B-1 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 3 APPENDIX B: A BRIEF JOURNEY THROUGH ARABIC GRAMMAR You will cover the basics of the following topics in this Part. 1. Subject and Predicate ----------------------- B-2 2. Masculine and Feminine Genders ---------- B-3 3. Numbers: Singular, Dual, and Plural ------ B-5 4. Adjective and its Noun ----------------------- B-6 5. The Possessive Case or Genitive ------------ B-7 6. Interrogatives --------------------------------- B-9 7. Pronouns ---------------------------------------- B-9 8. The Prepositions ------------------------------ B-12 9. Subject, Verb, and Object ------------------- B-13 10. The Tense -------------------------------------- B-14 10a. Past Tense ------------------------------ B-14 10b. Imperfect Tense ------------------------ B-17 10c. Imperative and Negative Impr ------- B-20 10d. Derived Forms of the verb ------------ B-25
B-2 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 1. Subject and Predicate » ¾ Allah is creator. Muhammad (peace be upon him, pbuh) is prophet. Tariq is Mujahid (one who struggles) The sentences like these are composed of a subject and a predicate which are called ¾ and » in Arabic. To translate such sentences into Arabic, just put Tanveen ( Æ- ) on each of these words (in case they are singular masculine). Tanveen ( Æ- ) is also known as double pesh or double dhammah. Allah is creator. ê ó»é È Muhammad (pbuh) is Prophet. Ž û¾ ø Tariq is a Mujahid. ¾ ÿ Æ¼Ê Š ************************ Vocabulary for Lesson No. 1 ************************ creator ê ó» prophet one who struggles Ž û ¾ ÿ ª big mg. slave ZŽ Šï ¾ ß pious ó Ï truthful Æ¼Ê Ï religion úê one scholar ¾ È ö ó ß ======================= Exercises for Lesson No. 1 ======================= Using the words and their meanings given above, translate the following sentences into English. The translation is also provided to help you check answers. The is big. The slave is pious. ZŽ Šïª óè ó Ͼ à ó The Muslim is truthful. Æ¼Ê Ïö ôèø óè Islam is a religion. Allah is one. Javeed is a scholar úê É ŠôÇ óè ¾ ÈÂÉ È ö ó ߾ʠ³
2. Masculine and Feminine Genders ûš ÈÂÂMïŠÀ B-3 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar You must have heard the Arabic names, for e.g., ˆò ø³ for a boy and ˆ Šô ø³ for a girl. There lies the rule. Just put at the end of a masculine (singular) word to make it feminine (singular). For example, ˆ ïè ïè ˆ ó Ï ó Ï Æ ¾ Ë È ¾ Ë È ˆ ü š ú š Æ ¾ Ž ß ¾ Ž ß ¾ ó» ¾ ó» Notes: 1. Arabic has two genders, i.e., masculine gender and feminine gender. There is no common gender in Arabic. 2. A common sign of a feminine word is (in general) as the last letter of the word. 3. To make a specific reference, we put Ì¾È in front of a common noun in Arabic just as we put "the" in front of a common noun in English. When Ì¾È is attached to an Arabic word, we remove one of É (dhamma or pesh) from the two example, Æ (Tanveen or double pesh). For É¾Ç Â óè ƾÇÈ ÉÀŠ Èû óè ÆÀ ÈûÊ ¾ø óè ¾ ø 4. Occasionally, the prefix Ì¾È is used to imply generality also. For e.g., À Èû óè (the human being). 5. If the ¾º (subject) is feminine, then its  º» (predicate) will also be feminine. For example, ó ÏÉ Š óè ˆ ó ÏN Œ óè Additional rules for making feminine gender of dual and plural nouns are given in the following lesson.
