More on numbers and agreement in Arabic Posted by aziza on May 25, 2009
When we talk about a number of things, e.g. five cars or seven friends, we need to use the appropriate form of the number and the appropriate noun to follow. The noun that follows numbers is called specification (التمييز). It is an indefinite noun that follows a number to specify what the number refers to. It has…
Numbers in Arabic Posted by aziza on May 21, 2009
Arabic Numbers (الأعداد) are given in the table below. When read on their own, they are usually in the feminine form, and the teens always end in the work (عشر), as for complex numbers in Arabic, they follow the system (units and tens), e.g. twenty one is (واحد وعشرون), literally like (one and twenty)…
The Genitive Case in Arabic Posted by aziza on May 20, 2009
The genitive case(حالة الجر) is the case of nouns that occur after prepositions or as second word in idafa constructions, and their modifying adjectives. Nouns and adjectives that are genitive are called (المجرور) in Arabic. There are various endings used to mark the genitive case; depending on the number, gender and definiteness of the noun…
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…
Story tellers around the Arab world Posted by aziza on May 12, 2009
Stories (الحكايات) form a very important part of all cultures, and storytelling (السرد) is one of the oldest arts known to human beings. Storytelling is an integral part of Arabic popular culture (الثقافة الشعبية). In all parts of the Arab world, storytelling has been a very popular and much-appreciated form of entertainment for the general…
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…