1 Arabic Intensive

Chapter 1: Three Kinds of Words in Arabic

In all languages, we communicate using sentences. Sentences are composed of different kind
of words that come together to create a meaning.

In the Arabic Language, we have only 3 kinds of words.

ٌ‫ ِا ْ م‬: The name of a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb and more
1)Ism ‫س‬

ٌ‫ ِف ْع م‬: A word that has a tense(Past, Present, or Future)

2) Fi’l ‫ل‬

ٌ ‫ َح ْر م‬: A word that needs another word with it in order to make sense.
3)Harf ‫ف‬

NOW
Write the alternative definitions for these word below:
1)Ism:
2)Fi’l:
3)Harf:

Identify whether the words in the table below are isms, fi’ls or harfs.

Book Cats Over

Karachi With Quickly
Helps Slept Laptop
Of Maryam Laughed
In Tall Prayed
On Studied For
Books From Lahore
2 Arabic Intensive

Chapter 2: Ism Studies

Isms are the first of the three kinds of words in Arabic. Remember that an Ism is the name of
a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb or more.

2.1 The Properties of the Ism

We start our study of Arabic by studying the Ism. Every Ism has four properties:
1)Status ٌ‫اِعْراب‬
2) Number ٌ‫عدَد‬ َ
3) Gender ٌٌ‫ِجنس‬ ْ
4) Type ٌ‫سم‬
ْ ‫ِق‬
Every time you come across an Ism you should be able to identify its four properties.

2.1.1 Properties of the Ism-Status

When studying the status of an Ism we should first know:
1) The three forms of status
2) How to tell status
3) Light vs. Heavy
4) Flexibility
2.1.1.1 Properties of the Ism-Status-Three Forms of Status
There are three forms of status which can be identified in sentence that have an action. They
are:
1) Subject i.e Doer of the act: ‫ َم ْرفوع‬/‫َرفع‬ Raf(R)
2) Object i.e Detail of the act: ‫ َم ْنصوب‬/‫ نَصْب‬Nasb(N)
3) Possessive i.e Word after ‘of’: ‫ َمجرور‬/‫ جَر‬Jarr (J)
3 Arabic Intensive

Worked Examples:
A teacher R entered the classroom N.
In the sentence above, the action is “entered”. The doer of the act is “teacher” therefore it is
in the raf status. The word “classroom” answers the question “Where did the teacher enter?”
Since the word “classroom” provides more information about the action “entered” is it in the
nasb status.

Abdullah’s J Friend R shouts loudly N

In English sometimes we have to create the word ‘of’. The phrase “Abdullah’s Friend” can be
written as “Friend of Abdullah”. Therefore the word teacher is really after-of even though the
word ‘of’ is hidden here.

Determine the status and place an R,N or J over the highlighted words.

1) My teacher explains Nahwu concepts patiently

2) He buys chocolate happily.

3) He doesn’t like vegetables.

4) My friend drinks milk regularly

5) My father works in a hospital

6) He goes to the gym for exercise sometimes.

7) Teacher’s student woke up suddenly.

4 Arabic Intensive

2.1.1.2 Properties of the Ism-Status-How to tell

Now that we know the kinds of status, we need to know how to tell what status an Ism is in.

In English the status of a word depends on where the word is in the sentence.
For example: Ahmed helped Zayd

The doer(Ahmed) comes first and the detail(Zayd) is second. If we change the order of the
names and say Zayd helped Ahmed then now we have changes the statuses of Ahmed and
Zayd.

In Arabic changing the order of the words does not change the status, rather the sounds at
the end of the words tell us the status of the words.

There are two basic ways to tell the status of an Ism: ending combination or ending sound.

Remember: When telling status look for ending combination FIRST and then look for ending
sound.

