De facto Case of the Noun and Adjective

• The De facto Case of the Noun and Adjective in Arabic is Nominative. A noun case is changed to accusative if it becomes an object of a verb (There are other cases where a noun should carry the accusative case marker. Check Kaana & Inna points). A noun is said to be in the genitive case if it follows a preposition

or it is a second term of Idaafa. No matter what is the case of the noun, the adjective will follow, marked by the same case.

The Egyptian man is in his house.           الرجُلُ المِصريُّ في بَيِتِهِ.

   I saw the Egyptian man.                         شاهدتُ الرجُلَ المصريَّ.

  

    I said hello to the Egyptian man.         سلـَّمتُ علی الرجُل ِ المصريِّ.

•  لِماذا (why) has to be followed by a verb because it asks about   action/activity (verbs usually express those).

Why did you (m) go back to the room?    لِماذا رجعتُ إلی الغرفةِ؟

• When it means “how many,” کَم   has to be followed by an indefinite noun, in the accusative case. Unlike English, it has to be singular. Arab grammarians call it a particle of "The Accusative of Distinction," or تَمييز.

How many students are there in the class?     کم طالِباً في الصفِّ؟

A Hundred and One Rules !

Mohammed Jiyad