7

Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 1 11 1

PARTS OF SPEECH PARTS OF SPEECH PARTS OF SPEECH PARTS OF SPEECH
We start the Arabic lessons from the very beginning. A
meaningful word in Arabic is called Kalimah ( ). It has
only three parts. In other words there are only three parts of
speech in Arabic. These are;
(Noun, literally name): (Noun, literally name): (Noun, literally name): (Noun, literally name):
It is that word which does not need the help of another
word to explain its meaning. It is the name of a person,
a place or a thing, and the term Ism includes the
adjective nouns as well, e.g. . Muhammad,
Ahmad, William, George,
Zenab, Aishah, Maryam, Tahirah,
Pakistan, London, France,
the house, i the Mosque, a pen, , the
book, the garden, Kaba, the paper/
leaf, food, a shade, the body, a
hand, a shirt, the cave, the chair,
a foot, the girl, a boy, a student,
a man, a horse, the eye, an ear,
i the Muslim, the non-believer of Islam,
a Christian, a Jew.
9
Parts of Speech
Further explanation and information about the Ism, the
Fail and the Harf will follow in the subsequent lessons.
Vowels Vowels Vowels Vowels ( (( (. . . . Harkaat) Harkaat) Harkaat) Harkaat): :: :
The vowels used in Arabic are called . which
are explained below:
1 (Fathah): Signed as on top of a letter and
pronounced as a in above.
2 (Kasrah): Signed as under a letter and
pronounced as i' in if.
3 (Dammah): Signed as on top of a letter and
pronounced as u in put.
4 (Sukun): Signed as on top of a letter as stop
or stress; it indicates that the consonant is
vowelless, e.g, (kun), , (abb), (mun).
5 (N sound): Signed as double vowel , ,
as indicated is called tanwin, e.g. (kitaban),
, (kitabin), , (kitabun). Remember that a
word with tanwin is always a noun ) ( , also a
word having (al) in the beginning is an indication
of its being a noun, however, it does not necessarily

(Meaningful Word)

(Verb)

(Noun)

Particle, Preposition,
Conjunction
11
Parts of Speech
of the noun. A table showing the moon letters and the sun
letters is given below.
Lunar Letters Lunar Letters Lunar Letters Lunar Letters - -- -
The mother al-ummu 1
The door , al-baabu , 2
The garden al-Jannatu 3
The donkey al-himaru _ 4
The bread al-khubzu 5
The eye al-ainu 6
The lunch al-ghadau 7
The mouth al-famu 8
The moon al-qamaru 9
The dog al-kalbu r 10
The water i al-maau 11
The boy al-waladu 12
The air al-hawau 13
The hand al-yadu 14
Solar Letters Solar Letters Solar Letters Solar Letters - -- -
The trader at-taajiru . 1
The clothing , ath-thoubu 2
The house ad-daaru 3
The gold ad-dahbu 4
The man ar-rajulu 5
The flower az-zahratu 6
The fish as-samaku 7
13
Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 2 22 2