B-4 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar ************************ Vocabulary for Lesson No. 2 ************************ mg. small fg. small mg. big fg. big mg. intelligent Z äï Æ Z äï ZŽ Šï Æ ZŽ Šï ïè uncle (father's brother) ö ß aunt (father's sister) ˆ ø ß uncle (mother's brother) ƾ» aunt (mother's sister) ˆ Šó» mg. truthful brother mg. worshipper fg. worshipper Æ¼Ê Ï Æ È ¾ Ž ß Æ ¾ Ž ß mg. beautiful fg. beautiful son ˆò ø³ ˆ Šô ø³ ú Ê daughter ª ü Ž father mother sister Æ È K É ª»É ======================= Exercises for Lesson No. 2 ======================= Find out the masculine and feminine words in the following sentences and translate them into English. The translation is also provided to help you check answers. The son is beautiful. ˆò ø³ú óè The daughter is beautiful.ˆ Šô ø³ªüž óè The father is pious. The mother is pious. The uncle is big. The aunt is big. ó ÏÉ Š óè ˆ ó ÏN Œ óè ZŽ Šïö à óè Æ ZŽ ŠïŒ øà óè The brother is intelligent. The sister is intelligent. The uncle is truthful. The aunt is truthful. The son is small. The daughter is small. ï É Š óè ˆ ïè ª» Œ óè Æ¼Ê Ïɾ ¼ óè ˆ ŠëÊ ÏŒ Šó ¼ óè Z äïú Žœ óè Æ Z äïªüž óè
B-5 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 3. Numbers: Singular, Dual and Plural Þø³ Žü «¾ È There are specific rules in Arabic for making singular, dual, and plural forms of a word. (Yes, dual is a separate and distinct Number in Arabic). There are two types of plurals in Arabic. Solid Plural (ö ó ºÇÞf ) and Broken Plural ( ZÊÈ ð«þf ). The plural form depends upon the context in which it is used, as shown below (for the Solid Plural case only): 'Aaraab forms Plural Dual Singular Gender mg. Œç with Dhamma ( É- ); ÈÀø ôè ÊÀ ø ôè ö ôè when used as subject Ç ø ôè ÊÀ ø ôè ˆ ø ôè fg. Ð ü with Fatha (È- ); Ž[ ø ôè Žú ø ôè ö ôè mg. when used as object Ç ø ôè Žú ø ôè ø ôè fg. Ì with Kasra ( Ê- ); Ž[ ø ôè Žú ø ôè ö ôè mg. when the noun is used with preposition Ç ø ôè Žú ø ôè ø ôè fg. ******************* Vocabulary & Exercises for Lesson No. 3 ******************* Try to practice the rules of making dual and plural by reproducing the above table for the following words (both for masculine and feminine case): hypocrite ê ç ü believer ú š disbeliever Â ç Šï patient  Ž Ï helper Â Ï û worshipper ¾ Ž ß scholar ö ó ß one who struggles ¾ ÿ one who  ï È remembers pious ó Ï killer ˆò «Šë truthful Æ¼Ê Ï protector ˆÚ ç one who prostrates ¾ Ž³ Ç prophet Ž û
4. Adjective and its Noun»Ï  Šè Ï Look at the following phrases and their translations: B-6 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar a true Muslim a small book a big mosque Æ¼Ê Ïö ô È Z äïæ ï ZŽ Šï¾ Ž È a pious person a trustworthy uncle a beautiful ó ψò ³È [ È Æ¾» ˆò ø³ª These phrases are said to be composed of ººŠè Ï (adjective) and»ï (the noun of the adjective). To translate these into Arabic, just reverse the order of the words (Muslim ö ôè and then true ¼Ê ºÏ ) and put tanveen ( Æ ) on each of them. The tanveen could be Å or Ç or Æ depending upon the context in which this phrase is used. The rules are similar to those of ¾ -» (subject and predicate) except that in case of Šè Ï»Ï Â : 1: The order of the words is reversed; and 2: If the first word is attached with ̾È, then the second will also have Ì¾È attached to it. For e.g., using the same phrases given above, we will have: the true Muslim the small book the big mosque É¼Ê Ð ó ö ôèø óè Z äð ó É ð óè ZŽ Šð ó ¾ Ž Èø óè the pious person the trustworthy uncle the beautiful ó Ð ó Œò ³  óè [ Š ó ɾ ¼ óè Œò ø ó ª óè And remember, as in case of ¾ -» (subject and predicate), if the first word is feminine, the second should also be feminine. Further, if the first word is dual or plural, the second should also be dual or plural in number, i.e, the two words should agree in gender and number with respect to each other. For example: the true Muslim man the true Muslim men É¼Ê Ð ó ö ôèø óè ÈÀŒëÊ Ð ó ÈÀø ôèø óè the true Muslim woman the true Muslim women Œ ŠëÊ Ð ó Œ ø ôèø óè É ŠëÊ Ð ó É ø ôèø óè
