Numbers

•  Numbers that proceed nouns should take the opposite gender

of those nouns. Furthermore, they should carry the marker that is determined by their grammatical function in the sentence. The noun itself has to be in the genitive case because this combination will create an Idaafa.

                   a. I met five students (f). قابلتُ خَمسَ طالباتٍ.  

                   b. Five students (m) came. خَمسَةُ طلابٍ.   حضَرَ

• Numbers (Revisited). It was mentioned earlier that numbers that proceed nouns should take the opposite gender of those nouns. An additional rule which you need to consider is that unlike English, the noun has to be in plural only between 3-10. After that the noun has to be singular in the accusative case. This is another example of      تمييز   "accusative of distinction."

إشتريتُ خمسة َ عَشرَ قلماً.

I bought fifteen pencils.

•   أيَّـة ُ / أيُّ both mean “which” (as a question word). The first is used for masculine while the second is used for feminine. The noun which follows either one of them has to be in the genitive case. The implication is that the two nouns create Idaafa. Please notice that أيَّـة ُ / أيُّ carry the vowel of the original case of the noun you ask about.

أيَّـة ُ مَجلـَّةٍ هذهِ؟

a. Which magazine (subject-nominative) is this?

أيَّ طالبٍ شاهدتِ؟

b. Which student (m) (object-accusative) did you (f) see?

إلی أيـَّةِ مدينةٍ سافرتَ؟

c. To which city (object of a prep.-genitive) did you travel?

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Mohammed Jiyad

Conjunction

• The conjunction (  و) changes to ( أو ) when the sentence is        negated.

           I like coffee and tea.                      أحِبُّ القهوةَ والشايَ.

          Neither do I like coffee nor teaلا أحِبُّ القهوةَ أوالشايَ.      .

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                                        Mohammed Jiyad

Negation of Past Tense Verbs

•  Negation of Past Tense Verbs. There are two methods to negate the verbs in past tense. The easy way is by using ما before the verb. The other is to use the negation particle لم¸ followed by the jussive form of the verb.

      We didn’t watch/see this movie.       ما شاهَدنا هذا الفلمَ.

                                                     لم نُشاهِدْ هذا الفلمَ.

•   هُنا / هُناكَ are nouns that can also be used as adverbs.

      (a) There is a student (f) in the classroom.  هُناكَ طالبة ٌ في الصفِّ.

      (b) The new book is here.                                 الکتابُ الجديدُ هُنا.    

•   کُلُّ  is a noun that will be a first term of Idaafa and could mean "every/each" if it is followed by a singular indefinite noun. If the singular noun is definite, کُلُّ  would mean "all/whole". If it is used after a noun, then it should carry its corresponding pronoun suffix and its function becomes emphatic.

a. I read every book!                  قرأتُ کُلَّ کتابٍ.                     

b. I read the whole book.         قرأتُ کُلَّ الکتابِ.                    

 c. I read the book, all of it.      قرأتُ الکتابَ کـُلـَّهُ                   

    However, if  کـُلُّ is followed by a plural noun, that noun should be definite and both create Idaafa. Check the following sentences:

حضرَ کلُّ الموظفينَ

All the employees (m) came.

حضرَ کلُّ موظفي المکتبِ.

All the office employees (m) came.

A Hundred and One Rules !

                                                Mohammed Jiyad

Object Pronouns

• Object Pronouns. You remember what was mentioned earlier that possessive pronouns are suffixed to nouns. Now, I would like to remind you that object pronouns are suffixed to the verbs. Please, notice the difference of the pronouns in the following sentences:

         a. (Possessive Pronoun)           کتابُها علی الطاولةِ.

       
        b. (Object Pronoun)                شاهدتُها في السوقِ.

• The word ما has different meanings, depending on the context. It could mean "what," and in this case you are expected to have a demonstrative pronoun or a definite noun following it.

             What is this?                           ما هذا؟

      
             What is his job?                  ما عملـُهُ؟      

  

    When the question word  ما is followed by a verb in the past tense, it changes its own function to a negation particle.

I did not eat at this restaurant.  ما أکلتُ في هذا المطعم.

A Hundred and One Rules !

                                                Mohammed Jiyad

Alphabet Lessons 18/05/2015

18/05/2015

Helping Vowels

• Helping Vowels replace the Zero Vowel when the following word starts with Hamza. Therefore, an environment for using a helping vowel will be created every time one uses a definite article. The purpose of this Phonological Rule is to provide a smooth transition from one word to the next. Generally speaking, this transition is governed by the following rules.

       a. If the proceeding vowel is FatHa the helping vowel is Kasra.

Is the book new?                                  (هَلْ ) هَل ِ الکتابُ جديدٌ؟

   

      b. If the proceeding vowel is Kasra, the helping vowel is FatHa.

This pencil is from the office.     مِنَ المکتَبِ.    هذا القلمُ (مِنْ)

              

      c. If the proceeding vowel is Dhamma, the helping vowel is Dhamma.

لماذا (قابَلتـُمْ) قابَلتـُمُ المديرَةَ؟                                      

                     Why did you (m, pl) meet the director (f)?

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                                                Mohammed Jiyad

Verb-Subject Agreement

• Verb-Subject Agreement. A verb that proceeds its subject is marked by gender only. If it follows its subject it should be marked by both number and gender.

                   The students (f) went to the dorm.  ذهبتِ الطالباتُ الی السکن ِ.   

                   The students (f) went to the dorm.   الطالباتُ ذهبنَ الی السکن ِ.

• A Transitive Verb (a) requires  an object; intransitive (b) does   not.

             a. I ate an apple.                                      أکلتُ تُفاحة ً.

            b. I went to the university.                    ذهبتُ إلی الجامعةِ.

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                                                Mohammed Jiyad

Subject Markers

• The Subject markers for verbs in the past tense are suffixed to the verb stem in order to demonstrate subject/verb agreement.

      They are:

هو (-َ) ، هي (ـَتْ) ، أنتَ  (ـْتَ)  ، أنتِ (ـْتِ) ، أنا (ـْتُ)

هُم  (ـوا) ، هنَّ (-ْنَ) ، أنتم (ـْتُم) ، أنتُنَّ (ـْـتُنَّ) ، نحنُ (ـْـنا)

•  The Different Forms of  ليسَ . When subject pronouns are attached to ليسَ, it will take the following forms:

أنا    لستُ              نحنُ    لسنا

أنتَ  لستَ              أنتم     لستُم

أنتِ  لستِ              أنتُنَّ    لستُنَّ

هو   ليسَ               هم      ليسوا

 هي  ليسَتْ            هُنَّ     لسنَ  

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                                                Mohammed Jiyad

Interrogative Particles

•  Interrogative Particles.  أ / هل are interrogative particles which are used to introduce questions that may be answered with either Yes or No.

أ ؟هل هذا مکتبٌ؟   

Is this an office?

      There is some phonological restriction on the use of  أ when the following word starts with a Hamza, such as:

أأنتَ جديدٌ هنا؟         

  
  It is better, in fact easier phonetically, to use هل

هل أنتَ جديدٌ هنا؟        

• Interrogative Particles أ / هل  (revisited). The Arabic language does not tolerate the use of  هل  with any form of   ليسَ  in order to make a question. You have to stick with . أ

أليسَ الطالبُ في المکتبةِ؟

Isn't the student (m) in the library? 

A Hundred and One Rules !

                                                Mohammed Jiyad