to country.
2. Make a note of the special rules that apply to the words ‫א‬ and ‫א‬ when
used in the genitive case (P291 of the textbook).
3. Assume words to be masculine, unless it refers to a female or has the (tā

marbūta) at the end of it.
(For a notes
C. Study Guide morefor
detailed
Unit 3 grammatical understanding of gender, we recommend you
to read Chapter three of Haywood and Nahmad).
1. Masculine and Feminine
Words in Arabic are either masculine or feminine. A word in its normal form is usually male.
For example,
The king (al-maliku) is old (tawīlun).
However, when a ta marbūtah ( ) is added to the word it becomes feminine. For example,
The queen (al-malikatu) is tall.
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So the addition of the ta marbūtah makes “al-malik” (the king) a feminine word, namely,
al-malikatu (queen). But there is also another change. Tawīlun (ٌ ) becomes
tawīlatun (ٌ ) which leads us to another golden rule:
Golden rule 1:
The predicate must agree with the noun in gender (The predicate is the part
that comes after the “is” in a sentence).
Note that there are many words that are feminine in meaning even without the ta
marbuta. Some of these words refer to females: mother, daughter, and bride.
Geographical names are also often feminine. The parts of the body that occur in pairs
are feminine as well.
And these common words are also feminine:
- earth
- sun
- soul, self
- fire
‫ א‬- home
Golden rule 2:
Just like the predicate must agree with the noun in gender, so must the adjective agree with the
noun in gender.
For example: The old queen would be ُ .
A big home would be ٌ ‫א‬
2. The interrogative particles.
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The interrogative is a question that begins with “is” or “are”. For example: Is he going to
the shop? Are you ready to go? In Arabic we can use two particles to indicate such a
question. A particle is a word that is neither a noun (a naming word) nor a verb (a doing
word). These two particles as they are ْ and . So we have: or
. Both mean: “Is he a king?”
Additional Activity: Study chapter three of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
31 and 32.
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STUDY UNIT 4
AA.
A. Outcomes of Study Unit 4
After completing this study, you should:
1. Have further added to your familiarity with the Arabic letters and script.
2. Have a solid understanding of some basic plural forms.
3. Have an ability to recognize the three cases.
4. Have the ability to distinguish between words that are declinable and words that
are not fully declinable (called diptotes).
5. Have a good understanding of the genitive with prepositions.
6. Have a good first understanding of the genitive of possession.
1. Note the difference in modern and classical Arabic (“Structure notes, p48-49). If
you are learning Arabic in order to understand the Quran, pay special attention
to the three case endings and learn them well as they come along (this unit
explains the nominative case ending. Other units will explain the accusative and
genitive case endings.)
2. After completing this unit, make sure that you have consolidated the vocabulary
learnt in Units 1-4. To use the flashcards for these units online go to:
http://www.byki.com/lists/Arabic/Mastering-arabic-1-vocabulary-review-units-
01-04.html
Correction: Unit 4, Exercise 5, No. 7. The answer ‫ن‬ and ‫ن‬ ‫ه‬
(For a detailed grammatical understanding of case endings, we recommend you to read

Chapter four of Haywood and Nahmad).
C. Study Guide Notes for Study Unit 4
1. The cases
Arabic has three cases. A case is the vowel sound a word takes on its final letter. So for
example all have as their final letters. (The alif at the end of
as we is not really part of the word). Arabic has grammatical rules and these rules mean
that words take particular vowel sounds on their last letter. That is why we have cases.
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There are three cases in Arabic:
(1) The Nominative case: e.g. / The Nominative case ends with the
dammah vowel.
(2) The Accusative case: e.g. /َ . The Accusative case ends with the
fathah vowel. (Note: The alif in kitāban is simply a convention of spelling

and is not really part of the word. It is there to help us distinguish the word when
it occurs in unvowelled Arabic but you will only need to worry about that much
later!)
(3) The Genitive case: e.g. /ِ . The Genitive case ends with the kasrah
vowel.
How to apply them:
(1) The Nominative case is used most commonly for the subject in a sentence. In
Hasan is a boy, Hasan is the subject. The subject will take a dammah. .
Here Hasan takes the dammah.
But the nominative is also used for the predicate in the sentence (that which comes after
“is”). In the above example also has a dammah.
(2) The Accusative case is used most commonly for an object to which something is
being done. In Hassan eats the food, the food is the object. Example:
The boy (al-waladu) eat (akala) the food (ta‘āman)
In other words, the boy (the subject or actor in the sentence) is doing something to the
food. That is why has the fathah at its end. This means it is in the accusative
case. You will see more examples of this case when you do verbs in the next module.
(3) The genitive case is used to show possession of something, and it is also used
after prepositions.
(a) The genitive with preposition
A genitive is a word like “on” , “in” “to” and “from” ْ which shows how
one object is related to another object. In Arabic, any word that follows a preposition
takes a kasrah on its final letter.
For example: ‫א‬ The book is on the table.
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This also applies to the indefinite. For example: A book is

on a table.
(a) The genitive of possession
1. This is often called the idāfah construction. It is refers to a situation where two
nouns are next to each other, with the first noun being “owned” or possessed by
the second noun. The idāfah (genitive) construction (P83) can be a bit tricky to
the beginner. This construction is best learnt by practice and, as you continue
doing your exercises, you will gradually become more accustomed to its rules.
However, it will be useful to look at the following example and bear in mind the
rules that follow:
‫א‬ (The door of the house)
(a) The first noun ( ) of the idāfah construction never has an ْ (al)but it is
still definite (that is, the (al) hidden).
(b) Because it is in reality definite, the first part of the idāfah has no nunation.
(c) The second noun ( ‫ ) א‬of the idāfah construction has an “al”
(d) The second part of the idāfah has a kasrah (“i” sound ending).
(e) Nothing can be put between the first and second part of an idāfah.
(f) If an adjective needs to describe the nouns in an idāfah, it comes AFTER

