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, object or their position after a preposition or as part of idafa.
The nominative case (حالة الرفع)
The nominative case applies to nouns that function as subjects in verbal sentences, and also to both subjects an predicates in nominal sentences, and all adjectives the modify them. In the following sentences, the nominative (مرفوع) nouns and adjectives are underlined:
يخرج الطالب مع أصدقائه كل يوم.
“The student goes out with his friends every day.”
البنتمشغولة.
“The girl is busy.”
المدرّس الجديد مصري.
“The new teacher is Egyptian.”
Notes:
Student: subject of the verb.
Girl: subject of a nominal sentence.
Busy: predicate of a nominal sentence.
Teacher: subject of a nominal sentence.
New: Adjective of a nominative noun
Egyptian: predicate of a nominal sentence.
The Accusative case (حالة النصب)
The accusative case applies to nouns that function as objects in verbal sentences, and all adjectives the modify them. In the following sentences, the accusative (منصوب) nouns and adjectives are underlined:
قابلنا الطالب الجديد.
“We met the new student.”
أكل الولد تفاحة صغيرة وأكلت أخته برتقالة كبيرة.
“The by ate a small apple, and his sister ate a big orange.”
شاهدت الحادث.
“I saw the accident.”
Notes:
Student, apple, orange, accident: objects
New, small, big: adjectives of accusative nouns
The Genitive case (حالة الجر)
The genitive case applies to nouns that occur after a preposition, and also to nouns that occur as second nouns in idafa constructions, and all adjectives the modify them. In the following sentences, the nominative (مجرور) nouns and adjectives are underlined:
نحن من المغرب.
“We are from Morocco.”
أنا أدرس في جامعة كبيرة.
“I study at a big university.”
كتاب الأدب صعب جداً.
“The literature book (=book of literature) is very difficult.”
غرفة الأولاد أكبر من غرفة البنات.
“The boys’ room is bigger than the girls’ room.”
Notes:
Morocco, university, room: after preposition
Big: adjective of genitive noun
Literature, boys, girls: second nouns in idafa constructions
Comments:
non:
hello, hi
dear sir, madam
i would like to express my great thanks to Aziza and other in the service team , and i would sy it is very useful artcels , and very intersted in it , even i an Arabic from the gulf ,specially iam teaching the ARABIC SPEAKER, and i am very glad if i can get in contact with Aziza on email , to ask her some more questions.
thank you
with best regards
Aziza:
Ahlan on the Arabic blog and shukran for the very kind comment. Please post any questions you may have in the comments section, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions in the comment section or dedicate new posts for the answer.
Kind regards,
Aziza
non:
ahlan washalan
al-‘aukht al-xaziza : AZIZA
SHUKRAN LAKI , wa natmnnaa laki at-tawfiiq
i woul like to teach my students the converstion and looking for rfrences in araabic, i do but it takes my time to build this . also i have few refrences in teach arabic in english text
thank you
best wishes
Aziza:
Ahlan Non,
Because I only taught Egyptian Collowuial Arbaic, I have used one book called Colloquial Arabic of Egypt by Russel McGuirk, and I know of a book Published by the American University of Cairo called “يلا ندردش “, which I have never used.
I think that if you wish to teach another dialect, you will have to use other sources. In fact, for the colloquial courses I teach, I usually develop my own dialogues depending on situations that students prefer to learn about.
I hope this is helpful.
Salam,
Aziza
muhammad:
salam
I am very confused of the hard words you have used. Will you please explain the really hard words like predicate, accusative and so on. Otherwise, it is very good information and very helpful
Thankyou