Chapter XI

The Noun

الاسم

The noun is a word denoting a person or a thing .e.g. mhmd (Muhammad), dmsq(Damascus), ywm (a day).

محمد ، دمشق ، يوم

The noun can be proper or common e.g. dmsq, ywm.

There is no indefinite article in Arabic, but the noun becomes definite when preceded by the definite article al (the).e.g. al ywm (the day).

اليوم

The definite article (al) drops the ( l ) sound and stresses the first letter of the defined noun when the defined noun begins with any of the following  letters : t, t, j, d, d, r, z, s, s, S, D, T, Z, l, and n. e.g. atajr ( the erchant), anhar (day-time). The (a) sound of (al) drops in pronunciation  when it comes after a vocalized ended verb e.g. jaat lbnt (The girl came)

تسقط لام ال التعريف لفطاً قبل أحرف (ت،ث،ج،د،ذ،ر،ز،س،ش،ص،ض،ط،ظ،ل،و ن) المشددة : 
مثـال التّاجر ، النّهار .كما تسقط ألف (ال) التعريف لفظاً بعد فعل متحرك الآخر مثال جاءتِ البنت .

In number, the noun can be singular, dual or plural.e.g. mAlm معلِّم(a teacher), mAlman معلِّمان(two teachers) and mAlmwn معلِّمون(teachers).

The dual is formed by adding the suffix –an to the singular noun, and the plural can be regular or irregular.

Regular plural of masculine nouns is formed by adding the suffix (-wn) to the singular noun. But the regular plural of feminine nouns is formed by adding the suffix (-at) e.g. mAlmwn (male teachers) and mAlmat (female teachers) and the definite article (al) can precede plural nouns as well .e.g. al mAlmwn and al mAlmat.

المعلمون - المعلمات

Irregular plural is arbitrary and does not follow any standard rule .e.g. ŝms (sun) ŝmws, but qmr (the moon) aqmar.

شمس – شموس ، قمر - أقمار

The noun can be masculine or feminine in gender. For people and animals gender is natural, but for things it is arbitrary e.g. asms (the sun is feminine while alqmr (the moon) is masculine.

Ordinary feminine is derived by adding a suffix (-t) to the masculine noun e.g. mAlmمعلِّمٌ (a male teacher) mAlmtمعلِّمةٌ (a female teacher).

The noun gets inflected by changing the ending letter movement or by adding suitable suffixes according to syntax.

In syntax, the noun can be a subject which usually receives a rounding movement over its ending letter or some specific suffixes according to the rules.

The subject is the performer of the verb action. It usually comes after its relevant verb e.g. jaa lmAlmجاء المعلِّم (The teacher came),jaa lmAlmanجاء المعلِّمان (The two teachers came, and jaa lmAlmwnجاء المعلِّمون (The teachers came).

The object is the receiver of the verb action . It usually receives an opening sign over its ending letter or some specific suffixes according to the relevant rules e.g. rayt lmAlmرأيت المعلِّمَ (I saw the teacher),rayt lmAlmyn رأيت المعلِّمَيْنِ(I saw the two teachers), and rayt lmAlmynرأيت المعلِّمين (I saw the teachers).

Note that the definite article ( al ) when joined drops its first letter (a) in pronunciation when linked to a subject or an object noun e.g. rayt lmAlm. But its (l) falls in pronunciation when followed by a stressed ( t, t, j, d, d, r, z, s, s, S, D, T, Z, l, or n.) e.g. aZhr, The noon) asms( The sun).

الظّهر، الشّمس

The noun in the nominative case receives a rounding sign over its ending letter for the singular and the suffix (-an) for the dual . As for the plural it takes the suffix (-wn) for the regular masculine plural, but the irregular plural is treated as if it were a singular noun. The feminine plural  receives a rounding sign over its end.