them. For example, if want to say, the old door of the house, we write:
Notice that takes the dammah as it is describing the door. If we want to
say the door of the old house we would write: . Qadīm now
takes a kasrah because “house” ( ) also took a kasrah.
(Note: the above rules apply to the definite idāfah which by far forms the bulk of
idāfah. Slightly different rules apply to the indefinite idāfah. Look at Haywood and
Nahmad, Chapter 8, if you want more details at this stage).
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2. Declinable nouns and diptotes
There are certain words in the indefinite that are written definitely from the
normal pattern. In the normal pattern we say, for example:
- Nominative
- Accusative
- Genitive
This normal pattern is called declinable. However there are certain words that are not
fully declinable in this way. These words are called diptotes. They are declined as
follows:
(angry)- Nominative
- Accusative
- Genitive
There are two RULES to note with diptotes:
1. Diptotes do not take NUNATION (the “un”, “an” or “in” vowels at the end of a
word.)
2. Diptotes take a FATH AH in the GENITIVE. So for example,

from an angry man.
There are no special rules by which to find out which words are diptotes and
which are not. You will gradually come to know them with experience and
through the dictionary.
• Please note: Diptotes do not apply when a word is definite! When a diptote
is definite, it is written normally:
- Nominative
- Accusative
- Genitive
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Additional Activity: Study chapter four of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
38 and 39.
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STUDY UNIT 5
1. Have further added to your familiarity with the Arabic letters and script
2. Enhance your understanding of the definite and indefinite
3. Know the main possessive endings
4. Have a solid overview of what singular, plural and dual are all about
5. Have a good understanding of the sound plurals
6. Have a solid knowledge of the personal pronouns
7. Have a basic idea of what Arabic verbs are all about
1. Take particular note of the difference between ‫אא‬ (This pen) and ‫א‬ (This
is a pen).
2. Do not rush through the section “whose is it?” on P59 and exercises 7 and 8. You may
have to go through these a few times to adjust to the longer sentences now being used.
(For a more detailed understanding of attached pronouns, study chapter nine in Nahmad and
Haywood)
1. Singular, plural and dual
In Arabic words are singular, dual or plural. Singular refers to one person or thing, dual
refers to only two persons or things, and plural refers to more than three persons or
things.
(a)Dual
The dual is formed by adding ‫ א‬or (āni or ayni) to the singular word. When that
singular word is in the nominative case, the ending is ‫א‬. When that singular word is
accusative or genitive, the ending is
Examples:
- the king (al-maliku)
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- the two kings (al-malikāni)
- a queen (malikatun)
– two queens (malikatāni)
- a queen (malikatan- accusative case)
- two queens (malikatayn)
(Note that in the feminine the tā marbūtah becomes a tā in the dual).
(b)Plurals
Arabic has two types of plurals (remember: this refers to more than two objects).
(i)The sound plural:
A sound plural is formed by adding certain endings to the singular words. However
different types of ending are applied depending on whether the word is masculine or
feminine.
The sound masculine plural is formed by adding (ūna) to the singular word when it is
in the nominative case. When the sound masculine plural is in the accusative or genitive
cases, it takes the َ (īna)
Examples:
- a teacher
– teachers (mu‘allimūna) (nominative)
- teachers (mu‘allimīna) (accusative and genitive)
The sound feminine plural is formed by adding ‫א‬ in the nominative and ‫א‬ in the
accusative and genitive when the word is indefinite.
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Examples:
‫א‬ – an animal (hayawānun)
‫א‬ - animals (hayawānātun) (nominative)
‫א‬ - animals (hayawānātin) (accusative and genitive)
When the word is definite, the ‫ א‬becomes ‫ א‬and the ‫ א‬becomes ‫א‬
Examples:
‫א‬ - The animals (nominative)
‫א‬ - (accusative and genitive)
As we have seen, a feminine singular word often ends in tā marbūtah ( ). When such a
word it made plural, it DROPS the tā marbūtah.
Examples:
- the queen
the queens (nominative)
the queens (accusative and genitive)
GOLDEN RULE 1:
The sound masculine plural is almost exclusively used for male human beings.
The names of animals, non-human objects and abstract nouns (that is, an idea,
quality or concept like happiness or sadness) take the sound feminine plural.
And, course, names of female human beings also take the sound feminine
plural!
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GOLDEN RULE 2:
As we have learnt, adjectives agree with their nouns in gender and case. We
should also know that they agree with their nouns in number.
For example:
–The strong queen