Look at the table on the next page for the summary of the ending sounds and ending
combinations.
5 Arabic Intensive

‫ َرفع‬Raf’ Recognition:

ٌُ (u) or ٌُ (un) ending sound for singular

‫( آ‬aa) or ٌ‫آن‬
ِ (aani) ending combination for pair

‫و‬ (oo) or َ (oona)

ٌ‫ون‬ ending combination for plural

‫( آت‬aatu) or ٌ‫( آت‬aatun) ending combination for plural feminine

‫ نَصْب‬Nasb Recognition:
ٌَُ (a) Or ٌُ (an) ending sound for singular

‫ُي‬
ٌَ (ay) or ‫ْن‬
ٌِ ‫ٌُي‬
ٌَ (ayni) ending combination for pair

‫ٌُِي‬ (ee) or ٌ‫ٌُِ ي َْن‬ ending combination for plural

ٌ‫ت‬
ِ ‫( آ‬aati) or ٌ‫( آت‬aatin) ending combination for plural feminine

‫ َجر‬Jarr Recognition:

( I ) or (in) ending sound for singular

‫ُي‬
ٌَ (ay) or ‫( ٌَُ ي ٌِْن‬ayni) ending combination for pair

ٌ‫ْى‬ (ee) or ٌ‫َن‬ (eena) ending combination for plural

ٌ‫ت‬
ِ ‫( آ‬aati) or ٌ‫( آت‬aatin) ending combination for plural feminine
 ‫‪6‬‬ ‫‪Arabic Intensive‬‬

‫‪Status‬‬

‫‪Forms‬‬ ‫‪How to tell‬‬ ‫‪Light v. Heavy‬‬ ‫‪Flexibility‬‬

‫‪MASCULINE‬‬

‫جمع ٌ‪Plural‬‬ ‫‪Dual‬‬ ‫ٌمفرد‪Singular‬‬

‫مثنى‬
‫س ِلم َ‬
‫ونٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل ٌِ‬
‫مان‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل ٌم‬
‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Raff‬‬
‫س ِل ِمي ٌَ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِلماٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Nasb‬‬
‫س ِل ِمي ٌَ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِلمٌ‬‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Jarr‬‬

‫‪FEMININE‬‬ ‫س ِل ٌ‬
‫مات‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمتَ ِ‬
‫انٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َم ٌة‬‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Raff‬‬
‫س ِل َماتٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمتَي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمةٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Nasb‬‬
‫س ِل َماتٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمتَي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫س ِل َمةٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬ ‫‪Jarr‬‬

‫‪BROKEN PLURAL‬‬ ‫أ َ ْق ٌ‬
‫الم‬ ‫قَلَ َم ِ‬
‫انٌ‬ ‫قَلَ ٌم‬ ‫‪Raff‬‬
‫أ َ ْقالمٌ‬ ‫قَلَ َمي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫قَلَماٌ‬ ‫‪Nasb‬‬
‫أ َ ْقالمٌ‬ ‫قَلَ َمي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫قَلَمٌ‬ ‫‪Jarr‬‬
‫‪7‬‬ ‫‪Arabic Intensive‬‬

‫‪Exercise:‬‬
‫?‪Give the status of these words. It is determined by ending sound or combo‬‬

‫‪Word‬‬ ‫‪Status‬‬ ‫‪Word‬‬ ‫‪Status‬‬

‫ال ِكتابٌ‬ ‫العٌي ٌِ‬
‫ون‬
‫س ِج َدي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫َم ْ‬ ‫فِتْيَةٌ‬
‫آياتٌ‬ ‫الم ْك َر ِم ٌَ‬
‫ين‬
‫ا ْلم ِبيْنٌ‬ ‫نورٌ‬
‫ت َ ْذ ِك َرةٌ‬ ‫ٌَ‬
‫للا‬
‫الوا ِل ٌِ‬
‫دان‬ ‫نارٌ‬
‫شفَتَي ٌِ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ا ْل ِفي ٌِل‬
‫س ِلي ٌَ‬
‫ْن‬ ‫الم ْر َ‬ ‫سناتٌ‬ ‫محْ ِ‬
‫رس ٌِ‬
‫والن‬ ‫ستَقيمٌ‬ ‫م ْ‬
‫ِمشْكاةٌ‬ ‫ا ِأل ْنسانٌ‬
‫طيْرا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ظلماتٌ‬
‫َرج ٌِ‬
‫الن‬ ‫ْاأل َ ْولَيَ ٌِ‬
‫ان‬
‫عَا ِبداتٌ‬ ‫ْاأل َ ْق َر ِب ٌَ‬
‫ين‬
8 Arabic Intensive