Now let us survey a reference table of nominative and accusative noun cases :

Nominative Accusative

Jaa lwldُ جاء الولدُ(The boy came) rayt lwldَ رأيتُ الولدَ(I saw the boy)

Jaa lwldanجاء الولدان (The two boys came) rayt lwldyn رأيت الولدين(I saw the two boys)

Jaa lawlad جاء الأولادُ(The boys came) rayt lawlad رأيتُ الأولادَ(I saw the boys)

Jaat lbnt جاءت البنتُ(The girl came) rayt lbnt رأيتُ البنتَ(I saw the girl)

Jaat lbntan جاءتِ البنتانِ(The two girls came) rayt lbntyn رأيتُ البنتين(I saw the two girls)

Jaat lbnat جاءت البناتُ(The girls came) rayt lbnat رأيتُ البناتِ(I saw the girls)

Note that the regular feminine plural receives a broken sign at its end in the nominative case.

In the genitive case the noun receives a broken sign or its substitute at its end e.g. mrrt blmAlmمررتُ بالمعلِّمِ ( I came across the teacher), mrrt blmAlmynمررتُ بالمعلِّمَيْنِ ( I came across the two teachers ) and mrrt blmAlmyn مررتُ بالمعلِّمينَ(I came across the teachers).Here we notice that the dual and the plural take the suffix (-yn) in the genitive case. As for the feminine gender it receives a breaking sign in singular and suffix (-yn) for the dual with a breaking sign at its end, and a broken ended suffix (-at) for the plural.

The syntax that governs the noun is mainly of three types : Nominative, accusative and genitive denoted by three end-vocalizations: Rounding, opening and breaking or their substitutes .

For the sake of simplicity, we can classify as nominative : the subject of the verb and its vice-subject in the passive, the subject of a nominal sentence and its predicate, the subject of the defective past verbs and some other denials (kan, amsa, aSbh, aDha, Zlَّ, bat, Sar, lys, mazal, manfkَّ, maftِaَ, mabrِhَ, madam, and aDha , rjA, asthal, Aad Sar, artdَّ, thwَّlَ, gda, rah, anqlb, tbdَّl,, and kad, awŝk, krُbَ, Asa, ah˙lَwْlَqَ, and lys, ma, la, latَ and aَnْ.)and the predicate of (aِnَّ, aَnَّ, kaَnَّ, lakِnَّ, lyt, and lَAَlَّ)

المرفوعات: الفاعل و نائب الفاعل و المبتدأ و الخبر و اسم كان و أخواتها (كان،أمسى،أصبح،أضحى،ظلّ،بات،صار،ليس،مازال،ماانفك،مافتئ،مابرح،ما
دام،وآض،رجع،استحال،عاد،صار،ارتدّ،تحوّل،غدا،راح،انقلب،تبدّل،و كاد،أوشك،كرب،عسى،اخلولق،و ليس،ما،لا،لات و أن)
و خبر إن وأخواتها
(إنّ،أن،كأنّ،لكنّ،ليت و لعلّ)

For the same reason , we can classify as accusative : verb object, adverbial object, cognate accusative, concomitate object, causative object, the circumstantial accusative, the specificative noun , the exceptional, the vocative, and what comes after quasi-verb letters ( aِnَّ, aَnَّ, kaَnَّ, lakn, lyt and lAَlَّ.)

المنصوبات:المفعول به،المفعول فيه،المفعول المطلق،المفعول له لله،المفعول
معه،الحال،التمييز،المستثنى،المنادى،خبر الفعل الناقص،خبر ليس،اسم إنّ و
أخواتها،اسم لا النافية للجنس ، و التابع للمنصوب .

In addition, we can classify as genitive : What comes after a preposition, the annexed, and what is joined to a prepositional.

المجرورات :ما يجر بأحرف الجر و المضاف و ما يتعلق بمجرور والمعطوف عليه

There are certain followers that are end-vocalized similar to their antecedents. These are : The adjectives, the confirmatives, the substitutes, the explanatory apposition and the conjunctive.

التوابع :تعرب إعراب ما قبلها و هي : النعت ، التوكيد،البدل،عطف البيان، و المعطوف بالحرف .

Note : At this stage of study, the learner is advised to use a bilingual dictionary to look up the meaning of the Arabic words in English or vice versa.