–The strong queens
BUT THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT EXCEPTION! A non-human feminine plural

noun takes its adjective in the FEMININE SINGULAR.
For example:
– wild animals
(ii) The broken plural:
The broken plural is formed by changing the form of the singular word itself. There will
be more on the broken plural in study unit six.
Question:
How do we know whether a singular word needs to take a sound plural or a

broken one?
We don’t at this stage. This comes with experience, learning vocabulary and the
increasing use of the dictionary. But as a general rule many of the professions (bakers,
tailors, butchers) take the sound plural. )
1. The personal pronoun
A personal pronoun is used to a refer to a particular person (I, you, he, she, we, they) or
thing (it). The following are the main personal pronouns in Arabic:
- I (Anā)
- you (singular male) (anta)
- you (singular female) (anti)
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- he (huwa)
- she (hiya)
- we (nah nu)
- you (plural male) (antum)
- you (plural female) (antenna)
- them (male) (hum)
them (female) (hum)
Two pronouns for the dual are also used:
َ ُْ ‫َأ‬- you (two) used for both masculine and feminine
- they (two) used for both masculine and feminine
Since all Arabic words are either masculine or feminine, there is no “it” in Arabic. Rather
we use “he”, “she” and “they” as the word for the word “it”. When “you” or “they” refer
to a mixed group of males and females, then the masculine (antum or hum) is used.
2. A brief overview of the verb
A verb shows the action that occurs in a sentence. So “he attended the meeting” shows
us the action of “attending”. It also tells us whether this action takes place in the past, in
the present or the future. In this sentence the action took place in the past (he
“attended”).
Here is an example of the simplest form of the verb in Arabic:
- he wrote (kataba)
This is called the third person masculine singular of the past. It is called third person
because it refers someone who is not “I” or “we” or “you”. It refers rather to a “he”,
“she” or “they” (here it refers to “he”). It is called “masculine” because it refers to a
male, not a female. It is called “singular” because it refers to a single person, not to
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more than one person. It is of the past because it refers to an action that has already
been completed, not something that is being completed or still needs to be completed.
With a bit of adjustment, this basic verb can be made feminine by adding a
- She wrote (written as “katabatil” ) when followed by the “al”.
It can also be made plural by adding a ‫א‬
‫א‬ - They wrote
An Arabic sentence also normally starts with a verb. When the verb in the third person
comes first, it stays singular although it agrees with its subject in gender.
For example: In the sentence “The teachers wrote” “teachers” are the subject of the
sentence and “wrote” its verb. So we have:
Here “kataba” is in the singular even though “teachers” (al-mu‘allimūn) is in the plural.
This is because “kataba” is a verb in the third person that has started the sentence and
so it must remain singular even if the subject is plural.
In the example just given, refers to male teachers. If we want to say that
“The female teachers wrote” we have:
Here “katabat (katabatil)” is also in the singular even though “teachers” (al-mu‘allimāt)
is in the plural. This is because “katabat”, a verb in the third person, starts the sentence
and must be in the singular even though its subject is plural. However, because the
subject is now female, the verb must also be female. In other words, the verb and
the subject have to agree with one another in gender.
This is just as introduction to the verb. You will have an opportunity to go into more
detail when you do the follow up module ARB1602.
Additional Activity:
Study chapter five of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you have learnt. Learn
the vocabulary on Pages 46 to 48 and do exercises 7 and 8 on pages 48 and 49.
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STUDY UNIT 6
1. Have further added to your familiarity with the Arabic letters and script
2. Understand the difference between the sun and the moon letters
3. Have a more solid grasp of the interrogative particles
4. Know how to apply the interrogative question “where?”
5. Be aware that Arabic has dialects
1. The translations of the prepositions are as follows:
(a) “under”
(b) “on”
(c) “between”
(d) “in”
(e) “above”
(f) “next to”
2. “Positional words” (p80) are synonymous with prepositions. The word that follows a
preposition takes a kasrah sign.
3. For more on prepositions see Haywood and Nahmad, Chapter four
1. Broken Plurals: An Introduction
Almost all Arabic words have a root. The root consists of the basic letters on which that
word rests. In the majority of cases, three letters make up that root. However, quite a
few words also rest on a root that consists of four letters. Roots that consist of three
letters are often called trilateral. Roots that consist of four letters are called
quadrilateral.
(a) An example of a three letter (trilateral) root
An example of a trilateral root is the word
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– He does (or meaning, ‘to do”)

This is the simplest form of the verb. It only contains root letters. The root letters here
are
Adding to the root letters
A group of words can rest on the same root, but they give off a variety of
different meanings. How do they do that? They do so by adding other letters to
the basic root. So let us again take the root:
– He does (or meaning, ‘to do”)
If we add to it, it becomes:
- She does
If we add a and an ‫ א‬to the root letters it becomes:
- to interact with
The ‫א‬ in the examples given above are not the root letters. They are the
additional letters which allows words to convey different meanings.
Don’t worry about the English meanings of the examples given. That’s not
important right know. You just need to recognize that words have root letters,
that they have additional letters as well and these allow words to convey different
meanings.
(b) An example of a four letter (quadrilateral) root:
– a jewel.
The root of this word is four letters
We can also add additional letters to this word. So if we add an “alif”‫ ا‬to this root
we have:
‫א‬ - jewels (plural) [Notice that it is a diptote!]
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‫א‬ (Jawāhiru) is a broken plural. That means it is not a sound masculine or

feminine plural.
GOLDEN RULE:
A broken plural is most commonly formed by adding an additional letter