2.1.1.3 Properties of Ism-Status-Light vs. Heavy

An ism can either be “light” or “heavy”. Normally an Ism should be heavy. All the words in
the Muslim chart are heavy.

An ism is made light by removing the extra ‘n’ sound at the end. Do this by:
1) Removing the double accent(Tanween) OR
2) Remove the extra ‫ ن‬at the end of the Ism.
3) Note that making as Ism light or heavy will NOT change the status of the Ism.
The Muslim chart in light form:

Masculine: Feminine

‫س ِلمو‬
ٌْ ‫م‬ ‫س ِلما‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِلم‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِلمات‬
ْ ‫م‬ ‫س ِل َمتَا‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َمة‬
ْ ‫م‬

ٌ‫س ِل ِم ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َم ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َم‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫ت‬
ِ ‫س ِلما‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َمت َ ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َم َة‬
ْ ‫م‬

ٌ‫س ِل ِم ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َم ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل ِم‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫ت‬
ِ ‫س ِلما‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َمت َ ْي‬
ْ ‫م‬ ٌ‫س ِل َم ِة‬
ْ ‫م‬

There are only FOUR reasons for an Ism to be light. Write them below as we learn them:
1)

2)

3)

4)
‫‪9‬‬ ‫‪Arabic Intensive‬‬

‫?‪Are the following words light or heavy? If it’s light, what is the heavy version‬‬
‫?‪What is the status of each word‬‬

‫م ْو ِمنِي َْنٌ‬ ‫للاٌَ‬

‫عَا ِلمٌ‬ ‫كتبٌ‬

‫سط ْوٌ‬
‫بَا ِ‬ ‫جنَّتَي ِْنٌ‬

‫ِإ َٰلَ َهي ِْنٌ‬ ‫َم ْغ ِر َ‬

‫بٌ‬

‫ِب َحقٌ‬ ‫ساءٌ‬

‫نِ ٌَ‬

‫ش َِهيدا‬ ‫العالمي َْنٌ‬

‫ِ‬

‫يبٌ‬
‫الرقِ َ‬
‫َّ‬ ‫ِص َرا َ‬
‫طٌ‬

‫بٌ‬
‫َر ِ‬ ‫الض ِال َ‬
‫ينٌ‬

‫م ْه ِل ِك ْيٌ‬ ‫م َط َّه َر ِةٌ‬

‫َك ِل َمةٌ‬ ‫حطاماٌ‬

‫ٌنٌ‬
‫ح ْي ِ‬
‫صال ٌَ‬
‫َ‬ ‫ا َّمٌ‬

‫أ ْنثَيَ ْيٌ‬ ‫َم ْطلَ ِع‬

10 Arabic Intensive

2.1.1.4 Properties of the Ism – Status – Flexibility

The last study under the status of the ism is flexibility.

There are three categories of flexibility: Fully, Non and Partly.

1) Fully flexible:
 Fully flexible isms can show all three statuses (Raf’, Nasb and Jarr)
 Most isms are fully flexible.
 Fully flexible isms can be heavy or light.
 All the words in the Muslim chart are fully flexible.

2) Non Flexible
 Non flexible isms only have one form.
 Look the same in all statuses.
 Words that are non-flexible:
o Words ending in alif eg:‫ٌموسى‬،‫ٌٌٌدنيا‬
o Singular and plural ism mawsool: ‫الذي‬
o Singular and plural pointing words: ‫هذا‬

3) Partly Flexible: these words can show some change, but not all. Partly Flexible isms
have two restrictions:
i. Cannot be heavy.
ii. Cannot take a kasrah.