Chapter XII

Built and Inflected Words

المبني و المعرب من الكلام

Built words are those unaffected by syntax. Their forms are hearsay. They can be quiescent-ended, open-ended, rounded-ended , or broken-ended.

Built verbs are : The past, the imperative and the present when inflected by (-n) of emphasis, or (-n) of plural feminine.

The built past is open-ended e.g. ktb (He wrote) and ktbt (She wrote), it is round-ended when joined by masculine plural(-w) e.g. ktbw (They wrote). It is quieted when joined by a nominative joined pronoun e.g. ktbt and ktbna (I wrote and we wrote).

The Imperative is built similar to what inflect its present when apocopated e.g. asmA (hear !) asA (endeavour !) artq (escalate !).

المبني من الأفعال هو الماضي و الأمر و المضارع المتصل بنون التّوكيد أو نون النّسوة.

The Present Tense is open-ended when preceded by an opening factor of (an, ln ,ad˙n, ky)-an and its ver is an infinitive substitute, ln for negation in the future and and for response and effect. An can be concealed after: l of denial, aw meaning until or except, hta meaning until or for, f of cause preceded by negation or request implying order, prohibition, display, encouragement, hoping, pleading, or questioning, and after w of accompaniment preceded by negation or request. An can be stated or omitted after l of reasoning unless the verb is combining la.

ينصب الفعل المضارع إذا سبقه أحد الأحرف الناصبة و هي (أن, لن, إذن و كي) أن و ما بعدها تحلّ محل المصدر و مثلها كي، و لن لنفي الفعل المستقبل، و إذن للجواب و الجزاء و قد تقدّر أن المحذوفة بعد لام الجحود المسبوقة بكون منفيٍّ و بعد أو بمعنى إلى أو إلاّ، أو بعد حتّى بمعنى إلى أو لام التعليل، أو بعد فاء السببيّة المسبوقة بنفي أو طلب بأمر أو نهي، و العرض و الحضّ و التمنّي و الترجّي و الاستفهام، و أخيراً بعد واو المعيّة المسبوقة بنفي أو طلب شأن فاء السببيّة، و يجوز أخيراً حذف أن و إثباتها بعد لام التعليل مالم يقترن الفعل بلا .

The Present is quiescent when preceded by anyone of the

quiescent factors (lm, lma, l of order, and la of prohibition.)

The factors which can affect two verbs in quiescence are: an and ad˙ma in addition to the following nouns : mn, ma, mhma, mta, ayn, ayn, ana, hyt˙ma, kyfma, and ay.)an and ad˙ma join the condition to its answer, mn

for the humans, ma and mahma for others. mta, ayan for the time, ayn ana and hyt˙ma for place, kyfma for state and ay can be used for them all.

There are some conditionals which do not affect quiescence : lw, lwla ,lwma, ama, lma, ad˙a, and klma and la. lma and klma are followed by a past verb.

يجزم الفعل المضارع إذا سبقه إحدى الأدوات الجازمة (لم ، لمّا ، لام الأمر و لا النّاهية و هي تجزم فعلاً واحداً ، أمّا ما يجزم فعلين فهي إن و إذما ثمّ أسماء (من و ما و مهما و متى و أيّان و أين و أنّى و حيثما و كيفما و أيّ.)

Chapter XIII

How to Express English Verb Tenses in Arabic

كيف نعبّر عن أزمنة الفعل الانكليزية باللغة العربيّة

In English , there are some twelve tenses, but in Arabic there are only three tenses. We can express the meaning by using certain padding expressive words in Arabic to convey the exact meaning of the English verb tenses. Let us display the process in conjugating a verb in English with its parallel Arabic meaning :

1.English Simple Present Tense :I drink (ana aŝrb)أنا أشرب, you drink (ant tŝrbأنتَ تشرب or ant tŝrbynأنتِ تشربين or antma tŝrban أنتما تشربانor antm tŝrbwn أنتم تشربونor antn tŝrbnأنتنَّ تشربنَ;masculine singular, feminine singular, dual masculine and feminine, masculine plural and feminine plural consecutively), He drinks (hw yŝrb)هو يشربُ, she drinks (hy tŝrb)هي تشربُ it drinks ( hw, or hy tŝrb, note that there is no neuter gender in Arabic), we drink (nhn nŝrbنحن نشرب) , they drink (hm yŝrbwn هم يشربونor hn yŝrbnهنَّ يشربن, or hy tŝrbهي تشرب, note that irrational plural in Arabic is treated on the par with the singular feminine noun or pronoun.

