( ‫ ) أل التعريف‬The Definite Article Al

Level: Beginner & Intermediate

?What should you know about AL

.is the definite article in the Arabic language ( ‫ ) الــ‬Al

.Al It's always prefixed to nouns only, and it never stands by itself

.Al Is not a permanent component of the word to which it is prefixed

Its purpose is distinguishing between the definiteness and indefiniteness

.of the noun

.Al has no affect on gender, plurality, or grammatical case

:Next I'll try to answer the following questions

?When you must use Al

?When to use Al

?When mustn't use Al

?When you must use Al

.There are some nouns always seen with Al

) ... ‫ اللذين‬، ‫ التي‬، ‫ ( الذي‬Example: the relative nouns

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 ?When to use Al
Definiteness
The primary purpose of Al is to define nouns and make their
.meanings more specific
Before AL After AL

.‫رأيت رجًل يدخل بيًتا‬ .‫ت‬ َ ‫رأيت الرج‬

َ ‫ل يدخل البي‬
I saw a man enters a house I saw the man enters the house

This means a specific man, a

.This means any man, any house
.specific house

:and it has two types ( ‫ ) أل العهدية‬Al in this case is known as

when we are talking about a word has already been : ‫•ذكرية‬
.mentioned
I have bought a car then I sold) ‫ ثم بعت السيارة‬،‫ة‬
ً ‫اشتريت سيار‬
)the car

when the word you are talking about is understood by : ‫• ذهنية‬

.the listener
The movie has became boring, ) ‫ لنخرج من هنا‬،‫ل‬ ً ‫الفيلم أصبح مم‬
( let's get out of here

Class Nouns
One of the functions of Al- is to render the noun onto which it is
.prefixed a class noun
can mean ‘the lion’, referring to a ‫ السد‬For example, the word
specific lion, or ‘the lion’ in the sense ‘the lion is a dangerous
.’animal

Indicating Presence
.Al- is often used in words to indicate the presence of something
means now (‫’; )الن‬means ‘this day’ i.e. ‘today ( ( ‫ اليوم‬,For example

?When must't use Al

.With noun that can't be defined.1

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 Who are you? - َ ‫ من أن‬.”who) “for human) ْ‫ َمن‬:Examples
‫ت؟‬
((masculine
(Who are you? (feminine - ‫ت ؟‬
ِ ‫من أن‬
Already Definite Nouns.2
The definite article, Al usually does not prefixed to nouns that
:are already definite. Which is included
:Personal pronouns
They already defined by the ;(‫ )الكتابي‬My book not – (‫ )كتابي‬:E.g
.pronouns
They already prefixed with ;(‫الخ‬...،‫ اللذين‬،‫ التي‬،‫ ) الذي‬:Relative nouns
.Al
They consider ;( ‫الخ‬...،‫ هؤلء‬،‫ هذه‬،‫ هذا‬،‫ تلك‬،‫ ) ذلك‬:Demonstrative nouns
.defined by themselves
.Nouns already prefixed with Al
Proper names, It's already defined by itself; note some Arabic
‫ المعتصم‬، ‫ ) المثنى‬names has Al as a permanent component. Like
( ‫بال‬
(‫ )الضافة‬.The Genitival Construction.3
Al- is not prefixed to non-final nouns in a genitival construction
is ‫ شوارع‬the city’s streets) the word) ‫ شوارع المدينة‬For example, in
a non-final noun in the genitival construction. Hence it cannot
be prefixed with Al- (it is already definite by virtue of the
.(construction
Vocation.4
When we call someone (particle of vocation), we don't use AL
.with his name
( ‫ ) يا المحمد‬O Mohammed) and not) ‫يا محمد‬ :.E.g
.(O God) ‫ يا ال‬Exception: The word “Allah”(SWT) we say

:Important notes
then so does the (‫ )الـ‬Adjectives follow their noun. If the noun has Al .1
.adjective
( the tall man ) ‫ الرجل الطويل‬.e.g
(the clever boy ) ‫الولد الذكي‬
(the beautiful woman ) ‫المرأة الجميلة‬
(the clever boys ) ‫الولد الذكياء‬

For number between 11 and 19 Al may be prefixed to the first part.2

.of that number

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 ( ‫ ) الثالث العشر‬not (13 ) ‫ الثالث عشر‬.e.g