As a result, a partly flexible ism will have two forms: one for Rafa’ and one shared form of
Nasb and Jarr.
11 Arabic Intensive

Partly Flexible: A Closer Look

1. Names of places:
 Names of all places.
 Exception: names of places spelled with 3 letters

Examples:
Any place: partly flexible: َ‫ٌ َمك ٌَّة‬،َ‫ٌ َمكَّة‬،‫بٌـٌ َمكة‬
َ ‫ٌيثر‬،
ِ ‫ب‬ َ ‫ٌيثر‬،
ِ ‫يثرب‬ِ
Exception: places spelled with 3 letters:ٌ‫ٌعدن‬،‫ٌعدنا‬،‫ٌعدْن‬

2. Non-Arab Names:

Non-Arab names are partly flexible. Arab names are fully flexible.
 Four Arab Prophets in the Quran:‫ٌصالح‬،‫ٌهود‬،‫ٌشعيب‬،‫ٌٌمحمد‬
 Exception: non-Arab names spelled with three letters with aٌٌْ(sukoon) in theٌ
middle

Examples:
o Arab name (fully flexible):ٌ‫ٌمحمد‬،‫ٌمحمدا‬،‫محمد‬
o Non-Arab name (partly flexible):‫ٌابراهي ٌَم‬،‫ٌابراهي َم‬،‫ٌٌٌابراهيم‬
o 3 letter exception (fully flexible):ٌ‫ٌنوح‬،‫ٌنوحا‬،‫ٌنوح‬

Advanced Partly-Flexible Words:

3. Words that sound likeٌ‫ٌاَ ْكبَر‬

o Comparativesٌ‫ٌا ْع َظم‬
o Body defects:ٌ‫(ٌٌأع َْوج‬Crooked)
o Names of colors (masculine or feminine). Eg: ٌ‫ أَحْ َمر‬or ٌ‫ح َم َراء‬

4. Arab names with ‫ ة‬of feminine:

o Example: ‫عائشة‬

If Alif-Laam (‫ )ال‬is added to any of Partly flexible Ism or if they become Mudhaf (word which
comes before “of”), they become Fully flexible.
12 Arabic Intensive

Are the following words fully, non or partly flexible? Why?

Word Flexibility Reason Word Flexibility Reason

ٌ‫رب‬ ‫كراتشي‬

‫ابرهيم‬ َ‫ح ٌة‬

ٌَ ‫طل‬

‫ال ٌَدنيا‬ ‫جهنَم‬

‫خديجة‬ ‫يوم‬

‫الحياة‬ ‫جنة‬

‫عيسى‬ ‫بابل‬

What is the status of the following words?

Word Status Word Status

‫مريَ ٌَم‬
ْ Nasb/Jarr ٌ‫زيدا‬
ٌ‫صالح‬ ٌ‫اسرائي َل‬
َ
ٌ‫مدينة‬ ‫يحيى‬
ٌ‫كَريما‬ ٌَ ‫سلي َم‬
‫ان‬
ٌ‫اجر‬ ٌ‫سبي ِل‬
13 Arabic Intensive

2.1.2 Properties of the Ism - Number

In English there are two categories for number: singular or plural. In Arabic words we have
three categories: singular, pair, plural.
We have already covered singular and pair in the Muslim chart. Our discussion on number
will focus on the plural.
When studying number, we have to study the following categories: 1) Sound masculine
plural (Muslim chart). The oona and eena ending combinations represent words that are
masculine and plural.
2) Sound feminine plural (Muslim chart). The aatun and aatin ending combinations represent
words that are feminine and plural.
3) Human broken plurals
4) Non human broken plurals
5) Ism jam’a

Broken Plurals
A broken plural is a word that does not follow the normal plural ending. For example, in
English the normal plural ending is “s”. If I were teaching someone to speak English I would
tell them “To make a word plural just put ‘s’ at the end of the word.” Book becomes books,
chair becomes chairs, house becomes houses, kid becomes kids etc.

