Tag Archives: Grammar
Question words with prepositions Posted by aziza on May 15, 2015
Some Arabic particles join each other when they come together, e.g. when certain prepositions come with question words, they join each other to make one word. They are easy to guess, but hard to identify for new learners of Arabic. I hope you find the following list useful: عن + ماذا = عمّ عمّ تتكلم؟…
Practice Negation Posted by aziza on Mar 23, 2015
In this post, we revise the different ways of negation (النفي) in Arabic. In Arabic, we usually use special particles to negate different constructions. Below is a list of the common ways of negation. Present tense verbs are negated by (لا) Past tense verbs are negated by (ما) or by (لم + present tense) Future…
Special Masculine Plurals Posted by aziza on Dec 15, 2014
Sound masculine plural is a form used to refer to nouns and adjectives that refer to human masculine nouns, and it is marked by the suffix (ون) or (ين), for example معلم – معلمون/ معلمين مهندس – مهندسون/ مهندسين لبناني – لبنانيون/ لبنانيين المعلمون اللبنانيون مهتمون باللغات Lebanese teachers are interested in languages. يعمل الكثير…
The present tense verb endings1 Posted by aziza on Jun 27, 2014
As explained in my previous post, there are three cases of the present tense verb, the default case, the imperfect (المرفوع), the subjunctive (المنصوب), and the jussive (المجزوم). The case of the verb depends on what precedes it. In this post, I explain the three cases of the present tense verb with suffix endings (ان،…
The present tense verb endings Posted by aziza on Jun 23, 2014
There are three cases of the present tense verb, the default case, the imperfect (المرفوع), the subjunctive (المنصوب), and the jussive (المجزوم). The case of the verb depends on what precedes it. The imperfect (المرفوع) is the default case; we find it when the verb is not preceded by anything specific, or by (لا) for…
Practice the use of prepositions Posted by aziza on Apr 30, 2014
Last week, I presented a reading passage about reading to practice our comprehension. Today, I use the same passage to practice the use of prepositions. Please use the pronouns below to complete the passage as appropriate. When finished, scroll down to the end of the page to check the answers. عن، ل، في،من، على،…
Types of predicates Posted by aziza on Jan 1, 2014
The nominal sentence (الجملة الإسمية) in Arabic begins with a noun or a pronoun. The nominal sentence has two components the subject (المبتدأ) and the predicate (الخبر). The subject can be a noun (اسم), pronoun (ضمير) or demonstrative (اسم اشارة). محمد ممتاز. هو طالب. هذا محمد. The predicate (الخبر) can include different constructions. In this…