Learn Arabic in Hundred Step- Arabic Grammar
34. Verb-Subject Agreement
34. Verb-Subject Agreement. A verb that proceeds its subject is marked by gender only. If it follows its subject it should be marked by both number and gender.
The students (f) went to the dorm.ذهبتِ الطالباتُ الی السکن ِ.
The students (f) went to the dorm. الطالباتُ ذهبنَ الی السکن ِ.
35. A Transitive Verb (a) requires an object; intransitive (b) does not.
a. I ate an apple. أکلتُ تُفاحة ً.
b. I went to the university. ذهبتُ إلی الجامعةِ.
36. Helping Vowels replace the Zero Vowel when the following word starts with Hamza. Therefore, an environment for using a helping vowel will be created every time one uses a definite article. The purpose of this Phonological Rule is to provide a smooth transition from one word to the next. Generally speaking, this transition is governed by the following rules.
a. If the proceeding vowel is FatHa the helping vowel is Kasra.
Is the book new? (هَلْ ) هَل ِ الکتابُ جديدٌ؟
b.If the proceeding vowel is Kasra, the helping vowel is FatHa.
This pencil is from the office. مِنَ المکتَبِ. هذا القلمُ (مِنْ)
c. If the proceeding vowel is Dhamma, the helping vowel is Dhamma.
لماذا (قابَلتـُمْ) قابَلتـُمُ المديرَةَ؟
Why did you (m, pl) meet the director (f)?
37. Object Pronouns. You remember what was mentioned earlier that possessive pronouns are suffixed to nouns. Now, I would like to remind you that object pronouns are suffixed to the verbs. Please, notice the difference of the pronouns in the following sentences:
a. (Possessive Pronoun) کتابُها علی الطاولةِ.
b. (Object Pronoun) شاهدتُها في السوقِ.
38. The word ما h as different meanings, depending on the context. It could mean “what,” and in this case you are expected to have a demonstarative pronoun or a definite noun following it.
What is this? ما هذا؟
What is his job? ما عملـُهُ؟
When the question wordما is followed by a verb in the past tense, it changes its own function to a negation particle.
I did not eat at this restaurant. ما أکلتُ في هذا المطعم.
39. The Cluster Buster
39. The Cluster Buster. Generally speaking, Arabic does not tolerate three or more consonant clusters. The common practice to deal with such a phonological environment is to insert a short or long vowel in between. We mentioned earlier the use of the short helping vowel. A good example for the use of a long vowel is when we have an attached object pronoun for transitive verbs which haveأنتم as a subject. Notice the use of the long vowel ( و ) to break the cluster in the following sentences:
شاهدتـُموها في السوق ِ.
You (mp) saw her in the market.
قابلتـُمونا في المقهی.
You (mp) met us in the cafe.
علمتـُموهُ العربية َ.
You (mp) taught him Arabic.
40. Negation of Past Tense Verbs. There are two methods to negate the verbs in past tense. The easy way is by using ماbefore the verb. The other is to use the negation particle لم¸ followed by the jussive form of the verb.
We didn’t watch/see this movie. ما شاهَدنا هذا الفلمَ.
لم نُشاهِدْ هذا الفلمَ.
41. هُنا / هُناكَare nouns that can also be used as adverbs.
(a) There is a student (f) in the classroom. هُناكَ طالبة ٌ في الصفِّ.
(b) The new book is here. الکتابُ الجديدُ هُنا.
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42. کُلُّ is a noun that will be a first term of Idaafa and could mean “every/each” if it is followed by a singular indefinite noun. If the singular noun is definite, کُلُّwould mean “all/whole”. If it is used after a noun, then it should carry its corresponding pronoun suffix and its function becomes emphatic.
a. I read every book! قرأتُ کُلَّ کتابٍ.
b. I read the whole book. قرأتُ کُلَّ الکتابِ.
c. I read the book, all of it. قرأتُ الکتابَ کـُلـَّهُ
However, if کـُلُّis followed by a plural noun, that noun should be definite and both create Idaafa. Check the following sentences:
حضرَ کلُّ الموظفينَ
All the employees (m) came.
حضرَ کلُّ موظفي المکتبِ.
All the office employees (m) came.
43. The conjunction(و) changes to (أو ) when the sentence is negated.
I like coffee and tea. أحِبُّ القهوةَ والشايَ.
Neither do I like coffee nor teaلا أحِبُّ القهوةَ أوالشايَ. .
44. Definiteness in Arabic (Revisited). You should know by
now that a noun or an adjective in Arabic is made definite by one of the following methods:
a. a definite article
b. following the vocative particle
c. a possessive pronoun
d. by relating it to a definite noun in Idaafa structure
45. Emphasis/Contrast. Since verb form indicates the person,
gender, and number of the subject any use of a subject pronoun is considered redundant. If, however, you want to emphasize or contrast two objects Arabic allows you to use the subject pronoun in such a linguistic environment.
أنا ذهبتُ إلی المکتبةِ وهُم ذهبوا إلی المطعم ِ.
I went to the library and they went to the restaurant.
46. The Defacto Case of the Noun and Adjective in Arabicis Nominative. A noun case is changed to accusative if it becomes an object of a verb (There are other cases where a noun should carry the accusative case marker. Check Kaana & Inna points). A noun is said to be in the genitive case if it follows a preposition
or it is a second term of Idaafa. No matter what is the case of the noun, the adjective will follow, marked by the same case.
The Egyptian man is in his house. الرجُلُ المِصريُّ في بَيِتِهِ.
I saw the Egyptian man. شاهدتُ الرجُلَ المصريَّ.
I said hello to the Egyptian man. سلـَّمتُ علی الرجُل ِ المصريِّ.
47.لِماذا(why) has to be followed by a verb because it asks about action/activity (verbs usually express those).
Why did you (m) go back to the room? لِماذا رجعتُ إلی الغرفةِ؟