However, there are some plural words in English that do not follow the normal plural ending.
For example: tooth is teeth not tooths. Goose is geese, mouse is mice, child is children, sheep
is sheep, etc. Thus teeth, geese, mice, children and sheep are all considered broken plurals.
They do not follow the normal plural ending.

A person who does not know English vocabulary would recognize that books is a plural
because it ends in the ‘s’ sound. But they would not know that teeth is a plural because it
does not end in the expected ‘s’ sound which indicates plurals.
The same is true in Arabic.

In Arabic the normal plural endings are oona, eena, aatun and aatin. These are the plural
ending combinations from the Muslim chart. Therefore the plural of the word ٌ‫ٌمومن‬is ٌَ‫مومنون‬
and the plural for the wordٌ‫ٌمسلمة‬isٌٌ‫ مسلمات‬. These plurals have the normal plural ending.

However broken plurals do not have normal plural ending combinations from the Muslim
chart. For example, the plural of the wordٌ‫( رسول‬Messenger) isٌٌ‫(ٌرسل‬messengers). The wordٌ
ٌ‫رسل‬does not end in oona as expected, therefore it is a broken plural.

In Arabic broken plurals do not have ending combinations. They have ending sounds. only be
identified through vocabulary, otherwise they look singular.

Human Broken Plurals: Human broken plurals are broken plurals that represent groups of
intelligent beings (humans, jinns and angels). For example: ٌ‫( علماء‬scholars(ٌٌ‫ٌرسل‬
14 Arabic Intensive

(messengers) ٌ‫(ٌمألئكة‬angels). Human broken plurals can be grammatically treated as singular,

feminine or based on translation.

Non Human Broken Plurals: Non Human Broken Plurals represent non intelligent beings. eg:ٌٌ
ٌ‫(كتب‬books)ٌ‫(ٌمساجد‬masjids) ٌ‫(ٌكالب‬dogs). Non human broken plurals are generally treated as
singular, feminine.

The chart below can help you determine how plurals should be grammatically treated.
Plural in Meaning?

Broken Plural?
Treated as sing, fem or based on
Translation
Eg: ٌ‫ساء‬
َ ِ‫ ن‬,ٌ‫سل‬
ُ ‫ُر‬
Human?
Normal Plural?
Treated based on Translation
eg: ٌ‫مس ِلمات‬

Treated as sing, fem

Non-Human?
eg: ٌ‫َمساجد‬

Ism Jam’a
The ism jam’a are words that are translated as singular, but are grammatically treated as
plural because they represent groups of people. There are many in the Arabic language. In
this course we will study three of them: ٌ‫(ٌقوم‬nation),ٌ‫( ٌناس‬nation/people),ٌ‫قرن‬
(generation/century).
The words above will all be considered plural and masculine.
‫‪15‬‬ ‫‪Arabic Intensive‬‬

‫?‪What is the grammatical number of the following words? Why‬‬

‫نساءٌ‬ ‫اِنسٌ‬
‫كتبٌ‬ ‫اموالٌ‬
‫َ‬
‫ومنونٌ‬‫م‬ ‫ظا ِل َم َ‬
‫ينٌ‬
‫اَ َ‬
‫زواجٌ‬ ‫مف ِلح َ‬
‫ونٌ‬
‫يَدا‬ ‫جنةٌ‬
‫قَومٌ‬ ‫قلوبٌ‬
‫ِصيامٌ‬ ‫ِر َجالٌ‬
‫ابواباٌ‬ ‫انسانٌ‬
‫طيرٌ‬ ‫اَطفَاالٌ‬
‫اَربَابٌ‬ ‫ذ ِريةٌ‬
‫ياءٌ‬
‫ان ِب ِ‬ ‫عيسى‬
‫ظا ِل َمي‬ ‫م ِن َ‬
‫يبينٌ‬
16 Arabic Intensive