to the root letters. It can come in many different patterns.
These patterns do not follow any specific rule. You will gradually get used to
these patterns with experience. Beginners, especially, will need to look up the
broken plurals of specific words in dictionaries. Remember that a large number of
nouns take the broken plural rather than the sound plurals. Make sure that you
learn the plural of the noun when you learn the noun itself.
3. Common patterns of the broken plural
There are though some common patterns of the broken plural which will assist in
remembering the plural of a noun. These are some common patterns (courtesy
Madinah Arabic)
Plural Pattern Singular
– – –
(Stars) (A star)
– –
(Books) (A book)
–‫–א‬ –
(Mountains) (Mountain)
–‫–א‬ –
(Pilgrims) (A pilgrim)
–‫–א‬ – –
(Pens)
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(A pen)
–‫–א‬ – –
(A colleague)
(Colleagues)
–‫–א‬ – – –
(A Doctor)
(Doctors)
– – –
(Brother)
(Brothers)
4. The adjectives of broken plural nouns.
When the broken plural noun refers to a male human being, it can take a broken plural
adjective. For example,
‫א‬ (rijālun tiwālun) Tall men
is the plural of (a man) while ‫א‬ is the plural of ٌ (tall)
Golden Rule:
In all other cases (that is, where it does not refer to a male human) the broken
plural noun takes the feminine singular adjective.
For example,
(mudunun kabīratun) Big cities
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is the plural of (a city) while ٌ is the feminine singular of “big”
*Note that some words may have more than one broken plural. You will gradually get
used to these as you go along.
* Note also that a few broken plural patterns are diptotes (Look at the table above).
Study chapter six and seven of Haywood and Nahmad to reinforce what you have
learnt. Learn the vocabulary in both lessons and do exercises 9, 10, 11 and 12.
STUDY UNIT 7
1. Have further enhanced your knowledge of the Arabic script
2. Have enhanced your knowledge of the idāfah construction
3. Have enhanced your knowledge of plurals and adjectives
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1. The idāfah (genitive) construction (P83) can be a bit tricky to the beginner. This
construction is best learnt by practice and, as you continue doing your exercises,
you will gradually become more accustomed to its rules.
However, it will be useful to look at the following example and bear in mind the rules
that follow:
‫א‬ (The door of the house)
(a) The first noun ( ) of the idāfah construction never has an (al)but it is still
definite (that is, the (al) hidden).

(b) Because it is in reality definite, the first part of the idāfah has no nunation.
(c) The second noun ( ‫ ) א‬of the idāfah construction has an “al”
(d) The second part of the idāfah has a kasrah (“i” sound ending).
(e) Nothing can be put between the first and second part of an idāfah.
(Note: the above rules apply to the definite idāfah which by far forms the bulk of
idāfah. Slightly different rules apply to the indefinite idāfah. Look at Haywood and
Nahmad, Chapter 8, if you want more details at this stage).
2. In Arabic the adjective (the word that describes something) comes AFTER the
noun (the word being described). So if we want to say “A big ( ) house ( )”
we write “A house big”:
A big house
If we want to say “the big ( ) house (ُ )” we write “The house big”
The big house
Golden rule: As seen from the two examples, if the noun is indefinite (does not have
the “al” ) then the adjective must be indefinite. If the noun is definite (begins
with an “al” ْ ) then the adjective is definite.
3. After completing this unit, make sure you consolidate the vocabulary learnt from
Units five to seven. To use the online flashcards for these units go to:
http://www.byki.com/lists/Arabic/Mastering-arabic-1-vocabulary-review-units-05-
07.html
Also ensure that you revise the vocabulary learnt in Units one to four.
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1. More on the Idāfah
(a) Special rules when the dual and sound masculine plurals are used in the genitive.
When the dual and sound masculine plural are used in the genitive construction, the final
“nūn” is dropped.
(b) Examples:
a. (bābal bayti)The two doors of the house. Here (“two

doors”) drops the final “nūn” because it is now part of the idāfah.
b. (miftāh a bābayil bayti)The two keys of the two
doors of the house. Here drops the “nūn” because it is part of the ‘idāfah.
When bābān becomes a genitive, it is written bābayni ِ . It has been
made genitive by the word “miftāhā” which comes before it. However,
bābayni in turn is followed by another idāfah (albayti) which means
it must drop its “nūn” as well and become However, it is followed by an “al”
which means that, by convention, the yā has to be written with a kasrah
c. (mu’allimul madrasati) The teachers of the school. Here
drops the final nūn because it is part of the ‘idāfah.
d. (li mu‘allimil madrasati) For the teachers of the school.
Here “li” is a preposition meaning that the following word is in the genitive.
َ therefore becomes َ . However, , is also followed by a
genitive, meaning that it has to drop its “nūn” and become .
(c) There are SOME words that take specific patterns when followed by a genitive noun.
These words are
- father
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– father-in-law
- brother
- mouth
- owner of
So, for example, when is followed by a genitive it becomes:
- in the nominative
- in the accusative
- in the genitive
An example would be
You should not worry about these exceptions at this stage. Just remember that when
you come across these words they take special forms. You can then go look them up.
Haywood and Nahmad, p 64, gives more details on these forms.
(d) Sometimes, an adjective that follows the idāfah construction may refer to either of
the nouns. For example, take
Here the adjective could refer either to or it could refer to . So the
sentence could either be “In the house of the big teacher” or “In the big house of the
teacher”. Only the context of the sentence will be able to tell us which one is being
referred to.
(e) We may want to refer to two items in the genitive. For example we might want to
say: The book and the pen of the teacher. What do we do in this case? In this case, we
take put the first noun (book) genitive construction and then put the second noun after
the construction. We also attach a pronoun (in this case “his”) to the second noun. So
we will really be saying: “The book of the teacher and his pen”. “The book of the
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teacher” is the genitive construction and “his pen” is the second noun, together with its
pronoun “his”. So in Arabic we will say:
ُ Here “kitāb” is book, “mu‘allim” is teacher, “qalam” is pen

and the “hu” refers to “his”. The”hu” is called an attached pronoun and you will
learn more about this in the next study unit.
(f) The genitive is by and large for definite nouns. For example, in “The book of the
teacher” both “book” and “teacher’ is definite. However, it may also sometimes be used
for two indefinite nouns. When used in this way, it often connects two items that are
usually linked to each other. Examples of this include “a cup of coffee” or “a piece of
meat”. So we have:
a cup of coffee
a piece of meat
Notice here that the first noun (although indefinite) does not have “nunation” (that is,
the “un” sound). The second noun (the id āfah) does not have an “al” and takes the
“in” (kasratayn) showing that it is indefinite but genitive.
Additional Activity: Study chapter eight of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
have learnt. Learn the vocabulary on Pages 68 to 69 and do exercises 13 and 14 on
pages 69 and 70.
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STUDY UNIT 8
1. Have consolidated what you have learnt in the textbook so far.

