ديسمبر 26th, 2007
To express possession, you can use the word عِندَ (a’inda), which means “to have”. This word requires a pronoun suffix, or “attached pronoun”. For example, the attached pronoun نا (-na) is used for “we”. Take عِندَ and add نا and it becomes عِندَنا (a’indana), which means “we have”. It is important to note that عِندَ is not a verb.
Here are some objects:
سَيّارة (sayyara) - a car
بَيت (beyt) - a house, home
مَكاتِب (maktab) - an office
Now, say عِندَنا followed by the object, which can be definite (e.g. the car) or indefinite (e.g. a car).
عِندَنا سَيارة - We have a car
عِندَنا السَيارة - We have the car
The attached pronouns can also be suffixed to the object nouns. For example, تَيتنا (beytna) which means “our house”.
Here is the list of all attached pronouns.
|
First person |
|
أنا (ana) |
ي (my) |
بَيتي (my house) |
عِندي بِيت (I have a house) |
|
نَحنُ (nahnu) |
نا (our) |
بِيتنا (our house) |
عِندَنا بِيت (We have a house) |
|
Second person |
|
أنتَ (anta) - you (male, singular) |
كَ (your) |
سَيارتَكَ (your car) |
عِندَكَ سَيارة (You have a car) |
|
أنتِ (anti) - you (female, singular) |
كِ (your) |
سَيارتَكِ (your car) |
عِندَكِ سَيارة (You have a car) |
| أنتُما (antuma) - you (dual) |
كُما (your) |
سَيارتَكُما (your car) |
عِندَكُما سَيارة (You have a car) |
|
أنتُم (antum) - you (male, plural) |
كُم (your) |
سَيارتَكُم (your car) |
عِندَكُم سَيارة (You have a car) |
|
أنتُنَّ (antuna) - you (female, plural) |
كُنَّ (your) |
سَيارتَكُنَّ (your car) |
عِندَكُنَّ سَيارة (You have a car) |
|
Third person |
|
هُوَ (huwa) - he |
هُ (his) |
مَكتابَهُ (his office) |
عِندَهُ مَكتاب (He has an office) |
|
هيَ (hiya) - she |
ها (her) |
مَكتابَها (her office) |
عِندَها مَكتاب (She has an office) |
|
هُما (huma) - they (dual) |
هُما (their) |
مَكتابَهُما (their office) |
عِندَهُما مَكتاب (They have an office) |
| هُم (hum) - they (male) |
هُم (their) |
مَكتابَهُم (their office) |
عِندَهُم مَكتاب (They have an office) |
|
هُنَّ (huna) - they (female) |
هُنَّ (their) |
مَكتابَهُنَّ (their office) |
عِندَهُمنَّ مَكتاب (They have an office) |
Tags: arabic, arabic language, grammar, pronouns | No Comments »
ديسمبر 12th, 2007
Indefinite nouns take no article prefixed to them. However, the indefinite status of a noun can be denoted with a diacritical mark placed at the end of the word. To say “a car”, you can say سيارةً (siyaaratan). Here the ta’marbuta takes the “t” sound and the diacritical mark adds the “an” sound to the word, making it “siyaaratan”. This diacritical mark is called a tanwin. The use of this sound at the end of words to denote indefinite status is also known as nunation.
The mark is a double fatha, which makes the sound at the end of the word, “an” and not “un” or “in”. In this example (سيارةً), the tanwin sits atop the ta’marbuta at the end of the word.
For words that do not end in a ta’marbuta, such as كتاب, an alif (ا) is attached at the end of the word, and the tanwin is placed atop the alif. For example, كتاباً (kitaban), which means “a book”. Words ending in a hamza (ء), alif (ا), or alif maqsura (ى) do not require an alif attached.
In some grammatical situations, the indefinite mark will instead be a double damma (سيارةٌ) “siyaaratun” or a double kasra (سيارةٍ) “siyaaratin”. For double damma or double kasra endings, an added seath (alif) is not needed.
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ديسمبر 11th, 2007
In English, there are just a few pronouns:
I - first person (singular)
We - first person (plural)
You - second person (singular and plural)
He - third person (singular, male)
She - third person (singular, female)
It - third person (singular, no gender)
They - third person (plural)
Arabic is a bit different than this, with different pronouns depending on gender as well as number.
Gender
Like Spanish, there is no equivalent of “it”. Instead, all objects or nouns are assigned a gender.
For example, الجريدة (al jareeda) - the newspaper, is a feminine noun. It ends in a ta’ marbuta, which is an indication that the noun is feminine. On the other hand, the word الحاسوب (al haasuub) computer, is a masculine noun. In Arabic, you would refer to the computer with the pronoun “he” and the newspaper is “she”.
Gender is also important for the “you” and the “they” pronouns. Arabic has one word for “you”, talking to a female and a different word for referring to a male. Same, for a group of men (or masculine objects) or females (or feminine objects).
Number
There are also different pronouns for “you”, depending on the number of people or objects you are referring to. In Spanish, there are different pronouns for you (singular), you (plural, masculine), and you (plural, feminine). In Arabic, there are different pronounce for you (singular, masculine), you (singular, feminine), you (dual), you (plural, masculine), and you (plural, feminine). The use of dual pronouns is something more unusual for Arabic, compared to other languages. The third person pronouns also vary in the same way, according to gender and number. There is he, she, they (dual), they (masculine, plural), they (feminine, plural).
The Pronouns
|
First person |
|
أنا (ana) |
نَحنُ (nahnu) |
|
Second person |
Third person |
| أنتَ (anta) |
هُوَِ (huwa) |
|
أنتِ (anti) |
هِيَ (hiya) |
|
أنتُما (antuma) |
هُما (huma) |
|
أنتُم (antum) |
هُم (hum) |
|
أنتُنََّ (antuna) |
هُنََّ (huna) |
Tags: arabic, arabic language, grammar, pronouns | No Comments »
ديسمبر 6th, 2007
The English language has the definite article “the”, which is used to refer to a specific object, person, or other noun. (the car, the books …) The indefinite article “a” or “an” is used in reference to a non-specific object or noun (a bicycle, a tree, …). In English, there is also the option of using no article, such as saying “I study chemistry“, instead of saying “I study the chemistry” or “I study a chemistry”.
Definite
In Arabic, the definite article is ال (al) and is attached in front of a word. For example, الموز (al mawz), the banana.
For words such as chemistry, the definite article should be used. For example, الكيمناء (al kiimiya’a).
Indefinite
For indefinite nouns, the ال article is omitted and you would simply say موز to say “a banana”. There is no indefinite article to use.
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نوفمبر 23rd, 2007
A nominal sentence begins with the subject (noun or pronoun) and not a verb.
.هُوَ من كندا
He is from Canada.
In Arabic, there is no verb “to be” (is, are, …). That is implied in
the rest of the sentence. This sentence has a subject (He) and
predicate (Canada). The predicate may be an adjective or prepositional
phrase, instead of a noun.
.هُوَ ذَكي
He is intelligent.
Here, the subject is “he” and the predicate is “intelligent”.
.أنا في الحديقة
I am in the park.
In this sentence, the subject is “I” and the predicate is “in the park”.
Tags: arabic, arabic language, grammar, sentences | No Comments »
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About This Blog
I am studying Arabic at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, and will be in Egypt in the summer. This site covers Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and other aspects of the Arabic language, and makes frequent use of YouTube videos, news, and other Arabic language resources on the Internet.
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