2.1.3 Properties of the Ism – Gender

In Arabic every ism is grammatically treated as either masculine or feminine. Words are
assumed to be masculine unless it can be proved that they are feminine.
Words that represent biologically feminine beings are grammatically treated as feminine. For
example: mother ٌ‫ٌام‬, sisterٌ‫اخت‬, cowٌ‫بقَ َرة‬

Some words that are not biologically feminine may be treated as feminine also. They are
called fake feminine. There are five types which we will discuss:
1. Certain word endings. Words ending in the letter ‫ٌة‬are usually feminine. Colors that end in
ٌ‫آء‬are feminine colors. Superlatives that end inٌ‫ٌى‬are also generally feminine.

Note: there are some male names that end in ‫ة‬. For example.ٌ‫ٌطلحة‬,ٌ‫ حمزة‬These names are still
masculine despite the fact that they have a ‫ٌة‬at the end. The reality precedes the ending.

2. Human body parts in pairs eg:

Lipٌ‫ شفة‬Earٌ‫ ٌأذن‬Handٌ‫ يَد‬Foot ٌ‫ ٌقَدَم‬Legٌ‫ ِرجْ ل‬Eye ٌ‫عين‬

3. Broken plurals and all non-human plurals (discussed earlier)

4. Proper names of places, egٌَ‫(ٌمكة‬Makkah), ٌ‫(ٌباكستان‬America)

5. Feminine because the Arabs said so. These are called

‫مؤنثٌسماعي‬
These words are highlighted in the following story:

These words are highlighted in the following story:

During a (war) ‫ حرب‬, a soldier was daydreaming looking at the (sky) ‫ سماء‬until the (Sun) ‫شمس‬
came up. When he snapped out of it, he realized he is the only (person) ‫ نفس‬left on the
battlefield surrounded by (fire) ‫ نار‬so he used a (bucket) ٌ‫ ٌَدلو‬full of water to make a (path) ‫سبيل‬
all the way to safer (land) ‫ارض‬

In the hot blowing (Wind) ‫ ريح‬he was desperately looking for a ( Well ) ‫ بير‬to draw water from.
In his search, he finds an empty (House) ‫ دار‬inside which he finds a (Cup) ‫ كاس‬full of (Wine) ‫خمر‬
.
He is tempted despite his fear of (Hell Fire )‫ جهنم‬to take a sip but wards off his temptation and
uses his (Stick) ‫ عصا‬to strike the drink.
17 Arabic Intensive

How are the following words treated?

18 Arabic Intensive

2.1.4 Properties of the Ism - Type

The final property of the ism is called type. Type refers to a word being common or proper.

In English these are called indefinite and definite words or generic and specific words.
Normally a word is common unless we can prove that it is proper.

There are seven kinds of proper words:

1) Words with ٌ‫ٌ(المٌالتعريف)ٌال‬eg: ‫الكتاب‬,ٌ‫المومنون‬

2) Proper names eg: ٌ‫َزيد‬

3) The one being called )‫ٌٌ(المنادى‬eg: ‫ٌيامحمد‬,ٌ‫ياٌصالح‬

4) Pronouns )‫ (ضمائر‬The English pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

5) Pointer words (‫سماءاالشارة‬

ٌْ ‫)أ‬: In English there are four: this, that, these, and those

6) Connector words (‫)اسماءٌموصوله‬

ِ such as ‫(ٌالذي‬the one who).

7) The word before “of” if the word after “of” is proper.

We will study these categories in more depth throughout the course.