2. Have gained a solid understanding of the attached pronoun.
3. Have learnt the prepositions of possession.
This is an excellent opportunity to pause for breath and review what you have studies before
moving forward. It will consolidate what you have previously done. So carefully do the
exercises in this unit!
Some notes on the exercises in the unit:
In Exercise three separate the male names from the female ones. Remember that some
names can fall in both categories.
In exercise five you should be looking for six words in the crossword.
In exercise eight it’s better to photocopy/scan the pictures and then cut these rather than
cutting the actual pictures!
Regarding the conversation, in addition to following the recording, practice your budding skills
with someone who knows Arabic if possible. Remember, there are variations in the language
used when people introduce themselves. So just bear that in mind when engaging a person
and things don’t appear to follow the script in the textbook. In fact, you can ask him or her
about the expressions they use if different. If you are lucky enough to know somebody like
this, it will certainly broaden your Arabic skills. Nothing is better than engaging “live” in order
to speed up your language acquisition.
1. The attached pronoun
(a) A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. For example, we say “This is
John’s toy.” But if we speaking to John himself we would say: “This is your toy”. Here
the pronoun “your” replaces the noun “John”. When speaking about John to someone
else, we may also simply say: “This is his toy”. Here “his” replaces the noun “John”.
In Arabic, pronouns such as “his”, ‘hers”, “yours”, “my”, “ours” and “theirs” are called
attached pronouns. This is because the letters that indicate them are joined or attached
to the word with which they are associated.
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So for example, the letters that describes “our” in Arabic is َ (nā). To say “our house”
we attach this َ to the word ْ َ (house) and we have:
(baytunā).
List of the attached pronouns:
e.g. my book (kitābī)
e.g. our book
e.g. َ your book (spoken to a single male)
e.g. your book (spoken to a single female)
e.g. your book (spoken two people, male and/or female)
e.g. your book (spoken to more than two males)
e.g. َ your book (spoken to more than two females)
e.g. his book
e.g. her book
e.g. their book (spoken about two people, male and/or female)
e.g. their book (when speaking about more than two males)
e.g. their book (when speaking about more than two females)
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• Remember: when there is a mixed group of males and females, the male form of
the plural is used.
(c) An attached pronoun is really an idāfah. Why? Because it shows possession: for
example “our” house, “my” car and so on. This means that the noun with which it is
associated (“house”, “car”) is really the definite form. This is according to the rules of
idāfah (see previous lessons). The following example will make it easier to see this: “My
house” is the same as “The house of mine”. Here we can see that “the” makes the house
definite and “of” shows it is an idāfah construction. This means that if we want to say “A
house of mine” we would not say (my house) but
(a house from one of my houses) or, alternatively, – a house

belonging to me.
(d) The attached pronoun can also be attached to the verb and the preposition.
(i) Example of an attachment to a verb :
(He opened the door) can become (he opened it). [Remember that
words in Arabic are either masculine or feminine. So “it” as an attached pronoun can
either be “his” or “her” ]
(ii) Example of an attachment to a preposition:
The preposition (from) From you/yours. (minka: consisting of “min” (from)

and ‘ka” (you/yours)”
The preposition (for) for her (lahā: consisting of “li” (for) and “hā” (her)
Rule: As in the above example, when (li) comes before a preposition, it becomes
(la). So you also have and so on. The exception to this rule is when the
attached pronoun is (my). In this case (li) keeps its kasrah: (for me).
(e) The attached pronouns become WHEN THEY

COME AFTER a kasrah or a yā .‫ي‬
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For example,
(ilayhi) to him
(fī baytihim) in their house
(f) ْ become ُ
and and ُ WHEN THEY COME BEFORE THE HAMZA
TUL WASL (the ‫ أ‬as in ‫ل‬

ْ ‫أ‬- al)
For example: (baytu humul jamīlu) “their beautiful house”.
(g) (i) When we say “from me” ( plus the attached pronoun ) we put a
“shadda” on the and then add the : (minnī)
(ii) When the attached pronoun follows an unvowelled ‫ א‬and (that is, they don’t
have any sound signs like a kasrah, dammah or fathah) then that becomes a
Example: (to me)
(h) It was seen in (b) above that the attached pronoun is really an id āfah. We have
seen in an earlier unit that when a dual and sound masculine plurals are used in the
genitive, they drop the “nun”.
(i) For example, when َ (the teachers) becomes part of the genitive
construction, “the teachers of the school”, it is written as follows: .

