The Grammar of al-Kitaab

1- The definite article ....

A book

The teacher
Literature

2- The nisbah adjective : it is the class of adjectives formed from nouns by adding the suffix for
or for . These nisbah adjectives generally indicate origin or affiliation.
Follow the following rules to form a nisbah:
a- Remove and final ( alif) or , if any,
b- Then, add / to form the nisbah:
/ =
--------- / = ----------
/ = ---------

/ = ----------
3- : is used, which has no English equivalent, for yes/no questions: Are you a student?
4- Plural:
A- Human plural:
a- Masculine plural: the plural form of singular masculine nouns can be either regular or
irregular: You have to learn which plural form a masculine singular noun takes.
ISound/regular masculine plural: add / to the singular noun: / :
IIBroken/irregular masculine plural: You just have to memorize which ones are:
= = =
b- Feminine plural: This plural can be formed by dropping and adding : =
with some exceptions: = =
B- Nonhuman plural:
a- Regular: by following the same rule for the feminine plural: =
b- Irregular/broken: You just have to memorize which ones are: = =
Note: the essential agreement rule of non-human plurals in formal Arabic is that they are
treated as if they were a single group, and thus take feminine singular agreement:

5- Sentences in Arabic, unlike English, can be either nominal or verbal, depending on which one (noun
or a verb) the sentence begins with:
- Nominal/noun sentences consist of two indispensable parts: 1: subject + 2:
predicate. Noun sentences should keep this order at all times with some exception.
The subject could be either a definite noun (noun phrase) or a pronoun:

The predicate could be either a an indefinite noun: or an adjective:
or a verb: or a prepositional phrase: /
In this type of sentences, nouns and adjectives should agree in number and gender:
.
6- ( the possessive relationship of one or more noun to another consequently/the of
construction):
- There are three rules to form idafa:
1

7-

89-

1011-

IAll the words involved MUST be nouns:

( NOT an idafa)
IIThe NOUNS have to be SUCCESSIVE:
( NOT an idafa)
IIIAll non-final nouns in idafas CANNOT have the definite article : ( NOT an idafa)
- Note: in all non-final nouns in an idafa MUST always be pronounced:
the present tense:

verbal sentences: they, unlike noun sentences, begin with a verb:

Indirect questions in Arabic: unlike English, Arabic retains the same word order for both direct and
indirect questions:
How do I write his name? and I dont know how I can write his name. have the same structure in
Arabic:
.

Adverbs: you can form adverbs by adding with on top to both nouns and adjectives:
= +
= + = + = +
Noun-adjective phrases: in such phrases, nouns and adjectives MUST be completely definite or
completely indefinite. A noun and adjective that do not agree in definiteness constitute a complete
sentence.


A complete
Indefinite nounDefinite noun-
sentence
adjective phrase
adjective
phrase

12- The demonstrative and : to correctly use this structure, model on the following:
...
This is the city.
This city
This is a city.

13- the gerund (the verbal noun): the masdars of three-letter verbs are arbitrary and irregular.
However, all masdaadir (plural of )must take except when they are not the last noun of an
idafa:

14- To give reasons or to answer a why questions, you can use either:
in order to
/ + -1
. /
because of
)followed by a definite noun( -2
.
because + -3
: is used to give an explanation that requires a full sentence; it MUST be followed by a noun sentence;
the word following MUST be either noun or an object pronoun attached to :
. . .
15- Fronted predicate and delayed subject: This happens when the subject is indefinite and the
predicate is a prepositional phrase; this is used to express the concept to have and the English

16-

17181920-

22-

construction there is/there are. The prepositional phrase indicating possession is expressed with
or or the word there: the predicate (prep phrase) is underlined:
.
When describing the possession of places and institutions, DONT use , which refers to people.
Instead, use for physical possessions:
and for abstract ones:
: is conjugated only when it means was/were, otherwise it is used as an impersonal fixed
form to help with the past of noun sentences:
.
How many : this MUST be followed an indefinite singular noun with the ending :
the dual: the number two is not used to count objects. However,
/
are used instead:
(exception) / =
. / =
=
/

How much : is used to ask about prices: .

