Arabic: Grammar Rules

What are some types of definite nouns in Arabic?

* Names
* Pronouns
* Demonstrative pronouns
* Nouns for questioning/interrogative pronouns

What are interrogative pronouns?

* Who, What, Where, When, How
* من - who
* ما - what
* أين - where
* كيف - how

What are demonstrative pronouns?

* A type of pronoun used to indicate and point to specific objects in relation to the speaker
* this, that, these, those
* هذا, هذه, ذلك, تلك

What are prepositions, and how do they change a noun it precedes?

* Determine the position of a noun
* It is usually before a definite noun
* The noun it precedes receives a kasrah
* A noun preceded by a preposition is in the genitive case

What are definite and indefinite nouns in Arabic?

* Definite nouns:
* Refer to specific things
* Preceded by the definite article "الـ" (al-) meaning ‘the’
* Ends in one dammah/kasrah/fathah
* eg. "الكتاب" (al-kitābu) means "the *book*" and refers to a particular, known book.
* Indefinite nouns:
* Refer to things in a general or unspecified way
* They don’t point to a specific item
* They don’t have "الـ" (al-) \[the\]
* For instance, "كِتَابٌ" (kitābun) means "a book" in a more general sense.
* Ends in tanween

What are scales/wazn?

* They are a system of patterns used to create derived forms of verbs
* They help in understanding and conjugating verbs
* Each scale follows a specific pattern or form
* eg. ذَهَبَ (he went) is on the scale of فَعَلَ (he did)

What happens to a name when it is preceded by a Harf Nida letter (like يا)?

* Ending gets changed to one dammah
* Examples:
* عَمَّارُ → عَمَّارٌ
* أَحْمَدُ→ أَحْمَدٌ

What are pronouns?

* Replace nouns, refer to who or what is being mentioned, can be used to refer to someone or something without using its names
* Attached pronouns go on verbs, prepositions and nouns
* **When you attach a pronoun to a noun in Arabic and the noun has a double "dammah" (ــُــ), you remove one of the "dammah" marks and then add the pronoun**
* eg. book = كِتَابٌ , his book = كِتَابُهُ

How do you know if a noun has a possessive pronoun attached to it?

* A noun will end in double kasrah, dammah or fathah
* If they is only one kasrah/dammah/fathah, there is a possessive pronoun attached
* They must be translated separately

How do you know when a noun is indefinite in Arabic?

It will end in tanween and will not have ´-al’ at the beginning.

How do you make a noun from indefinite to definite?

Add ´-al’ to the start and end in either one dammah/fathah/kasrah, depending on the type of tanween there was.

What is the normal ending of a noun in Arabic, and what case is a noun with a normal ending said to be in?

* Normal ending is a dammah (-u) sound
* A noun with a normal ending is in the nominative case

How do you know if a noun is masculine or feminine?

* Most feminine nouns end in a ة