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 post, I  explain the constructions that can be used as predicate.

The predicate can be made of one word, i.e. a noun (اسم) or an adjective (صفة), e.g.

أنا معلمة.

I am a teacher.

سارة جميلة.

Sarah is pretty.

The predicate can be made of a complete sentence. i.e. a nominal sentence (جملة اسمية) or a verbal sentence (جملة فعلية), e.g.

الحديقة أشجارها كثيرة.

The garden has many trees (lit. its trees are many.)

الأستاذ يعلّم الطلاب.

The teacher teaches his students.

The predicate can also be a prepositional phrase (شبه جملة),

الطلاب في الجامعة.

The students are at the university.

المنزل بجانب المكتبة.

The house is next to the library.

Exercises:

A.  Decide the type of predicate used in the sentences below:

1-   ماجد طبيب.

2-   ماجد مجتهد.

3-   ماجد أخلاقه ممتازة.

4-   ماجد يعمل كثيراً.

5-   ماجد في المكتب.

B.  Complete the following sentences with a predicate of the type indicated between brackets.

1-   هو ————–. (اسم)

2-    الطالب ——–. (صفة)

3-   البنت ———–. (جملة اسمية)

4-   الأستاذ ————-. (جملة فعلية)

5-   الكتب ————-. (شبه جملة)

C.  Make your own nominal sentences using different types of predicates.