Archive for 'Grammar'
Arabic Verb Forms: Negation Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jun 29, 2017
To negate a verb in English, we use the word ‘not’ along with a helping verb that indicates tense, such as ‘doesn’t, don’t’ for present simple, ‘didn’t’ for past simple, ‘hadn’t’ for past perfect simple, and so forth. In Arabic, there are multiple particles for negating verbs. The most common particles in Modern Standard Arabic…
Dancing in a Hijab (2) Posted by jesa on Jun 27, 2017
Marhaba! I hope you enjoyed listening to the ballerina’s story and were inspired by her determination to follow her dreams even when others saw her hijab as an impediment. Today, I am sharing the answers to the previous questions in the listening comprehension post. I am also sharing the news story to refresh your memory…
Dancing in a Hijab Posted by jesa on Jun 24, 2017
Marhaba! Today I want to share with you an inspiring and interesting story. It is the story of a ballet dancer, who has chosen to dance with her hijab. I thought this was such an inspiring story that shows how ones beliefs should not contradict with ones aspirations and dreams. I will share this story…
Imperfective Mood in Arabic Dialects Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jun 22, 2017
Dialects اللَّهَجَات exist in all world languages. A distinctive feature of a dialect لَهْجَة is the variation in pronunciation, word-formation and -usage, and grammar from the standard form. For Arabic, dialectal variation is, in my book, normally overstated. To defend my view, I will dedicate a few instructional posts for it once I am done…
5 Ways to Say Happy Eid! Posted by jesa on Jun 20, 2017
Marhaba! As you have learned from the post on Top 10 Facts About Ramadan, this holy month ends with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr (عيد الفطر). Eid (عيد), which means generally holiday in Arabic and which is used to abbreviate the name of the holiday, is a joyous occasion and is celebrated with prayer, family…
Sing With Asmahan: Come My Darling Posted by jesa on Jun 17, 2017
Marhaba! Today I want to introduce you to a legendary Arabic singer and actress who lived during the early 20th century, Asmahan (اسمهان)! Born in Syria as Amal al-Atrash, she lived and performed mostly in Egypt and Lebanon under her stage name Asmahan between the 1920s and the 1940s. Today we are going to listen…
Arabic Verb Forms [Imperfective Moods] Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jun 15, 2017
In most languages, mood is a grammatical and/or semantic, i.e. meaning-related, term that is tied to verbs. It is a change in the form of the verb that indicates a contrast of some sort. For instance, the sentence “if he were you, he would buy that car’ in English is in the subjective mood; that…