Salam سلام 🙂  We’re going to continue our series about adverbs الظُروف in Standard Arabic. Last month, two posts were dedicated to adverbs: the temporal adverb ظرف الزمان (Click here and here). Today (and in the next blog), we’re going to look at the other popular type of adverb, and that is: Spatial adverb ظرف المكان.

To recap: an adverb الظرف 

is a word that often qualifies يُحَدِّد a verb فعلًا/ an action حدثًا ما or a noun phrase عبارة اسمية and adds information on يضيف معلومات عن the place المكان or the time الزمان in which an action occurs التي يحدث به الفعل

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We now move on to the second type of adverbs >>

2. Spatial adverbs:

ظرف المكان is directly related to the place المكان

• A spatial adverb can be defined as يمكن تعريفه على أنه a word that refers to where an action takes/took place مكان حدوث الفعل

 

Example:

جلست القطة تحتَ الكرسي

The cat sat under the chair

 

Under تحت is a very common spatial adverb ظرف مكان and here it’s used as a reference to the place where the verb (sitting) happened, i.e.: (under the chair).

• A spatial adverb can also refer to the location الموقع or the place المكان  where someone شخص ما or something شيء ما, a subject فاعل or an object مفعول به exists يوجد or doesn’t.

 

Examples:

ِلا يوجد أحدٌ في المكتب

No one is in the office

 

In في is another common spatial adverb ظرف مكان and here it refers to the place where someone is or isn’t. Therefore, it negates تنفي  the existence of someone وجود شخص ما  in a specific place في مكان مُحدّد , that is the office.

 

Examples:

ِأنا جالسٌ خلفَ الباب

I am sitting behind the door

 

The spatial adverb: behind خلف here comments on the place where the subject is, focusing on the the  temporary state of the subject (sitting), which is marked by the predicate جالسٌ < خبر  that gives information about the subject الفاعل > I أنا.

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 Popular spatial Adverbs:

 

Spatial adverbs can be divided into two groups:

1. A group that refers to directions. Below are some of the most common ones:

 

East West North South Right Left	شرق غرب شمال جنوب يمين  يسار

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adverbs in this group tend to refer to a place that is less specific than that referred to in the second group (will follow below).

 

Example:

سأذهب يمينًا

I will go right

 

We know the direction to which the subject is headed to but not to the right of what, in particular.

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2. A group of adverbs that are often followed by a noun. Below are some of the most common ones:

 

Above/ up Under/ down In front of Behind In/Inside Outside Before After Between/ in the middle of around next to	فوق / على تحت / أسفل أمام  خلف / وراء في / داخل خارج قبل بعد بين / وسط حول بجانب

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These adverbs are usually used to refer to a specific place that is indicated by the noun that follows them.

 

Example:

 

رأيت محمدًا يقف فوقَ المقعدِ

I saw Mohammed standing on the desk

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