THE THE THE THE GENDER GENDER GENDER GENDER OF NOUNS OF NOUNS OF NOUNS OF NOUNS
This lesson explains the different categories of gender used
for Arabic nouns. According to the Arabic grammar the
gender is classified into the following four categories:
(Real Gender): (Real Gender): (Real Gender): (Real Gender):
The words related to the male sex are ()
masculine, and those related to the female sex are
(female ), e.g. man is a real masculine and
woman is a real feminine, cock, hen,
boy, girl, , father, mother, brother,
sister, etc.
(Formal Gender): (Formal Gender): (Formal Gender): (Formal Gender):
The nouns which do not have the concept of pair are
termed as feminine or masculine by form )
, ( . The identification of gender for such noun is
that the words ending with round-ta ) ( are
generally feminine, and those ending with some other
letter are assumed as masculine gender, e.g.
watch, fan, tree, car,
garden, sign, life, window are
15
The Gender of Nouns
Pakistan, Lahore city, America,
Washington, Iraq, etc.
3 Many parts of the body, especially those that are in
pair, are termed as feminine, e.g. hand,
eye, foot, leg, shin, ear,
cheek.
4 The nouns ending in , called
(short alif) or _ called (lengthened alif)
are also feminine, e.g. good, beautiful,
great, small, good news,
desert, harm, blooming, white,
green, blue, etc.
5 All Arabic letters of alphabet are considered as
feminine.
6 Some broken plurals, e.g. the Jews, the
messengers, the Christians are treated as
feminine.
7 Some collective nouns, e.g. people, tribe
are used as feminine. However, family,
progeny are masculine.
8 Exceptional Masculine: Some nouns have ta
ending but they are used as masculine, e.g.
caliph, learned, a male name, a
male name. Some parts of body (single), e.g.
head, tooth, belly, chest, etc. are
also considered exceptional masculine.
17
Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 3 33 3
. . . .
THE NUMBER OF NOUNS THE NUMBER OF NOUNS THE NUMBER OF NOUNS THE NUMBER OF NOUNS
Unlike English, Arabic has three numbers: singular is
termed wahid ) ( or Mufrad ) ( , the dual or two of
anything is termed tathniyah ) ( , and more than two is
plural called Jam ) ( .
Wahid Wahid Wahid Wahid ( (( ( ) )) ) or Mufrad or Mufrad or Mufrad or Mufrad ( (( ( ) )) ): :: :
Examples of Wahid ) ( or Mufrad ) ( are: , ,
, , , , , , , , ,
, , , , i , , etc.
Tathniyah Tathniyah Tathniyah Tathniyah ( (( ( ) )) ): :: :
The dual form ends in aani ) ( , e.g. , ,
, , , , , , ,
, , , , , i ,
, etc.
The Plurals of The Plurals of The Plurals of The Plurals of N NN Nouns and ouns and ouns and ouns and A AA Adjectives: djectives: djectives: djectives:
In English, adjectives have no plural form. We say
good man and good men. But in Arabic even
adjectives have dual and plural form. In English we
have two kinds of plural form:
19
The Number of Nouns
The Broken Plural The Broken Plural The Broken Plural The Broken Plural ( (( ( ) )) ): :: :
Unlike English, the broken plural is very widely used in
Arabic. It is formed from the singular by the addition or
elision of consonants, e.g. from , from
, or by the change of vowels, e.g. .
There are many patterns of the broken plural. The
following are commonly used patterns:
No No No No

Bab Bab Bab Bab

,
Singular Singular Singular Singular

Broken Plural Broken Plural Broken Plural Broken Plural

, _
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12












as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
as from
star
, book
man
pen
eye
poor
rich
Satan
building
country
brother
trader












Note: Note: Note: Note:
It is quite common for a noun in Arabic to have more
than one broken plurals, e.g. the plural of brother
are , , , , or in some cases to have
21
Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 4 44 4

THE PRONOUNS THE PRONOUNS THE PRONOUNS THE PRONOUNS
The pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, e.g.
he, they, she, you, we, his, her,
r your, my, etc. They are of two kinds; the Detached
Pronouns, called , e.g. he he
is a student and the Attached Pronouns, called
, e.g. his his book, etc.
For detailed conjugation of the detached pronouns see
Table-1. The attached pronouns are either attached to a
noun or a verb, as shown in tables 2 & 3.
Table 1
Detached Personal Pronouns Detached Personal Pronouns Detached Personal Pronouns Detached Personal Pronouns
SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR DUAL DUAL DUAL DUAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

he is a
student

they are
students
,
they are
students
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

she is a
student

they are
students
.
they are
students
23
The Pronouns
Note: Note: Note: Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms only in the beginning,
and skip over the remaining forms as these are not
frequently used in the Holy Quran.
Pronouns Attached to a Verb: Pronouns Attached to a Verb: Pronouns Attached to a Verb: Pronouns Attached to a Verb:
Pronouns attached to a verb become its Direct Object,
e.g. , means he struck, he is a subject and struck
is a verb; with the addition of an attached pronoun
him would become the object of the verb , . For
usage of Attached Pronouns to a verb see Table 3.
Table 3
Pronouns Attached to Pronouns Attached to Pronouns Attached to Pronouns Attached to a Verb as its Direct Object a Verb as its Direct Object a Verb as its Direct Object a Verb as its Direct Object. .. .
SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR DUAL DUAL DUAL DUAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

He struck
him/it.

He struck
them.

He struck
them.
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

He struck
her/it.

He struck
them.

He struck
them.
2 22 2
nd nd nd nd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )
r
He struck
you..

He struck
you.

He struck
you.
2 22 2
nd nd nd nd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )
r
He struck
you.

He struck
you.

