Tag Archives: Arabic grammar
Case marking and agreement in verbal sentences Posted by aziza on Jul 28, 2019
In this post, we learn how to case mark verbal sentences. The verbal sentence (الجملة الفعلية) is a sentence that begins by a verb. The verbal sentence has two main components: the verb (الفعل), the subject (الفاعل), especially if the verb is non-transitive. If the verb is transitive, there is also a third element, i.e. …
Rules for writing final hamza Posted by aziza on Apr 25, 2019
In this post, I write about the rules for writing hamza (ء) in Arabic at the end of the word. Just like medial hamza, the writing of final hamza depends on how it is vowelled and how the letters before it are vowelled. In this post, I will describe the most important rules. Final Hamza…
عَنْ: Meanings, Examples, and Synonyms Posted by yasmine on Apr 3, 2019
Let’s continue looking at more tiny Arabic words; their meanings and how to use them. In most cases you’ve seen the word عَنْ mean “about”, but there are a few more meanings. Here are some examples to help clarify them in context. about/on: .كتاب عن قواعد اللغة العربية A book about Arabic grammar. / A…
The Meaning of “qad” قَدْ and How to Use it Posted by yasmine on Mar 27, 2019
Last week, we looked at how to use ُحَيث and all its multiple meanings. This week, we’re looking at a two-letter-word “qad” قَدْ . Do not let the littleness of such tiny words deceive you 😊, this word has an important grammatical function. قَدْ must come before either a past or present tense verb. Depending…
Rules for Writing Medial Hamza Posted by aziza on Mar 25, 2019
In this post, I writing about the rules for writing hamza (ء) in Arabic in the middle of the word. This is one of the questions that many of my students ask. As a general rule, the writing of medial hamza depends on how it is vowelled and how the letters before and after it…
Making Polite Requests in Arabic Posted by yasmine on Mar 13, 2019
It’s always important to learn how to be polite مُؤَدَّب in the language we are learning. In this post we’ll be looking at the common phrases used in MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) to make a polite request طَلَب. In English, a few common words used to make requests are (may, could, would, please, etc.) In…
Negating verbs in Arabic Posted by yasmine on Mar 6, 2019
Even if you’re a beginner in Arabic, negating verbs will come in handy for beginner’s conversations. It’s easy! 😊 There are three ways to negate verbs in Arabic depending on the tense. In this post, we’ll look at how to negate verbs in both MSA and in Levantine dialect for those of you who wish…