2.English Simple Past Tense : I drank (ana ŝrِbْtُ,أنا شربتُ masculine and feminine), you drank (ant ŝَrِbْtأنتَ شربتََ, or antِ ŝrbtِأنتِ شربتِ, or antma ŝrbtmaأنتما شربتما, or antm ŝrbtmأنتم شربتم , or antn ŝrbtnأنتنَّ شربتنَّ, for masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine and feminine singular, masculine plural and feminine plural consecutively), He drank (hw ŝrbهو شرِبَ), She drank (hy ŝrbtهيَ شرِبَتْ) it drank (hw, or hy ŝrb or ŝrbt according to the masculinity or femininity of the Arabic gender of the English neuter gender), We drank (nhn ŝrbnaنحن شربنا, masculine and feminine), They drank (hm ŝrbwهم شربوا, or hn ŝrbnهنَّ شرِبْنَ, masculine and feminine plural)

3.English Simple Future Tense : I shall drink ( ana saŝrbأنا سأشربُ or swf aŝrbسوفَ أشرَبُ, where shall and will are expressed as s, or swf indefferently) You will drink ( ant swf tŝrbأنتَ سوفَ تشربُ or stŝrbستشربُ). He will drink (hw syŝrb or swf yŝrbهو سيشربُ أو سوفَ يشربُ) , She will drink (hy stŝrb, or swf tŝrbهيَ ستشربُ أو سوفَ تشربُ) It will drink (hw or hy syŝrb or stŝrb هو سيشرب ، هي ستشرب, masculine or feminine) We shall drink (nhn swf nŝrbنحن سوف نشرب, masculine or feminine), You will drink ( antm stŝrbwnأنتم ستشربون, or antn stŝrbnأنتنَّ ستشربنَ, masculine or feminine), They will drink (hm syŝrbwnهم سيشربون, or hn stŝrbnهنّ ستشربنَ, or hy stŝrbهي ستشرب, masculine, feminine or unobserved neuter gender). It is worth noting that futurity in Arabic is expressed with the prefixes (s-) and (sَwْfَ-) where (s-) is used to express near future and (swf-) expresses the open future, though both are expressed in the present tense in Arabic.

4.English Present Continuous :  I am drinking(literally, ana akwn ŝarِbأنا أكون شارباً, or ana aŝrbأنا أشرب, or aŝrbأشربُ, notice that the Arabic Present can mean both English simple present and the present continuous with their uses indefferently). Apply the Arabic meaning of the simple present mentioned above.

5.English Past Continuous :I was drinking ( knt aŝrbكنتُ أشرب), You were drinking (knt tŝrbكنتَ تشربُ, or knt tŝrbynكنتِ تشربينَ, masculine or feminine addressed person), He was drinking ( kan yŝrbكان يشرب), She was drinking (kant tŝrbكانت تشرب), It was drinking (kan yŝrb كان يشرب, or kan ŝarِbكان شارباً), note that the present participle denotes the state in which the person is effecting the action, expressed in Arabic as a subjective noun (ŝarbشارب) with the three ennations according to its syntax.We were drinking (kُnّa nŝrbكنّا نشرب or kُnّa ŝarِbynكنّا شاربين), You were drinking (kntm tŝrbwnكنتم تشربون , or kntm ŝarbynكنتم شاربين, or kntn tsrbnكنتُنَّ تشربْنَ, or ŝarbatشارباتٍ, feminine, or ŝarbynشاربين masculine plural). They were drinking (kanw yŝrbwnكانوا يشربون, or kُnَّ yŝrbn.كنَّ يشربن)