B-7 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar ==================== Exercises for Lesson No. 4 ==================== Try to translate the following sentences and phrases. Notice the difference in Arabic construction for a simple sentence ( »È ¾ ) and for adjective and its noun (»Ï È Šè Ï ). The is big. ZŽ Šïª óè the big ZŽ Šð ó ª óè The slave is the pious slave ó Ͼ à óè pious. ó Ðó ¾ à óè The Muslim is the truthful Æ¼Ê Ïö ôèø óè truthful. Muslim É¼Ê Ðó ö ôèø óè The path is the straight path ö ì È É ÂÐóÈ straight. ö ì Èø ó É ÂÐóÈ The uncle is the pious uncle ó Ï öà óè pious. ó Ðó öàóè The aunt is pious. ˆ ó ÏŒ Šó ¼ óè the pious aunt Œ ó Ðó Œ Šó ¼ óè 5. The Possessive Case or Genitive þšó» Ô Â» Ô Look at the following phrases and their translations: Notes: the creation of Allah the nation of Hud Ê ê ô» Ç ÿé Šë the of Allah the call of the prophet Ê ª Ê¾Ç Âó É ßÈ the command of the Qur'an ÊÀ ÂŒì ó ö ð the creation of Allah Ê ê ô» 1. To convey the meanings of "of," we place Dhammah or pesh ( É- ) on the first word and double kasra ( Ç- ) on the second word. 2. As usual, if the second word has ¾È attached with it, then instead of double kasra ( Ç- ), we will have single kasra ( Ê- ) on the second word. 3. The first noun êº ô» in the sentence Ê ê ô» is called» Ô. The second noun Ê is called þó» Ô, which should always be a proper noun.
B-8 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 4. In Arabic the construction of» Ô and þó» Ô automatically takes care of the " 's " or "of" (Allah's creation OR the creation of Allah) as shown in the above examples. 5. The construction of» ººÔ and þó» Ô automatically implies specific person or thing. Therefore, 'the' is always added in English translation of this phrase. *********************** Vocabulary for Lesson No. 5 *********************** grance rebellion the people ˆò Ô Šç ÆÀ äœ É² üóè Æ È hereafter Æ Â» food sinner Æ àš ö È day judgement to establish the prayer to obey parents earth Æ úê ˆ ŠëÊ É ŠôÐóÈ ˆ ß Š Ê Žú ¾ ó ÊÂ ÆµÌ È words way, system messenger doubt Æ ŠôŠï ˆ ü Ç Æ¾ ÇÈ È human being ÆÀ ÈûÊ remembrance  ïê the most beneficent úø È ======================= Exercises for Lesson No. 5 ======================= Translate the following into English. The translation is also provided to help you check answers. the establishment of the words of Allah Ê ŠôÐó Œ ŠëÊ prayer Ê É ŠôŠï the obedience to the book of Allah Žú ¾ ó ó Œ ß Š Ê parents Ê É Š ï the earth of Allah the way of the Ê ÉµÌ È messenger Ê¾Ç Âó Œ ü Ç the rebellion of the the doubt of the ʲ üó ÉÀ äœ people human being ÊÀ ÈûŽœ ó È the of the the remembrance of Ê Â» ó É È hereafter the most Beneficent. úø Âó  ïê the food of the the grace of Allah Žö Š ó É àš sinner Ê Œò Ô Šç the of Hamid the day of judgement ¾ ª Žú¾ó É
B-9 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 6. Interrogatives è Ç Â When Where U ú È Who What ú È Why È ø ó Which (masculine) NÄÈ How much, How many öšï Which (feminine) ˆ È Is? Am? Are? Do? È òÿ How æšï Have? 7. Pronouns  Ÿ øó Relative Pronoun ¾Ïø ó öçê 7a. Relative Pronouns Demonstrative Pronoun È Ë ó öçê (The one) who Ä ÀMóÈ That î ó This Àÿ sr. (The two) who (Those) who ÊÀ ŠÀMóÈ ú ÀMóÈ Those (two) îžû Those (more than two) î óâé Number Gender These (two) ÊÀ ŠÀÿ dl. mg. These (more than two) (The one) who MóÈ That î ô «This ÊÁ Àÿ sr. (The two) who (Those) who ÊÀ MóÈ «MóÈ Those (two) Those (more than two) îžû «î óâé šÿ pl. These (two) ÊÀ «ÿ dl. fg. These (more than two) šÿ pl.
