Archive for 'Grammar'
The Accusative Case in Arabic Posted by aziza on May 16, 2009
The accusative case (حالة النصب) is the case of nouns used as object in verbal sentences, and their modifying adjectives. Nouns and adjectives that are accusative are called (المنصوب) in Arabic. There are various endings used to mark the accusative case; depending on the number, gender and definiteness of the noun or adjective in question…
Marking the Nominative Case in Arabic Posted by aziza on May 12, 2009
As was mentioned before, the nominative case is the case of nouns used as subject and predicate of the nominal sentence as well as subject of verbal sentences, and their modifying adjectives. There are various endings used to mark the nominative case; depending on the number, gender and definiteness of the noun or adjective in…
The three cases of Arabic nouns and adjectives Posted by aziza on May 5, 2009
Nouns and adjectives that modify them must agree with each other in everything. I have pointed out in previous posts that they must agree with each other in gender, number and definiteness. They must also agree with each other in case. There are 3 cases for nouns and adjectives to mark their functions as subject…
An Introduction to the Arabic Case Marking System Posted by aziza on May 3, 2009
The case marking system (الإعراب) is one of the most important concepts in Arabic grammar. The word (إعراب) means expressing, and it is true of the system, as it expresses relationships between different elements of an utterance in very clear and explicit way. In the case marking system, each word is marked by a certain…
Practicing Plural Agreement in Arabic Posted by aziza on Apr 24, 2009
In one of my older posts, I explained that number agreement is very important in Arabic, and when we write or speak about one person or object, it is different from writing or speaking about 2 (dual), or about 3 or more (plural). Number agreement affects all parts of the sentence; nouns, pronouns, verbs, etc…
Alif and Hamza – part 2 Posted by aziza on Apr 18, 2009
In this posting, I continue to summarize some rules related to the use of alif and hamza in Arabic writing. If you missed Part 1, check it out here. At the beginning of a word, ‘hamzat alwaSl’ (همزة الوصل) can be found in relation to certain verb forms and their derivatives, e.g. verb form VIII…
Alif and Hamza Posted by aziza on Apr 15, 2009
Some grammarians regard alif (ا) and hamza (ء) as two distinct letters, while others regards them as two realizations of the same letter. They are a problematic aspect of Arabic writing and are often confusing to native and non-native speakers alike. In this posting, I hope to summarize some of the rules related to writing…