Nisba nouns are “relative adjectives” that are modified from nouns, for example from a place name to describe a person from the place. These adjectives often indicate affiliation, origin, or other relation to the noun (e.g., a place).

فرنسا (faranca) or France -> فرنسي (francee) or French.

لبنان (lubnan) - Lebanon -> لتناني (lubnani) - Lebanese

كندا (kanada) - Canada -> كندي (kanadi) - Canadian

Nisba can also be used to form nouns, such as professions, and other words such as مدني (medani) - civilian, which is modified from مدينة - medina or “city”.

A nisba is usually formed by adding a ي to the end of a noun. If a noun ends in a ta’ marbuta (ة) or alif (ا), it is usually dropped and the ي added. As with other adjectives, nisba adjectives need to agree with nouns they modified. For nisbas that go with feminine nouns, the nisba needs to be in the feminine form, by adding the ta’ marbuta.

For example, وزارة الخارجية (wizara al-kharijia) - foreign ministry

وزارة الداخلية (wizara al-dakhalia) - interior ministry

Other nisba examples include:

Vocabulary

Here are some vocabulary words for family members and various places (of work):

Sentences

Here are some example sentences using these words. The verb عمل is in the “present” tense here, which means a prefix is attached (ي) for male, singular third person (”he”) and for female, singular third person (”she”), a ت is attached. And to make father, mother, brother, or sister possessive (e.g. “my brother”), a suffix is attached to the noun. In this case, the suffix is for first person singular (”my”), which is a ي.

والدي يعمل في مستشفى - My father works in a hospital.

والدتي تعمل في مدرسة - My mother works in a school.

أخي يعمل في المطار - My brother works at the airport.

أخي يعمل في مصنة - My brother works in a factory.

أختي تعمل في مطعم - My sister works in a restaurant.

أختي تعمل في متحف - My sister works in a museum.

Pronouns may be used in sentences to separate the subject and the object (predicate), in situations where there is no verb.

For example:

هَذا هُوَ التفاح اخضر - This is a green apple.

Compared to a noun phrase:

هَذا التفاح اخضر - This green apple…

Another example:

هَذَهِ هِيَ الصورة - This is a picture.

هَذَهِ الصورة - This picture…

Sometimes the pronoun of separation is omitted if the meaning is nonetheless clear without it.

While English only has plural and singular forms of nouns, Arabic also has the dual form to denote two of something. Adjectives that describe a dual noun will also be in dual form.

Forming dual nouns

To form a dual noun, a suffix is added:

انِ (-ani) or ينِ (ayni)

The انِ (-ani) suffix is used for nouns (and adjectives) in the nominative case, that is when the noun is the subject of the sentence.

For example:

• كنابانِ (kitabani) - two books
• طلفانِ (tilfani) - two kids

Note that in casual speech (colloquial), the final kasra is usually not pronounced.

A different suffix (ينِ or “-ayni”) is used for words that are in the accusative (object of the sentence) or genitive (object of a preposition) case.

For example:

• أكلتُ تفاحينِ (akaltu tufaahayni) - I ate two apples.
• في كتابينِ (fi kitabayni) - in two books

When a word ends in a ta marbuta, the ta marbuta is becomes a ت (”ta”).

Many sentences in Arabic, written in the present tense, do not require the verb “to be” (e.g. “is”, “are”, “am”). Nominal sentences in the present tense do not use the “to be” verb, such as ٌٌُُالسماءُ أزرقٌ (al-samaa’u azraqun) - “The sky is blue”.

For the past and future tense, Arabic has the verb كانَ (kana) (”to be”).

• كنتُ طالب - I was a student. (comparable to أنا طالب - I am a student)
• كُنّا نسكن في مصر - We used to live in Egypt.

In the future tense:

• سَأكونُ في لندن يوم الاثنين - I will be in London on Monday.

There are a few situations where present tense sentences need to use كانَ.

Conjugation

As with other verbs in Arabic, كانَ is conjugated.

Most verbs in Arabic are built around a trilateral root, consisting of three consonants. For example, the word دَخَلَ (dakhala) which means “to enter”. The root of the word is د + خ + ل . The consonants will remain the same, no matter what tense the verb is in. As in Spanish, verbs in Arabic are conjugated (change form, depending on pronoun). In the “present” tense, it works like this, with use of a prefix (ت - “ta” , ي - ya, or ن - na) along with modifying the vowel pattern. The root consonants remain the same. The following example is in the “past” or perfect tense, with a suffix attached to the root.
He entered - دَخَلَ (dakhala)
She entered - دَخَلَتْ (dakhalat)
You (m. sing.) entered - دَخَلَتَ (dakhalata)
You (f. sing.) entered - دَخَلَتِ (dakhalati)
I entered - دَخَلَتُ (dakhalatu)
They (dual m. - 3rd person) - دَخَلا (dakhala)
They (dual f. - 3rd person) - دَخَلَتَا (dakhalata)
You (dual 2nd person) entered - دَخَلْتُمَا (dakhaltuma)
They (m. pl) entered - دَخَلُوا (dakhalua)
They (f. pl) entered - دَخَلْنَ (dakhalna)
You (m. pl) entered - دَخَلْتُمْ (dakhaltum)
You (f. pl) entered - دَخَلْتُنَّ (dakhaltunna)
We entered - دَخَلْنَا (dakhalna)

Arabic does not have an exact equivalent of the “present” and “past” tense, as used in English. Instead, it has the “perfect” and “imperfect” tenses. Perfect tense is used to describe actions that have been completed, such as “he ate” but not “he was eating” which is imperfect (incomplete action in the past or present). The above example is the perfect tense, describing completed actions in the past. The above is also in the “active” voice (”he entered”), rather than “passive” which would be “he had entered”.