He struck
you.
1 11 1
st st st st
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( (& && &) )) )

He struck
me

He struck
us.

He struck
us.
25
The Pronouns
Important Note: Important Note: Important Note: Important Note:
Concentrate in the beginning only on the 3
rd
Person
masculine singular & plural forms, the 2
nd
Person
masculine singular & plural forms, and both the 1
st
person forms, and skip over the verbal forms and
pronouns of the feminine gender (except the singular
forms) and the dual forms as these are not frequently
used in the Holy Quran.
Possessive Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns:
The word is prefixed to the Attached Pronouns. The
word confines the meaning to only/alone, e.g. r
r You (Alone) we worship, and You
(Alone) we ask for help[1/4]. For usage of Possessive
Pronouns with see Table 4.
Table 4
Possessive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns
SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR SINGULAR DUAL DUAL DUAL DUAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL PLURAL
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

He alone

Both of them

They alone
3 33 3
rd rd rd rd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )

She alone

Both of them

They only
2 22 2
nd nd nd nd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )
r r
You alone

Both of you

All of you
2 22 2
nd nd nd nd
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( () )) )
r r
You alone

Both of you

All of you
1 11 1
st st st st
Pers Pers Pers Person on on on
( (( (& && &) )) )

I alone

We alone

We alone
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The Pronouns
Examples:
The boy who went out
of the Mosque is a student.
The men who left
the office are teachers.
The girl who left the
house is a student.
He is Allah, beside Whom la
Ilaha illa Howa (none has the right to be worshipped
but He). [59/293]

Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer
their Salah (prayers) with all solemnity and full of
submission. [23/182]
Interrog Interrog Interrog Interrogative Pronouns ative Pronouns ative Pronouns ative Pronouns : :: :
These are given below:
who what where how when
how much, how many, which, from where
why, i for what what

30
The Irab of Noun
Similarly, we use , , , , , as also we read in the
Holy Quran: . i, . i, , , i,
i. These changes in the case-endings of the noun are
called , (Irab of noun).
It is important to remember that the literal meaning of the
words/nouns remain the same in all the different
conditions; however, their function in a sentence changes
according to the different grammatical considerations,
which are explained later in the book.
This change/declension in Irab is effected in two ways as
explained below:
, , , , : :: :
Case-ending with vowel marks, e.g. a man is the
original form in nominative ) ( and with the
change of vowels it may become in accusative
) ( or in genitive case ) ( or ,
, ; and from books, which is in the
original nominative form ) ( , it may become
, or , , , and from the
women , ; from . . (only
one change is used in this case which represents both
the accusative as well as genitive form). In all these
cases the vowel of the last consonant is changed.
Note that the original form of a noun in all such cases is
always indicated with dammah ) _ ( or tanwin
32
The Irab of Noun
, , , , : :: :
Change of Irab with letter. The change of Irab with
letter is effected in the following two categories of
nouns:
1 All dual ) ( , both masculine and feminine are
changed with letter, e.g. two Muslim men,
which is the original/nominative case, is changed to
, representing both the accusative and the
genitive forms. In this case _ (aani) is changed to
_ (aini).
In case of feminine gender, the dual of a
Muslim woman is two Muslin women,
which is the original/nominative case, can be
changed to , representing both the
accusative and genitive forms. Here _ is changed
to .
2 All sound masculine plural nouns ) (
are also changed with letter, e.g. (Muslin
men) is the nominative/original form, and it is
changed to , representing both the conditions
of accusative and genitive forms. Here _ (u-na) is
changed to - (i-na).
Note that (ni) (nun at the end with kasra) is
indicative of a dual noun while (na) (nun with
fatha) is indicative of a sound plural noun.
The different conditions of Irab are summed up in Table 5.
34
The Irab of Noun
(3) In serial (2, 3, 5, 6) the Changed Form I & II are the
same.
(4) The accusative ending with tanwin (e.g. )
contains an alif. Exception to this rule being the and
, i.e. alif maqsurah ) ( .
According to Irab the noun is of two kinds; Declinable
) , ( and Indeclinable ) _ ( Nouns.
Declinable Declinable Declinable Declinable ( (( (, , , , ) )) ): :: :
It is further divided into two kinds;
1 - First declension or triptote: The Irab at its
ends change under all the different conditions as
shown in Table 5 above.
2 - Second declension or diptote: In this
category the noun does not accept tanwin ( --)
and, in the genitive case-ending, it does not accept
- i.e. it has only two case-endings namely,
nominative/ original form (represented with _ )
and accusative (represented with _ ), which is
also representative of genitive case. Diptotes )
( include the following categories:
Names of women, e.g. ,
etc.
Names of Prophets and Angels (peace be upon
them), e.g. . .
, etc.
36
The Irab of Noun
name of Allah, the Most Gracious,
from the beds, among the Signs of
Allah, in the best stature/mould.
Note 2: Note 2: Note 2: Note 2:
The occasions as to when and why a noun changes
its form from nominative to accusative or genitive
case will be studied later.
Indeclinable Indeclinable Indeclinable Indeclinable ( (( ( ) )) ): :: :
Most of the Arabic nouns (about 90%) are declinable
) , ( . However, some nouns/ pronouns called
indeclinable ) ( , remain static or stationary on their
original form under all the varied conditions. These
include the following:
Personal pronouns, e.g. , , , , , etc.
Demonstrative pronouns, e.g. , , ,
, etc. except the dual , e.g. , ,
, .
Relative pronouns ) ( , e.g. , ,
, , etc. except the dual ) ( , e.g.
, (), , ().
Interrogative pronouns ) ( , e.g. , ,
, , , , , etc.
Possessive pronouns, e.g. , , , etc.
Nouns with alif ) ( or (short alif)
ending, e.g. , , near, distant.
39
Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 6 66 6

THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE
So far we have learnt the characteristics of a single word/
noun, called . We now come to the compounds
) i . ( i.e. the phrases/ sentences. If two or more words
are joined together, it constitutes a phrase or a sentence
) ( , e.g. and are two mufrad ) (
words. But if they are joined as the hard
working student or the student is
hardworking, then they became a phrase/sentence. The
murakkabat are of two kinds;
Phrase or incomplete sentence.
Sentence ) ( which conveys complete
sense.
The murakkabun naqis ) ( is further divided
into the following four types:
1 i the adjective phrase.
2 i the relative phrase.
3 i the demonstrative phrase.
4 i the genitive phrase.
41
The Adjective Phrase
correspond to the noun being qualified ) i ( in all the
four aspects of a noun, i.e. number, the
gender, the capacity definite/indefinite and
, the case-ending. These are explained below:
1 The number ) ( of the adjective ) ( is to be in
coordination with i , i.e. if i is singular
) ( then is to be singular ) ( , if i is
dual ) ( then is to be dual, and if i is
plural ) ( then is to be plural ) , ( , e.g.
(a pious boy), (two pious boys),
(three or more pious boys).
2 The gender ) ( of is also to correspond to
i i.e., if i is then is to be ;
if i is then is to be too, e.g.
(pious girl), (two pious girls), .
. (pious girls, more than two).
3 The Capacity ) ( of is also to correspond to
that of i i.e., if i is definite ) ( ,
will be definite ) ( , and if is indefinite
) ( , will be indefinite ) ( , e.g.



4 The Irab / case-ending ) , ( : The Irab of are to
be in coordination with that of the i i.e. if i
43
The Adjective Phrase
Some more examples of the adjective phrases from the
Holy Quran:
[35/10], [24/35], [3/197],
[3/172], [39/3], [33/21],
[28/83], [14/24], [21/26],
. [48/25], [86/3], , [34/15],
[34/15], [18/82], [55/66],
. . [2/99], [88/10], [80/13]

46
The Relative Phrase
If is a dual ) ( or sound plural masculine
) , ( then its is dropped, e.g.
two doors of the Mosque (for ),
and , Muslims of the Arab (for
, ). Similarly, the two hands of Abu
Lahab [111/1] (for )
may be (nominative) original form of a
noun, , (accusative) changed form I or
(genitive) changed form II, e.g. , , , ,
, .
i always comes before , e.g.
allurement of the life, here is i and is
i.
There may be more than one i in one ,
e.g. owner of the Day of Judgment
[1/3], daughter of the Prophet of Allah.
If (Interjection) comes before i then it is
read as , , e.g. Allahs slave, with
(interjection) it becomes O Allahs
slave!. O Allah! Owner of the
kingdom. But if that noun is not i then it is called
and is , but has no tanwin ) ( , e.g.
O man!, O Zaid!. If is with then
for masculine and for feminine is placed after
, e.g. O people!, O mankind! ,
O self!, O soul! .