And in a compound number (21-29, ..., 91-99), Al is possible to

.prefixed to both parts
( ‫ ) الواحد والربعون‬,41 ( ‫ ) واحد وأربعون‬.e.g

( ً ) (Nunation (Tanween.3
The purpose of tanween is to differentiate between nouns and
.verbs
And because we know that Al is prefixed to nouns, then tanween is
.no longer needed in such case
So remember that no noun has both Al and tanween at the same
.time

Also tanween is differentiate between the defined and undefined

.nouns
in some undefined nouns tanween can't be used, we'll discover)
(that later

.e.g
from the tanween we know it's a noun not a verb, and it's ) ‫ل‬ ٌ ‫رج‬
(undefined noun
from Al we know it's a noun not a verb, and it's defined ) ‫الرجل‬
(noun

a specific man – no ) ‫< الرجل‬- ( any man – undefined noun ) ‫ل‬ ٌ ‫رج‬
(tanween
a specific book – no ) ‫< الكتاب‬- ( any book – undefined noun ) ‫ب‬
ٌ ‫كتا‬
(tanween

:Preposition Lam.4
Lam- is prefixed to a defined noun, we– (‫ )ل‬When the preposition
.remove the Hamza from that noun
‫< للكتاب‬- ‫ الكتاب‬، ‫< للرجل‬- ‫ الرجل‬.e.g
(This book is to the boy ) ‫هذا الكتاب للصبي‬
(The boy went to the sea for the fishing) ‫ذهب الرجل إلى البحر للصيد‬

Difficulty level Exercises:

[-----====]
:Fill the gaps by the proper words.1

(‫ كتب‬،‫ كتابًا‬،‫ كتاب‬،‫ ) الكتاب‬.____ ‫ ثم ذهبت إلى البيت لقراءة‬،‫ اشتريت ____ جديدًا‬.1

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‫‪ .2‬ركبنا البارحة ____ صديقي _____‪ ) .‬سيارة‪ ،‬السيارة‪ ،‬حمراء‪ ،‬الحمراء‪،‬الحمر(‬

‫‪ .3‬رأيت ______ في المنزل‪ ،‬كان _______ نفسه ____ رأيته البارحة‪) .‬التي‪ ،‬الذي‪ ،‬رجل ً‬
‫ل‪ ،‬الرجل الطويل‪ ،‬رجل طويل‪ ،‬الرجل طويل(‬ ‫طوي ً‬

‫‪ُ .4‬أحب _____‪ ،‬والسباحة‪ ،‬و______‪ ) .‬الركوب الخيل‪ ،‬ركوب خيل‪ ،‬ركوب الخيل‪ ،‬قراءة‪،‬‬
‫كتابة‪ ،‬القراءة(‬

‫‪ ____ .5‬هو الجمعة‪ ،‬وغدا ً ____ السبت‪ ،‬والبارحة كان ______‪ ) .‬اليوم الخميس‪ ،‬الخميس‪،‬‬
‫يوم الخميس‪ ،‬يوم‪ ،‬اليوم‪ ،‬يوما ً (‬

‫‪:Find the mistakes in the following sentences.2‬‬

‫) ‪( mistakes 2‬‬ ‫فتاة ستذهب إلى ألسوق غدا ً ‪.‬‬

‫) ‪( mistakes 2‬‬ ‫رأيت يوم إمرأة الجميلة‪.‬‬

‫) ‪( mistake 1‬‬ ‫عندما تتعلم القواعد اللغة العربية تصبح أسهل‪.‬‬

‫) ‪( mistakes 2‬‬ ‫الشمس أكبر من أرض‪ ،‬لكن الرض أكبر من قمر‪.‬‬

‫) ‪( mistakes 2‬‬ ‫ذهبت إلى السوق كبير‪ ،‬الموجود في مدينة الخرى‪.‬‬

‫‪Ok that's all, you can send me your answers, my Email:‬‬

‫‪premiergroup_2@hotmail.com‬‬

‫‪.-And I'll send you back the result – Insha'Allah‬‬

‫‪:References‬‬

‫–‪.(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Al- (English and Arabic version‬‬

‫–‪"-"Seebawayh," Al-Kitab‬بببببب"‪.‬‬

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