This is why the dual and sound masculine plurals also lose the “nun” when followed by
an attached pronoun.
Examples:
your teachers
from his teachers
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2. Phrases for “to have”
The three phrases are often use to show that something belongs to someone,
or that someone has something. When uses in this way, these words would usually begin
a sentence. Since they are prepositions, the word that follows them will have a kasrah.
Examples:
The teacher has many books (“For the teacher, many books”)
The boy has a ball (“With the boy, a ball”)
The man has a house (“At the man, a house”)
You will get use to these phrases with experience.
Additional Activity: Study chapter nine of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
pages 78 and 79.
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STUDY UNIT 9
After completing this study, you should be able to:
1. identify the nisbah adjective and plural.
2. understand of the demonstrative pronoun .
3. give an overview of the interrogative pronoun.
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Most countries and capital cities in the Middle East sound similar in both English and
Arabic. A couple of exceptions worth noting are:
- Egypt (Arabic: Misr )
- Jordan (Arabic: Al-Urdun ‫)א‬

- Tripoli (Arabic: Tarāblus ‫א‬ )
- Damascus (Arabic: Dimashq )
(Note also the difference between Oman, the country, and Amman, the capital of Jordan.
Both are spelt the same way in Arabic ( ). In its unvowelled form, you will have to
make out the difference based on the context in which it is used. See p102 of your
textbook).
Exercise 2: Note that countries and cities are feminine, even if they don’t have a tā
marbūta ( ).
Exercise 4: (Būr Sa‘īd) is Port Said. ‫א‬ (Al-Iskandarīyyah) is
Alexandria.
Nationalities (p106): Take note of the tā marbūta ( ) that is added to a female of a
particular country.
Exercise 8. Take picture 3 to be Saudis and take picture 4 to be Russians.
Don’t forget: When you are asked to make a singular sentence plural you should make
sure that you have done all the changes required. For example, if you are asked to make
“He is Lebanese” (ّ ) into plural form both “he” and “Lebanese” must be changed
into their plural forms (They are Lebanese ). And remember the feminine
forms as well! (‫ة‬ She is Lebanese/ They (f.) are Lebanese)
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D. Study Guide Notes for Study Unit 9
1. The demonstrative pronoun
(a) The demonstrative pronoun is used to show (“demonstrate”) something. Examples

are: this chair, that table, these people and those books.
In English, the demonstrative pronouns are this, these, that and those. However,
because Arabic has masculine and feminine, as well as the dual, it gets a bit more
complicated. Study the following table carefully (courtesy Madinah Arabic):
English Transliteration Gender/Number Arabic
Hādhā Masculine/Singular ‫ٰ א‬
This
Hādhihi Feminine/Singular ٰ
Hādhāni Masculine/Dual ‫ٰ א‬ This and These

These two
Hātāni Feminine/Dual ‫ٰא‬
Masculine &
These all Hā’ulā’i ٰ
Feminine/ Plural
Dhālika Masculine/Singular
That
Tilka Feminine/Singular
Dhānika Masculine/Dual ‫א‬ That and Those

Those two
Tānika Feminine/Dual
Masculine &
Those all 'ulā’ika ٰ
Feminine/ Plural
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(b)A demonstrative pronoun can be an adjective or a subject. As an adjective, it tells us

something about the noun. Examples would be: this table, those books.
A subject in a sentence is something or someone that is doing or being something. An

example of a demonstrative pronoun as a subject is the sentence “This is a book”. In this
sentence, “this” is being a “book”. Another example would be: “These are tables”.
(c)As an adjective: When we write “This book” in Arabic we simply write “this” followed
by “the book”.
‫א‬
(d)As a subject: When we write “This is a book” in Arabic we simply write “this” followed
by the word “a book”
‫א‬
(e)If we want to say: “This son of the king” in Arabic, we need to put the “this” AFTER
the son of the king:
‫א‬
This means that a demonstrative pronoun for the first noun in an idāfah construction
comes after the construction itself. It comes afterwards because if it came before “ibnU”
it would read “This is a son of the king”. Look at (d) above.
(f)If we want to say: The son of this king, we will write it out normally:
‫א‬
(g)Remember that broken plurals normally take the adjective as a feminine singular See
Study Unit 6, No.4) For example, we would say:
(mudunun kabīratun) Big cities
Similarly, when we use the feminine singular demonstrative pronoun for a broken plural:
These are cities
Those books
(h)If we want to say: “This is the boy” we will write:
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‫א‬
Here the word “huwa” is necessary because ‫ُد‬ ‫א‬ means “This boy” (see “c”
above) and
‫א‬ means “This is a boy” (see “d” above). So we needed to add in the “huwa” to
distinguish it from those other meanings. Of course, depending on what the
demonstrative pronoun is, either or َ may be used. For example: This
is the table:
2.The interrogative pronoun
(a)An interrogative is a sentence that asks a question. An example of an interrogative

