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Introduction to the Arabic

sentence

Types of sentences
Subject and predicate
Negation

Types of sentences
In traditional Arabic grammar, there are two basic types of
sentence, based on what the sentence's first word is.

1. ‫( ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ ﺍﻻﺳﻤﻴﺔ‬al-jumla l-ismiyya) - the nominal sentence,


where the sentence's first word is a noun.

.‫( ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻣﺼﺮﻱ‬al-walad miSri) - The boy is Egyptian.

2. ‫( ﺍﻟﺠﻤﻠﺔ ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻠﻴﺔ‬al-jumla l-fi3liyya) - the verbal sentence,


where the sentence's first word is a verb.

.‫( ﻭﻟﺪ ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺼﺮ‬wulida l-walad fi miSr) - The boy was


born in Egypt.

Those categories are different from the ones used in many


Arabic classes in the West, where sentences are classified
simply according to whether or not they include a verb —
regardless of where the verb is in the sentence.

1. Equational sentence - a sentence without a verb.

.‫( ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻣﺼﺮﻱ‬al-walad miSri) - The boy is Egyptian.


Although this sentence contains a verb in English, it
doesn't in Arabic. Remember that since Arabic doesn't
use a present-tense form of "to be," this is a verbless

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sentence consisting only of a noun and adjective. It
literally translates as "The boy Egyptian"; the "is" is
understood.

.‫( ﻓﻲ ﺃﺳﺮﺗﻲ ﺛﻼﺛﺔ ﺃﻓﺮﺍﺩ‬fi usrati talaatat afraad) - There are


three people in my family.
Again, the English translation contains a verb ("are"),
but the original Arabic doesn't. It literally translates as
"In my family three individuals." Since there's no
present-tense form of "to be," "In my family [are] three
individuals" is implied.

2. Verbal sentence - a sentence with a verb.

.‫( ﻭﻟﺪ ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺼﺮ‬wulida l-walad fi miSr) - The boy was


born in Egypt.

Subject and predicate


Now let's look at the parts of these sentences.

The subject (‫ ﺍﻟﻤﺒﺘﺪﺍء‬al-mubtada') is what the sentence is


talking about. It could be a noun (the boy; Cairo;
Ahmed), pronoun (I; he; they), or noun phrase (the
math teacher; a long book).
The predicate (‫ ﺍﻟﺨﺒﺮ‬al-xabar) tells us something about
the subject. The Arabic ‫ ﺧﺒﺮ‬means a piece of news, so you
can think of the predicate as delivering news about the
subject. It may be an adjective (happy), verb (woke up),
or noun (student).

Here are some simple examples. The subject is in bold, and


the predicate is underlined.

.‫( ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻣﺼﺮﻱ‬al-walad miSri)

The boy is Egyptian. - The subject is a noun, and the


predicate is an adjective.

.‫( ﺑﻨﺖ ﻋﻤﻲ ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬bint 3ammi mudarrisa)

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My cousin is a teacher. - The subject is a noun phrase (a
genitive construction), and the predicate is a noun.

.‫( ﻫﻮ ﻁﻮﻳﻞ‬howwa Tawiil)

He is tall. - The subject is a pronoun, and the predicate is an


adjective.

.‫( ﺧﺮﺟﺖ ﻣﻨﺎﻝ ﻣﺒﻜﺮﺍ‬xarajat Manaal mubakkiran)

Manal went out early. - The subject is a (proper) noun, and


the predicate is a verb paired with an adverb.

Note: In sentences with a verb, standard Arabic usually


follows a Verb-Subject-Object order, though sometimes it
uses a Subject-Verb-Object order. The Egyptian dialect pretty
much always follows a Subject-Verb-Object order.

Manal went out early.


‫( ﺧﺮﺟﺖ ﻣﻨﺎﻝ ﻣﺒﻜﺮﺍ‬xarajat Manaal ‫( ﻣﻨﺎﻝ ﺧﺮﺟﺖ ﺑﺪﺭﻱ‬Manaal
mubakkiran) xargit badri)

The boy ate an apple.


‫( ﺃﻛﻞ ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﺗﻔﺎﺣﺔ‬akala l-waladu ‫( ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ ﻛﻞ ﺗﻔﺎﺣﺔ‬il-walad kal
tuffaaHatan) tuffaaHa)

Negation
Now, how do we negate these sentences? Negating a sentence
with a verb is simple; you just negate the verb. (To learn how
to negate a verb in Egyptian Arabic, go here.) Negating a
sentence without a verb, however, requires a different — but
still quite simple — approach. In standard Arabic, you simply
insert ‫( ﻟﻴﺲ‬laysa), conjugated to match the noun. Here are the
conjugations of ‫ﻟﻴﺲ‬:

‫( ﻟﻴﺲ‬to not be)


English Standard Arabic
I am not (lastu) ُ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬
Singular
you (masc.) are not (lasta) ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬
َ