When looking up words in the dictionary, verbs are given in the male singular third person (”He”), in the perfect tense. For example, you would find “to enter” listed as دَخَلَ (dakhala).

A demonstrative is a word such as “this” and “that”, used to refer to a specific object, person, or entity.
In Arabic, demonstratives agree with the noun in gender, as well as number. To refer to a single masculine object, you use the word هَذا (hatha) - this. For a female object, use the word هذِهِ (hathahi) - this.
For example:
ٌٌٌٌهذا الخبزُ لذيذٌ (hatha al-khubzu lathithun) - This bread is delicious.
هذه التفاحةُ حلوٌ (hathahi al-tuffahatu hulwun) - This apple is sweet.
Both of the above sentences are nominal sentences, with words in the nominative case with a damma (”u”) or double damma (”un”) ending. The demonstrative makes the words “apple” and “bread” definite.
To refer to an object that is far, you would use say “that” instead of “this. In Arabic, the word ذلِكَ (thalika) is used with masculine objects, and تِلكَ (tilka) is used with feminine objects.

The idafa (الإضافة) or “construct phrase” is a way to express possession in Arabic. For example, “the professor’s office”, “car key”, “University of Damascus”, etc. The idafa is the way to say “x of y”, and there is no alternative way of expressing possessive relation between nouns. In Arabic, “the professor’s office” is worded in such a way to say “office of the professor” (مكتبُ الإستاذةِ - “maktabu al-ustathi”). “Car key” is worded as “key of a car” (مفتاحُ سيارةِِ - “miftahu sayaratin”), and “University of Damascus” is جامعةُ دمشق (”jamia’tu dimashk”).
Idafa (genitive) is also used for partitives, such as “cup of coffee” (فنجانُ قهوةِِ - “finjanu qahawatin”). Idafa can also be used to describe material that something is made of (e.g. wooden chair) - كرسىُ خشبِِ (”kursiyu khashabin”).
Rules of Idafa
1. The first noun of the idafa can be in any grammatical case, however the second noun is always in the genitive case (with a kasra “i” or double kasra “in”) ending.
2. If the idafa phrase is definite (e.g. the student’s book), the ال prefix is added to the second noun. Exceptions include phrases like “my father’s house”, where the ي is attached to والد to make it والدي. The first noun of the idafa will never have the definite prefix, nor will it ever have a possessive suffix.
3. If the first noun of an idafa phrase ends in a ta marbuta (ة), it is pronounced as a ت (ta).
4. Any adjectives describing the noun must follow the idafa phrase. For example, “the professor’s large office” (مكتابُ الإستاذِ كبيرُ).

In Classical Arabic or formal usage of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the noun following (subject of) the preposition is in the genitive case (with a kasra). If the noun is definite, a single kasra is added, such as في الكِتابِ (fi al-kitabi) “in the book”. If the noun is indefinite, a double kasra is added, such as في كِتابِ (fi kitabin) “in a book”.
Frequently used prepositions include:
بي (fi) - in, at, on (time)
عَلى (a’la) - on
مِن (min) - from
مَعَ (ma’a) - with
فوق (fawqa) - above, over
تحت (tahta) - below, beneath
بِجانِب (bijanib) - besides
خلف (khalf) - behind
خلال (khilal) - during

Cases and case endings are used in Classical Arabic (used in the Quran), as well as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for poetry, media broadcasts, and other formal situations. Case endings affect the pronunciation of words (nouns and adjectives). Case endings are normally omitted in informal conversation and writings, and regional dialects or Arabic.

A double damma, double kasra, or double fatha indicates that a noun is indefinite (e.g. “a book”) versus definite (”the book”). Which case ending used depends grammatical position or function of a word.

Nominative (مرفوع - marfua’) - Indicated with a damma (”u” or “un”) at the end of a word, such as كتابُُ (kitabun) which means “a book”. Nouns that are the subject of a sentence are in the nominative case. Such as كتابُُ على الطاولة (kitabun a’la al tawila) which is “A book is on the table.”

Accusative (منصوب - mansub) - Indicated with a fatha (”a” or “an”), such as أقرُ كتابََ (iqaru kitaban) - “I am reading a book.” The accusative case is used for nouns that are the object of a verb. Adverbs are also marked in the accusative case with a double fatha.

Genitive (مجرور - majrur) - Indicated with a kasra (”i” or “in”), such as القميصُ في درجِ (al-qamisu fi durjin) - “The shirt is in a drawer.” The genitive case is used for nouns that are the object of a preposition.