Archive for 'Grammar'
The great extent of diversity in Arabic Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Apr 19, 2017
Every Arabic learner probably had to face the fact that Arabic is not a single language and there is a high variety: Standard Arabic, and a low variety: regional dialects, more than 20 of them. Today, we are using a short video that illustrates, very well, the great extent of this diversity. It shows…
How does Nominal Derivation work in Arabic? Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Apr 12, 2017
Some Arabic learners out there might be struggling with Arabic vocabulary or complaining that they don’t know enough words. Arabic vocabulary is indeed quite rich and varied, but it is also systematic. One beautiful aspect of the Arabic language is its productivity when it comes to word formation. What is derivation? Derivation or what…
Arabic Definiteness: Formation, Meaning, and Assimilation Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Mar 30, 2017
Typically, nouns and adjectives in most languages are made definite by articles. ‘the’; ‘le, la, les’; ‘die, der, des’ are the definite articles in English, French, and German, respectively. In Arabic, nouns and adjectives are made definite using ال which is appended to the beginning of the word, as in these examples: مَدِينَةٌ جَامِعَةً حِذَاءً…
Tanween [Nunation] in Arabic: Types, Meanings, and Assignment Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Mar 23, 2017
In an earlier post, we learned that basic Arabic diacritical marks have linguistic values. So does the Arabic nunation, i.e. tanween تَنْوِيْن. Besides its distinct pronunciation, it has both grammar- and meaning-related values. There are three types of tanween: fatH ( ً ), denoted by double fatHah kasr ( ٍ ), denoted by double kasrah…
The 10 Most Common Arabic Words about Spies (2) Posted by jesa on Mar 14, 2017
Marhaba! I hope you all learned something new and/or refreshed your memory from the previous post about the 10 most common words about spies in Arabic. I am confident you enjoyed solving the crossword puzzle! In this post, I am sharing the answers and some examples of how you can use these words in a…
Another Milestone for Women in Saudi Arabia (2) Posted by jesa on Feb 25, 2017
Marhaba! I hope you found the recent listening comprehension exercise on the new milestone for women in Saudi Arabia inspiring, noteworthy, and fun. 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. The most important objective that I…
Prepositions and Circumstants Posted by aziza on Feb 20, 2017
In Arabic, prepositions (حروف الجر) comprise a limited set of words that serve to explain relationships between other words, e.g. من، إلى، في، عن، على، مذ، منذ، رُبَّ، حتى، خلا، حاشا، عدا، اللام، كي، واو، التاء، الكاف، الباء، لعل، متى There is another set of words called circumstants (الظروف). These words have a similar function…