sentence would be: “What time is it?” In this sentence, “what” is called the interrogative
pronoun
(b)These are the interrogative pronouns in Arabic:
/ ‫אا‬ What? (mā or mā dhā)
Which? (ayyun)
Which ? (feminine) (ayyatun)
How much/How many? (kam)
Who? (man)
(c) (i) /‫א‬ , , and ْ َ are indeclinable words. That means these words will
always be as they are, no matter how they are used in a sentence.
(ii) ‫أَي‬/ٌ ‫َأ‬ are declinable nouns: that means that they can take different sound
endings depending on where and how they are used in a sentence.
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(iii) ٌ ‫َأ‬ and ‫أَي‬ take the nouns that follow them as an idāfah. For example:
“Which girl?” is written as:
(iv) ْ takes the following noun as an accusative indefinite singular. That is, it takes
it in the singular with a fath atayn (with two fath as). For example: “How many boys?”
is written as: ‫ا‬
(v) /‫א‬ means “for what?”
Additional Activity: Study chapter ten of Nahmad and Haywood to reinforce what you
pages 84 and 85.
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STUDY UNIT 10
After you complete this study unit you should be able to::
1. Familiarise with basic Arabic numbers
2. Understand the plurals
3. Familiarise yourself with the elative and superlative adjectives
Unit 10
Numbers: Distinguishing between 2 (٢) and 6 (٦) in Arabic can take a bit of getting used to.
Just remember that the 2 faces right and the 6 faces left.
Dual and sound plural case endings (p119-120): The textbook provides a concise and
simplified explanation of the different types of dual and sound plural endings. While this is
sufficient at this stage of your progress, if you looking for a more detailed grammatical
understanding, together with examples, see Haywood and Nahmad, Chapter 5.
The rules relating to Arabic numbers are rather complex and you should not worry too much
about them at this stage. For now, the most important thing is to know these numbers!
1. The elative
The elative compares one thing with another. When we say “greater than”, “”bigger
than”, “smaller than” and so on, we are using the elative. In Arabic, when we want to
compare something to something else we use the form:
Here is the form in which “bigger”, “smaller”, “greater” etc. will be written while
means “than”. Examples:
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“bigger” than [from “big”]
“smaller than” [from “small”]
ْ ِ ُ َ ْ ‫“ َأ‬more patient than” [from ‫َ ُ ْ ٌر‬ “patient”]
2. The superlative
The superlative is used to show the “most” or “least” of something in a group of things.
Examples include: the oldest boy, the smallest fish, the biggest building. Here we talking
about the oldest boy among the group of boys we are discussing, the smallest fish
among the fish we are discussing an so on.
To make the superlative in Arabic we use the form followed by a noun with a
kasratayn (with two kasrahs). Examples:
– the biggest man (as in “he is the biggest man
in the city”)
- the most patient girl
‫א‬ –the smallest cars (from ٌ - a car)
3. “Better than” in Arabic is
“Worse than” in Arabic is
Additional Activity: Study chapter eleven of Haywood and Nahmad to reinforce what you
pages 84 and 85.
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STUDY UNIT 11
After you complete this study unit you should be able to:
1. Familiarise yourself with the concept of Arabic roots.

2. Enhance your understanding of the broken plurals.
3. Built on your knowledge of the accusative case.
4. Reinforce the grammar you have learnt so far.
The whole of Arabic is built around the concept of root letters (al-masdar) and it is
important that you grasp this concept from the outset. The root letters of the word need
to be sifted from the “added” letters. The concept might appear strange at first, but you
will get more used to it in time.
In this unit, the textbook introduces you to two patterns of the broken plural. There are
a number of other patterns. If you want to jump ahead and get more detail on these
other patterns, please look at Haywood and Nahmad, Chapters six and seven.
In exercise 4:
No. 2 is a picture of houses (sing. )
No. 3 is a picture of boys, not office-workers! Use the appropriate word.
No.5 is a picture of shapes (sing. shakal )
No. 6, each man in the picture can be called a “Shaykh” ( ), the meaning of which is
an older or learned person, or the head of a tribe.

o
The conversation on page 141 goes rather fast and you may need to listen to it a
number of times to understand it. Yu will also need look at the next section on “colours”
to understand how some of the words are used. So we suggest that you listen to the
conversation once or twice, study the section on colours, and then again listen to the
conversation as many times as you need.
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E. Study Guide Notes for Study Unit 11
The following are revision exercises to reinforce what you have learnt so far. All
revision exercises from revision exercise 2 onwards are compulsory.
Revision Exercise one (Reading exercise)
(This is optional exercise to give you more confidence in your reading. You can revise it
with Study Unit one if you wish).
Changed Form
Final Letters on their
Meaning (i.e. to see how each letter has
Form own
changed - joined form)
Nurse ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
Farmer ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
Spoon ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
Iron (for ironing) ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
Coffee ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
(Source: Madinah Arabic)
Compulsory Exercises
(All the exercises below are compulsory as these questions may come in the exam).
(Source: Haywood and Nahmad)
If you have studied the eleven units in the textbook and study guide, you should be able
to answer these exercises.
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Revision Exercise Two (Revise with study unit 2)
Vocabulary
You (female) - / You (male)-
house-
large-
tall/long-
short-
boy-
small
river
narrow
Exercise:
Translate the following sentences into Arabic.
1. The house is large.
2. A large house.
3. A tall man and a short boy.
4. Hasan is a small boy.
5. The river is narrow.
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Revision Exercise three: (Revise with Study Unit Three)
Vocabulary
mother
beautiful-
present
bride
ready
king
dead
Exercise:
1. You are beautiful.
2. The tall tree is dead.
3. The mother is present.
4. Is the bride ready?
5. The dead king/ The king is dead.
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Revision Exercise four: (Revise with Study Unit four)
Vocabulary
angry- (diptote)
with-
new-
minister
on
table
knife
spoon
fork
market
Damascus (diptote)
Street
Meat
Plate
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Exercise:
1. The king is angry with the new minister.
2. There is a beautiful new table in Hasan’s house.
3. On the table are a knife, fork and spoon.
4. The new market of Damascus is in the long, narrow street.
5. The meat is on the plate.
Revision Exercise five: (Revise with Study Unit five)
Vocabulary
difficult- I-
language- (takes the sound plural) and-
to write/he wrote َ َ ‫َآ‬
easy-
book
boy
Muslim (takes a sound plural)
teacher (takes a sound plural)
absent ٌ (takes a sound plural)
today
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good (takes a sound plural)
doctor ٌ (takes a sound plural)
food
cook (takes a sound plural)
present (takes a sound plural)
Exercise:
1. Two difficult languages.
2. He wrote two easy books for the boy.
3. The Muslim teachers are absent today.
4. You and I are good doctors.
5. The food of the two cooks present today is beautiful.
Revision Exercise Six: (Revise with Study Unit six)
Vocabulary
Student/s- (pl) /
To go/went/gone-
House/s- (pl) /
They-
From-
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many
city/ies (pl) /
jewel/s (p) ‫א‬ /
Chest/s /
To find/he found
Cup/s /
in
time/s /
rain/s /
Exercise:
1. The students went to the teachers’ houses.
2. They are from many cities.
3. There are jewels in the old chests.
4. He found old cups in the house.
5. The time of the rains has gone. (use “times”)
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Revision Exercise Seven: (Revise with Study Unit seven)
Vocabulary
Piece/s- (pl) /
wood-
dirty-
garden-
Shaykh(old man, tribal leader)-
School-
scholar
cow
tongue
time/s /
rain/s /
bread
baker (takes the sound plural)
Cairo
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Exercise:
1. There are many pieces of wood in the dirty garden of the Sheikh.
2. The teachers of the big new school are good.
3. He found a scholar from Damascus in the market.
4. The cow’s tongue is long.
5. The bread of the Cairo bakers is beautiful.
Revision Exercise Eight: (Revise with Study Unit Eight)
Vocabulary
room- ٌ
small-
ceiling-
garden-
Shaykh(old man, tribal leader)-
School-
Son/s (pl) /
here
old
car
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fast
very ‫א‬
pen
broken
lost
Exercise:
1. The room is small and its ceiling is old and dirty.
2. The mother is present here and her many sons are in school.
3. My car is very fast.
4. His pen is broken and her book is lost.
5. The wall and ceiling of the room are dirty.
Revision Exercise Nine: (Revise with Study Unit Nine)
Vocabulary
Man/men- (pl) /
new- ٌ
books -
library-
women-
Exercise:
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1. This is a good man.
2. That new car is fast.
3. He found those books in the library.
4. These men are bakers.
5. Those are the women.
Revision Exercise Ten: (Revise with Study Unit Ten)
Vocabulary
hair-
old (for a non-living object)-
happy-
Exercise:
1. Hassan has the longest hair in the school.
2. This book is older than that book.
3. She is the fastest girl in the city.
4. He is bigger than the boy.
5. They are the happiest students.
69