.
the past:

21- the root and the pattern: the root is usually the three-letter word from which other
patterns can be formed:
: --- :

Negation of noun sentences in the present: Use at the beginning of the sentence with no
conjugation, unless it negates the personal pronouns :

23- Negation of noun sentences in the past ( sentences) : Use at the beginning of the sentence:
.
24- When is used with or , it takes a form called ( the subjunctive):








- Remember that (before) and (after) MUST be followed by either or
+ :
/ /
25- object (of verbs) pronouns:
:
:
:

:

:
:
:
:

26- : is the form of present used as the basic/default in most cases, unless otherwise
preceded by a particle such as:
:









27- the adjective sentence: it is the sentence that follows directly an indefinite noun and that
has a pronoun that refers directly back to that noun which it modifies.
- Noun underlined, adjective sentence in bold, pronoun in highlight:
. . .

28- Quantifiers:
) .... (
No one, none (of)
All the
plural +
Every, each
indefinite singular +
Several
indefinite plural +
...
Most of
....
Many/much of
....
Few/little of
... ()
Some of
29- the superlative: is formed from the adjective by putting its into the wazn :
- Remember that the superlative adjectives are fixed in form and dont take :
- The superlatives and take special forms.
30- future: is formed by adding or to the present verb:
31- Whenever a verb precedes a subject, the verb MUST always be singular, regardless of number:
.
32- negating the past: + :








33- :

Occurs after:

Occurs after:
Occurs after:

- The basic/default case

- /

34- : use that after verbs to report information and opinions:

Ahmad thinks that history is interesting.
.
35- still: the concept is a verb in Arabic and thus must be conjugated for person:

36- In the noun sentence, the subject and the predicate are reversed when the subject is indefinite. This
kind of sentence is often used in describing spatial relationships as well as possession and
association: . This is negated with preceding the predicate, and made in the
past with : , and made in the future with :
37- Indefinite idafa: When the last noun in an idafa is indefinite, you have an indefinite idafa:
38- : verb patterns:

(varies)

/ /

/ /

I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X

39- relative pronouns: these pronouns ( )are used to form sentence that
modify definite nouns, unlike ( the adjective sentences) that follow and modify indefinite
nouns: .
40- what/whatever and who/whoever also function as relative pronouns meaning and
; they tend to be used when the speaker wants to be general, not specific or specific
entities:
. !
41- negation particles:

+
+
+
+
Agrees with subject

Negates

Particle

42- conditionals: is the most commonly used conditional particle; it is used for true
conditionals. must be followed by , and the result clause (if then) following is
usually introduced by :
. .
introduces a condition that is untrue or impossible to fulfill, such as If I were you The result
clause is introduced by , and both clauses must be in : .
may take a verb either in or , it tends to be more formal than , used in
proverbs and expressions:
.
43- : can give either a superlative or a comparative meaning depending on how it is used
grammatically. remains fixed in form (no gender or number agreement).
A- is used in the superlative when it precedes the noun:
.
B- is used in the comparative when it follows the noun it modifies:
.
5

 : . is used to compare two entities, its followed by Sometimes when

should be followed by an adjective. This construction is used for : ( ...) 44-
statements that are accepted without argument; phrased in an impersonal way to make it more
authoritative:

respectively: . and To shift the tense to past or future, use
: , , (= ) To negate these expressions, use
-

.
; : These two forms are transitive ones that take the meaning of the basic wazn and 45-
: tends to be used more in , while tends to be more prevalent in
/
: 46-

()

()

()

()

()definite

()indefinite

: I-the object of a preposition: 47-

.
II- All non-initial nouns in an idafa: .

(kasrah), even if they are indefinite: - All non-final nouns in an idafa take one

(verb sentence): . : I- the subject in 48-

(noun sent): II- the subject and predicate (noun/adj) in
6

: I- the direct object of a verb: 49-

.
-
II- adverbs:
- - .
Note: the adjectives modifying the nouns and following nouns joined by conjunctions should follow
the noun in question in case:
.
: : it is almost always a simple passive of 50-
: : : it is a reflexive form (to do with oneself): .
: : .