Free Arabic Lessons : Lesson 1

Learning Arabic Grammar from the basics Lesson 1: Parts of Speech In English language there are 8 Parts of Speech namely:  Noun  Pronoun  Verb  Adjective  Adverb  Preposition  Conjunction  InterjectionThe Arabic language is made up of ٌتﺎَﻤِﻠَآ (words) and these words are of 3 types i.e. In Arabic language there are 3 Parts of Speech, but these three Parts encompass all eight Parts of Speech of the English Language. They are known as: ٌفْﺮَﺣ -Particle/Letter ٌﻞْﻌِﻓ -Action/Verb ٌﻢْﺳِا -Noun  Preposition  Conjunction Example: -ﻰﻟِإ (ila) meaning “to” ﻲﻓ -(fee) meaning “in” َو -(wa) meaning “and”  Verb (same as in English) Example: -َﺐَهَذ (duhaba) meaning “to go/went”  Noun  Pronoun  Adjective  Adverb  Interjection Example: -ٌﺖْﻴَﺑ (baytu-n) meaning “a house” Note: More examples will be given as we move on and learn each of the parts of speech separately Insha’Allah. As of now in the beginning, we will be focusing on Nouns and Particles and not Verbs. 3 Cases of Nouns in Arabic Arabic nouns have three cases: 1) Nominative Case: ٌعْﻮُﻓْﺮَﻣ (marfoo’). Generally indicated by a dhammah or dhammataan on the last letter -This is the normal case of nouns Example: ُﺖْﻴَﺒْﻟا /ٌﺖْﻴَﺑ (al-baitu /baitu-n) 2) Accusative Case: ٌبْﻮُﺼْﻨَﻣ (mansoob). Generally indicated by a fatha or fathataan on the last letter. Example: َﺖْﻴَﺒْﻟا /ًﺎﺘْﻴَﺑ (al-baita /baita-n) 3) Genitive Case: ٌرْوُﺮْﺠَﻣ (majroor). Generally indicated by a khasrah or khasrataan on the last letter. Example: ِﺖْﻴَﺒْﻟا /ٍﺖْﻴَﺑ (al-baiti /baiti-n) Vocabulary  ﺎَﻧأ (ana) which means "I"  ُﻦْﺤَﻧ (nahnu) which means "We"  ٌﺖْﻴَﺑ (baytu-n) which means “A House /home”  ٌتﻮُﻴُﺑ (buyootu-n) which means “Houses /homes” Note: Learn the Vocabulary before proceeding further. Arabic nouns are either definite or indefinite. The Indefinite Particle ٌةَﺮِﻜَﻧ ٌفْﺮَﺣ There is no word in Arabic corresponding to “a” in English as in “A book”. Indefinite nouns are indicated by doubling the last vowel of the noun tanween (nunation) (ٌ ) , which is generally translated as 'a/an'. It is equivalent to adding an “n” to the last vowel of the noun. Example : A House – ٌﺖْﻴَﺑ (Baytu-n) Preposition: ﻲﻓ -(fee) In Arabic prepositions are called (harfu jarr) ﱢﺮَﺠْﻟا ُفْﺮَﺣ The Most commonly used word in Arabic is the preposition “Fee” ﻲﻓ, although it has many translations depending on context, the most common translation is 'in'. Important Point to Note: A noun which appears after a preposition will be in the Genitive Case i.e; Prepositions like “fee”, “min” etc changes the state of the noun to the Genitive case ٌرْوُﺮْﺠَﻣ (majroor), meaning the dhammah on the last letter of the noun changes into kasrah/kasrataan. Example: When we write fee before baitu-n, it will become ٍﺖْﻴَﺑ ْﻲِﻓ “fee baiti-n” and NOT ٌﺖْﻴَﺑ ْﻲِﻓ “fee baitu-n”. The dhammahtaan at the end changes to a khasrataan. In a similar way, “Fee Buyutun” becomes “Fee Buyutin”. Example from the Qur’an: (…ُﻪﱠﻠﻟٱ َنِذَأ ٍتﻮُﻴُﺑ ﻰِﻓ) (Fee Buyutin 'Adhina Allahu…) “In houses which Allah has ordered…” [Qur’an 24:36] Note: It is not “Fee Buyutun” but “Fee Buyutin” because of the presence of the Preposition “Fee” which changes the case of the noun into a Genitive one. The Verb “to be” i.e. “is/are/am” The Arabic verb 'to be' in its present tense "is/are/am" is not written in Arabic, rather it is understood to be there by default. Example: ٍﺖْﻴَﺑ ْﻲِﻓ ﺎَﻧأ ”Ana fee baytin”, though it literally means “I in a house”, but it would mean – “I am in a house” Similarly, ٍتﻮُﻴُﺑ ﻰِﻓ ُﻦْﺤَﻧ “Nahnu fee buyutin” meaning “We are in houses” ٍﺖْﻴَﺑ ﻰِﻓ ُﻦْﺤَﻧ “Nahnu fee baytin” meaning “We are in a house” ٌﺪِﻟﺎﺧ ﺎﻧأ “Ana Khaalid” meaning “I am Khaalid” Note: ٍتﻮُﻴُﺑ ﻰِﻓ ﺎَﻧأ “Ana fee buyutin” meaning “I am in houses” is wrong grammatically both from the English as well as Arabic perspective, as this sentence doesn’t make any sense. One cannot be at many houses at a time.