B-10 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar his book their Examples on pronouns 7b. Personal and Possessive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Personal Pronouns No. þ Šï his Á he ÿ sr. ø their (of two) øÿ they two øÿ dl. mg. their belief ö û {Ê their öÿ they öÿ pl. Gender Person her mother É her ÿ she ÿ sr. person ø øÿ their their (of two) they two øÿ dl. fg. their ú their úÿ they úÿ pl. book î ï Ƚ you ªûÈ sr. øœð messenger (of two) øœï you two ø ûè dl. mg. öœðœóçè you öœï you all ö ûè pl 2 nd î ʽ you ªûÈ sr. person book øœð ï (of øœï you ø ûè dl. fg. two two) úœð úœï you all ú ûè pl. my book gave me rizq Ž ï ŽüŠë±È my me Ä Žû our book ü ï our û we ú û I ûè sr. dl., pl. mg. fg. mg., fg. 3rd 1st person NOTE: Memorize these pronouns thoroughly because they occur quite often in the Qur'an.
B-11 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar ************************ Vocabulary for Lesson No. 7 ************************ Companions Æ ÏÈ hearing Þ ø Ç and È Shop ÆÀ MïÉ from ú son ú relatives I helped Sustainer, Lord ˆò ÿè É ÂÐû K È for Verily tongue Ⱦ ʾ MÀÊ À È ó ======================= Exercises for Lesson No. 7 ======================= He is a Muslim. I am a believer. tongue my son I helped him from you towards us towards them (males) from you our Lord Lord our messenger ö ô È ÿ ú š ûè ö Œð û È ó Žü Ê þ«âðû î ü üóê öž ŠóÊ î ü ü È öœð È üœóçè You are a scholar. She is righteous. for him towards me towards them (females) for us verily you (males) hearing verily we my for them my relatives ö ó ߪûÈ ˆ ó Ï ÿ þšó ŠóÊ ú Ž ŠóÊ üšó öœðûê ö Œð à ø Ç üûê ø Šó ô ÿè
B-12 Appendix B: Arabic Grammar 8. The Preposition ³»Â Prepositions in ç from ú on like about Šôß È½ úß with Ê for towards until ʾ ŠóÊ by (of oath) È Examples of Prepositions / usage in a We read from the Qur'an. on a mountain like a man ª ç ÊÀ ÂŒì ó ú ûì Šë ò ³Šôß ò ³ÂŠï I heard ¾ Ž Èø ó çê ŠôÐó Žú ߪ à øç about Prayer in the Masjid I enetered with security for people towards a city Ç ŠôÈŽ ª ô»è ʲ üô ó ¾ Šô ŠóÊ until the day-break ŽÂ Šè ó ŽÞŠô Ø By Allah Ê È Rules of using Prepositions: 1. These words are used as connectors. 2. When these words are used with a proper noun, then a double kasrah ( -Ç ), is placed on the last letter of word (or a single kasra, -Ê in case ¾È is attached with it).