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ARB1501/2014-2020

DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND ARABIC

Only study guide for ARB1501

© 2013 University of South Africa

All Rights Reserved

Printed and published by the

University of South Africa

Design and layout by the Department of Religious Studies and Arabic

STUDY UNIT 2 The definite article, singular personal pronouns

STUDY UNIT 3 Gender, the negation of nominal sentences, and some

STUDY UNIT 4 The singular demonstrative pronouns and the cases:

STUDY UNIT 5 Number of Arabic nouns and adjectives and the

STUDY UNIT 8 The genitive of possession (idafa) 66

STUDY UNIT 9 The attached pronouns: pronouns attached to nouns,

STUDY UNIT 10 The demonstrative pronouns 87

STUDY UNIT 11 Adjectives 97

STUDY UNIT 12 The perfect of the verb 107

Answers to activities 116

It’s not that difficult...

Do your one hour

So what is this module all about? What can I hope to achieve?

- have acquired the initial grammar of the language

(That is, if you apply yourself!!)

The textbook: You simply can’t do without it

The role of the study guide

How will I be tested?

Structure of this study guide

A. Outcomes for Study Unit One

On completion of this study unit the learner will be able to:

B. Textbook notes for Study Unit One

5. Dialogues and conversation can be difficult to begin with. Sometimes it appears

6. The section on vocabulary learning on Page 12 of your textbook needs to be

( )as given in the key.)

C. Study Guide notes for Study Unit 1

It is from Madinah Arabic that the following tables are taken

1. These are the Arabic letters in full:

/Jīm/ /Thā’/ /Tā’/ /Bā’/ /Alif/ Letter Name

‫ر‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫د‬ ‫خ‬ ‫ح‬ Arabic Character

/Râ’/ /Dhāl/ /Dāl/ /Khâ’/ /ħā’/ Letter Name

‫ض‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ش‬ ‫س‬ ‫ز‬ Arabic Character

/đâd/ /ŝâd/ /Shīn/ /Sīn/ /Zāy/ Letter Name

‫ف‬ ‫غ‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ظ‬ ‫ط‬ Arabic Character

/Fā’/ /Ghayn/ /ξayn/ /Zâ’/ /ŧâ’/ Letter Name

‫ن‬ ‫م‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ق‬ Arabic Character

/Nūn/ /Mīm/ /Lām/ /Kāf/ /Qâf/ Letter Name

‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫هـ‬ Arabic Character

/Yā’/ /Wāw/ /Hā’/ Letter Name

‫ُد‬ ‫ِد‬ ‫َد‬ Arabic Character

/Đammah/ /Kasrah/ /Fatħah/ Vowel Name

3. These are the double vowel sounds:

‫ٌد‬ ‫ٍد‬ ‫ًد‬ Arabic Character

/Đammatān/ /Kasratān/ /Fatħatān/ Vowel Name

'un' 'in' 'an' Vowel Sound

Like the “oon”

4. These are the ways the letters join to each other:

By Itself Joined End Middle Beginning Letter

‫א‬ ‫אאא‬ ‫א‬

‫ت‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Tā’/‬‬

‫ث‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ــ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Thā’/‬‬

‫ج‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ĵīm/‬‬

‫ح‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Ħā’/‬‬

‫خ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫‪/Khâ’/‬‬

‫د‬ ‫ددد‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫ـ‬ ‫د‬ ‫‪/Dāl/‬‬