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you (fem.) are not (lasti) ‫ﺖ‬
ِ ‫ﻟﺴ‬
he is not (laysa) ‫ﻟﻴﺲ‬
she is not (laysat) ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ‬
we are not (lasna) ‫ﻟﺴﻨﺎ‬
you are not (lastuma) ‫ﻟﺴﺘﻤﺎ‬
Dual
they (masc.) are not (laysaa) ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺎ‬
they (fem.) are not (laysataa) ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺘﺎ‬
we are not (lasna) ‫ﻟﺴﻨﺎ‬
you (masc.) are not (lastum) ‫ﻟﺴﺘﻢ‬
Plural you (fem.) are not (lastunna) ‫ﻟﺴﺘﻦ‬
they (masc.) are not (laysuu) ‫ﻟﻴﺴﻮﺍ‬
they (fem.) are not (lasna) ‫ﻟﺴﻦ‬

Here are examples of negated verbless sentences in standard


Arabic:

‫( ﺃﻧﺎ ﻟﺴﺖ ﻟﺒﻨﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ana lastu


‫( ﺃﻧﺎ ﻟﺒﻨﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ana lubnaaniyya)
lubnaaniyya)
I am Lebanese. I am not Lebanese.

‫( ﺑﻨﺖ ﻋﻤﻲ ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬bint 3ammi ‫( ﺑﻨﺖ ﻋﻤﻲ ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬bint 3ammi


mudarrisa) laysat mudarrisa)
My cousin is a teacher. My cousin is not a teacher.

‫( ﻫﻮ ﻁﻮﻳﻞ‬howwa Tawiil) ‫( ﻫﻮ ﻟﻴﺲ ﻁﻮﻳﻞ‬howwa laysa Tawiil)


He is tall. He is not tall.

‫( ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻼﺯﻡ ﺃﻥ ﺗﺼﺤﻮ ﻣﺒﻜﺮﺍ‬min al- ‫( ﻟﻴﺲ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﻼﺯﻡ ﺃﻥ ﺗﺼﺤﻮ ﻣﺒﻜﺮﺍ‬laysa


laazim an taSHu min al-laazim an taSHu
mubakkiran) mubakkiran)
You don't need to wake up
You need to wake up early.
early.

‫( ﻫﻨﺎﻙ ﺧﻴﺎﺭ ﺁﺧﺮ‬honaaka xiyaar ‫( ﻟﻴﺲ ﻫﻨﺎﻙ ﺧﻴﺎﺭ ﺁﺧﺮ‬laysa honaaka


aaxar) xiyaar aaxar)
There is another choice. There is no other choice.

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‫( ﻟﺪﻳﻬﺎ ﺧﺒﺮﺓ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﻝ‬ladayha ‫( ﻟﻴﺲ ﻟﺪﻳﻬﺎ ﺧﺒﺮﺓ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﻝ‬laysa
xibra fi haada l-majaal) ladayha xibra fi haada l-majaal)
She has experience in this She doesn't have experience in
field. this field.

To negate verbless sentences in Egyptian Arabic, you insert


‫( ﻣﺶ‬miš) between the subject and predicate.

‫( ﺃﻧﺎ ﻟﺒﻨﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ana libnaniyya) ‫( ﺃﻧﺎ ﻣﺶ ﻟﺒﻨﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ana miš libnaniyya)


I am Lebanese. I am not Lebanese.

‫( ﺑﻨﺖ ﻋﻤﻲ ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬bint 3ammi ‫( ﺑﻨﺖ ﻋﻤﻲ ﻣﺶ ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬bint 3ammi miš


mudarrisa) mudarrisa)
My cousin is a teacher. My cousin is not a teacher.

‫( ﻫﻮ ﻁﻮﻳﻞ‬howwa Tawiil) ‫( ﻫﻮ ﻣﺶ ﻁﻮﻳﻞ‬howwa miš Tawiil)


He is tall. He is not tall.

‫( ﻻﺯﻡ ﺗﺼﺤﻰ ﺑﺪﺭﻱ‬laazim tiSHa ‫( ﻣﺶ ﻻﺯﻡ ﺗﺼﺤﻰ ﺑﺪﺭﻱ‬miš laazim


badri) tiSHa badri)
You need to wake up early. You don't need to wake up early.

‫( ﻣﺎﻓﻴﺶ ﺧﻴﺎﺭ ﺗﺎﻧﻲ‬mafiiš xiyaar


‫( ﻓﻲ ﺧﻴﺎﺭ ﺗﺎﻧﻲ‬fii xiyaar taani)
taani)*
There is another choice. There is no other choice.

‫ﻋﻨﺪﻫﺎ ﺧﺒﺮﺓ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﻝ ﺩﻩ‬ ‫ﻣﺎﻋﻨﺪﻫﺎﺵ ﺧﺒﺮﺓ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﺎﻝ ﺩﻩ‬


(3andaha xibra fil-magaal (ma3andahaaš xibra fil-magaal
da) da)*
She has experience in this She doesn't have experience in
field. this field.

* Note: In Egyptian Arabic, if a verbless sentence contains an


inverted predicate (that is, where the predicate comes before
the subject instead of after) consisting of either ‫ﻓﻲ‬, "there is,"
or a preposition and pronoun suffix, like ‫ﻋﻨﺪﻫﺎ‬, then the
predicate is negated with the ‫ـﺶ‬...‫( ﻣﺎ‬ma...š) form.

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