 6.English Future Continuous Tense :I shall be drinking (sakwn ŝarb, or sakwn aŝrb) You will be drinking (ant stkwn ŝarb or tŝrb ), or stkwnyn ŝarbt or tŝrbyn), He will be drinking (hw swf ykwn ŝarb, or yŝrb), She will be drinking (hy stkwn ŝarbt) It will be drinking (hw, or hy sykwn , or stkwn, ŝarb, or ŝarbt),We shall be drinking (nhn snkwn ŝarbyn), They will be drinking (hm sykwnw ŝarbyn ,or yŝrbwn, or hn sykn yŝrbn, or ŝarbyn or tŝrbyn, or in plural stkwnw tŝrbwn , or stkn tŝrbn, according to the gender of the absent plural.

أنا سأكون شاربا أو أشرب ، أنت ستكون شارباً أو تشرب ، هو سيكون شارباً أو يشرب ، غير العاقل سيكون شارباً أو يشرب ، نحن سنكون شاربين أو نشرب ، انتم ستكونون شاربين أو تشربون ، أنتم ستكونون تشربون أو شاربين ، هم سيكونون يشربون أو شاربين ، أنتنَّ ستكنَّ شارباتٍ أو تشربن .

7.English Present Perfect Tense: Note that the perfection of an action is expressed in Arabic with the aid of (qd)قد a word when used with the Arabic past denotes the accomplishment of the action and its veification , but when used with the present, it means belittling the possibility of its accomplishment e.g. (qd akl_ denotes the perfetion of eating action, while (qd yŝrb) means probability,( He may drink),so, to express the perfection of an action as past in performance and present in result, we use (qd) as verisimilitude expresser.I have drunk (qd ŝrbt), You have drunk (qd ŝrbt), or (qd ŝrbt) , masculine or feminine, He has drunk (qd ŝrb), She has drunk (qd ŝrbt) , It has drunk (hw, or hy, qd ŝrb, or qd srbt, according to the arbitrary estimated gender of the English neuter gender which does not exist in Arabic), We have drunk nhn qd srbna), You have drunk (antm qd srbtm, or antn qd ŝrbtm, or antm qd ŝrbtn), They have drunk (hm qd ŝrbw, or hn qd ŝrbn).

أنا قد شربتُ ، أنتَ قد شربتَ أنتِ قد شربْتِ أنتما قد شربتما ، أنتم قد شربتم ، هو قد شربَ ، هي قد شربت، هما قد شربا ، هم قد شربوا ، نحن قد شربنا .

8.English Past Perfect Tense: is expressed in Arabic by the addition of conjugated (kan) – was verb to push the tense of the verb a step backwards from the present perfect. I had drunk (knt qd ŝrbt) denoting the priority of action occurrence over another past action. You had drunk (knt qd ŝrbt), opened t for masculine and broken t for feminine. He had drunk (kan qd ŝrb) , She had drunk (kant qd ŝrbt), It had drunk (kan, or kant qd ŝrb, or srbt), We had drunk (kna qd ŝrbna), You had drunk (kntm qd ŝrbtm,or qd ŝrbtnَّ), They had drunk(kanw or kn qd ŝrbw, or qd ŝrbn).

كنت قد شربت ، كنتَ قد شربتَ كان قد شربَ ، كانت قد شربتْ ، كنتم قد شربتم ، كنّا قد شربنا ، كانوا قد شربوا .

9.English Future Perfect Tense : The effect of futurity will be denoted by the auxiliary verb (kan) -to be. I shall have drunk (sakwn qd ŝrbt), You will ghave drunk (stkwn qd ŝrbt), or (srbt) for the feminine. He will have drunk (sykwn qd ŝrb), She will have drunk (stkwn qd ŝrbt), It will have drunk (sykwn or stkwn qd ŝrb, or ŝrbt), We shall have drunk (snkwn qd ŝrbna), You will have drunk (stkwnwn qd ŝrbtm, or stkn qd ŝrbtn), They will have drunk (sykwnw qd ŝrbw, or sykn qd ŝrbn).