Determine if the following words are common or proper? Give the number and gender
19 Arabic Intensive

Pronouns
Raf “They (m)” Raf “Both of them” Raf “He” 3rd
ٌ‫ه ْم‬ ‫ه َما‬ ٌ‫ه َو‬ Person

Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached)

ٌ‫ ه ْم‬or ‫ِه ٌْم‬ ‫ ه َما‬or ‫ٌ ِه َما‬ ٌ‫ ه‬or ‫ٌِه‬
Raf “They (f)” Raf “Both of them” Raf “She”
ٌ‫ه َّن‬ ‫هما‬ ٌ‫ي‬
َ ‫ِه‬
Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached)

ٌ‫ه َّن‬or ‫ن‬

ٌَّ ‫ٌ ِه‬ ٌ‫ ه َما‬or ‫ِه َما‬ ‫َها‬
Raf “You (m. pl)” Raf “Both of you” Raf “You (m.s)” 2nd
ٌ‫أ ْنت ْم‬ ‫أَنتما‬ ٌَ‫أ َ ْنت‬ Person

Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached)

ٌ‫ك ْم‬ ‫ك َما‬ ٌَ‫ك‬
Raf “You (f. pl)” Raf “Both of you” Raf “You (f.s)”
ٌ‫أ ْنت َّن‬ ‫أَنتما‬ ِ ‫أ َ ْن‬
ٌ‫ت‬
Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached) Nasb/Jarr (attached)
ٌ‫ك َّن‬ ‫ك َما‬ ٌ‫ِك‬
Raf “We” Raf “I” 1st
ٌ‫نَحْ ن‬ ‫أَنا‬ Person

Nasb/Jarr (attached)
‫ ي‬Jarr/‫ي‬
ٌْ ِ‫ ن‬Nasb
‫نا‬ (Both are attached)
20 Arabic Intensive

Chaper 3: Fragments ‫مركباتٌناقصة‬

Now that we’ve completed the study of individual words, we can learn how words come
together to create fragments. A fragment is more than a word but less than a complete
sentence. In Arabic there are five basic fragments that involve isms:
1. Mawsoof Sifah
2. Idaafah
3. Harf of Jarr
4. Harf of Nasb
5. Pointer word fragments

In this chapter we will study each of these fragments

21 Arabic Intensive

3.1: Fragments – Mawsoof Sifah

Noun-adjective, four properties match
The mowsoof-sifah is a noun-adjective fragment in which one ism is used to describe
another ism. For example, in English we can say a tall boy, the tall girls, the ugly duckling
etc. The words tall and ugly are the adjectives and the words boy, girls and duckling are the
nouns.
Below are the rules for the noun-adjective fragment in Arabic.
1. Mawsoof must be
a. First
b. Only one

2. Sifah
a. Has the same 4 properties as the Mawsoof
b. Is after the Mawsoof
c. May be more than one
d. Can tolerate a long distance relationship

ٌ‫قوالٌٌٌثٌَِقيال‬ A heavy word

َّ ِ‫ب ََالءٌٌم‬
ٌ‫نٌربِك ْمٌعَظِ يم‬ A great test from your lord
ٌٌ‫صٌفٌٌ َمأْكول‬
ْ َ‫َكع‬ Like eaten straw
22 Arabic Intensive

3.2 Pronouns In order to enhance our study of fragments, we should study pronouns.
Pronouns are the backbone of the Arabic language. Almost every Arabic sentence will have
a pronoun in it, and many fragments will involve pronouns.
Pronouns are isms and all isms have four properties: status, gender, number and type.
The number and gender of the pronoun are determined by meaning. For example “he” is
singular/masculine while “she” is singular/feminine.
Pronouns are always proper.
The status of a pronoun is not determined by ending sound or ending combination. The
status of a pronoun is determined by whether the pronoun is independent or attached.
Independent pronouns are always RAF. Attached pronouns can be NASB or JARR,
depending on what they are attached to.

Memorize this chart along with the pronoun meanings.

23 Arabic Intensive

Write your pronoun notes here:

1) An independent pronoun is always in the __________ status
2) An attached pronoun is nasb in two cases:
i.
ii.
3) An attached pronoun is jarr in two cases:
i.
ii.