سأكون قد شربتُ ، ستكون قد شربتَ ، ستكونين  قدشربتِ ، سيكون قد شربَ ،ستكون قد شرِبَتْ ، ستكونان قد شربتما ، ستكونوا قد شربتم ، سنكون قد شربنا ، ستكونون قد شربتم ، سيكونوا قد شربوا ، سيكنَّ قد شربنَ.  

10.English Present Perfect Continuous Tense: Here, the progressiveness of the action is expressed by the defective Arabic verb (Sar) – became, I have been drinking (qd Sar ly w ana aŝrb) a period of time should be stated for effectiveness or denotation. You have been drinking (qd Sar lk w ant tŝrb) so and so of time,or (w ant tŝrbyn) for the addressed feminine. He has been drinking (qd Sar lh w hw yŝrb) etc.., She has been drinking(qd Sar lha w hy tŝrb) etc.., It has been drinking(qd Sar lh. Or lha, w hw, or w hy, yŝrb, or tŝrb , a period of time continuing up to the present moment nonstop,) etc.., We have been drinking (qd Sar lna w nhn nŝrb, etc..), You have been drinking (qd Sar lkm w antm tŝrbwn , etc.., or w antn tŝrbn, so and so of time up till now), They have been drinking (qd Sar lhm w hm yŝrbwn, etc,.., or w hn yŝrbn, etc..)

قد صار لي و أنا أشرب مدّةً يجب ذكرها ، فد صار لك و أنتَ تشرب مدةً ..الخ.. قد صار له و هو يشرب مدّةً ، قد صار لها و هي تشرب مدة ، قد صار لنا و نحن نشرب مدّةً ، قد صار لكمو أنتم تشربون مدّةً ، قد صار لهم و هم يشربون مدَّةً .

11.English Past Perfect Continuous Tense: is used with the addition of (kan) to effect the pastness of the action a step inpriority over another past action. I had been drinking (kan qd Sar ly w ana aŝrb, a period of time prior to another action), You had been drinking (kan qd Sar lk w ant tŝrb, etc..), He had been drinking (kan qd Sar lh w hw yŝrb, etc..), She had been drinking ( kan qd Sar lha w hy tŝrb, etc..), It had been drinking (The effect of both he and she), We had been drinking (kan qd Sar lna w nhn nŝrb etc..) You had been drinking (kan qdsar lkm w antm tŝrbwn etc., or w antn

tŝrbn, etc..)

كان قد صار لي و أنا أشرب مدَّةً يجب ذكرها ، كنتَ قد صار لك و أنتَ تشرب مدّةً ، كان قد صار له و هو يشرب مدّةً ، كان قد صار لها و هي تشرب مدة ، كان قد صار لنا و نحن نشرب مدَّةً ، كانقد صار لكم و أنتم تشربون مدَّةً ، كان قدصارلهم و هم يشربون مدة .

12.English Future Perfect Continuous Tense:Is performed with preceding (s, or swf)-shall or will, in addition to what was previously done : I shall have been drinking (sykwn qd Sar ly w ana aŝrb, etc..), You will have been drinking for so and so of time,(sykwn qd Sar lk w ant tŝrb, etc,..or w ant tŝrbyn kd˙a w kd˙a mn zmn), He will have been drinking for etc..(sykwn qd Sar lh w hw ysrb..), She will have been drinking (sykwn qd Sarlha w h tŝrb, etc..) It will have been drinking (he + she effect), We shall have been drinking ( ykwn qd Sar lna w nhn nŝrb etc..), They will have been drinking ( sykwn qd Sar lhm w hm yŝrbwn etc..).

سيكون قد صار لي و أنا أشرب مدَّةً ، سيكون قدصار لك و أنتَ تشربُ مدَّةً ، سيكون قد صار له و هو يشرب مدةً ، سيكون قد صار لها و هي تشرب مدَّةً ، سيكون قد صار لنا و نحن نشرب مدَّةً ، سيكون قد صار لهم و هم يشربون مدَّةً .

It appears worthwhile that the learner practise verb conjugation forms to master the use of linked pronouns and their corresponding inflections comparing what he performs with the given models above.