Arabic grammar

Arabic grammar or Arabic language sciences (Arabic: ‫النحو العربي‬‎an-naḥw al-‘arabī or Arabic:
‫ُع ُل وم اللَغ ة الَع َر ِبَّي ة‬‎ulūm al-lughah al-‘arabīyah) is t he grammar of t he Arabic language. Arabic is a
Semit ic language and it s grammar has many similarit ies wit h t he grammar of ot her Semit ic
languages.

Visualization of Arabic grammar from the Quranic Arabic Corpus

The art icle focuses bot h on t he grammar of Lit erary Arabic (i.e. Classical Arabic and Modern
St andard Arabic, which have largely t he same grammar) and of t he colloquial spoken variet ies of
Arabic. The grammar of t he t wo t ypes is largely similar in it s part iculars. Generally, t he grammar
of Classical Arabic is described first , followed by t he areas in which t he colloquial variant s t end
t o differ (not e t hat not all colloquial variant s have t he same grammar).

The largest differences bet ween t he classical/st andard and t he colloquial Arabic are t he loss of
morphological markings of grammat ical case; changes in word order, an overall shift t owards a
more analyt ic morphosynt ax, t he loss of t he previous syst em of grammat ical mood, along wit h
t he evolut ion of a new syst em; t he loss of t he inflect ed passive voice, except in a few relic
variet ies; rest rict ion in t he use of t he dual number and (for most variet ies) t he loss of t he
feminine plural. Many Arabic dialect s, Maghrebi Arabic in part icular also have significant vowel
shift s and unusual consonant clust ers. Unlike ot her dialect s, in Maghrebi Arabic first person
singular verbs begin wit h a n- (‫)ن‬.

History

The ident it y of t he oldest Arabic grammarian is disput ed; some sources st at e t hat it was Abu al-
Aswad al-Du'ali, who est ablished diacrit ical marks and vowels for Arabic in t he mid-600s,[1] Ot hers
have said t hat t he earliest grammarian would have been Ibn Abi Ishaq (died AD 735/6, AH 117).[2]

The schools of Basra and Kufa furt her developed grammat ical rules in t he lat e 8t h cent ury wit h
t he rapid rise of Islam.[3][4] From t he school of Basra, generally regarded as being founded by Abu
Amr ibn al-Ala,[5] t wo represent at ives laid import ant foundat ions for t he field: Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad
al-Farahidi aut hored t he first Arabic dict ionary and book of Arabic prosody, and his st udent
Sibawayh aut hored t he first book on t heories of Arabic grammar.[1] From t he school of Kufa, Al-
Ru'asi is universally acknowledged as t he founder, t hough his own writ ings are considered
lost ,[6][7] wit h most of t he school's development undert aken by lat er aut hors. The effort s of al-
Farahidi and Sibawayh consolidat ed Basra's reput at ion as t he analyt ic school of grammar, while
t he Kufan school was regarded as t he guardian of Arabic poet ry and Arab cult ure.[2] The
differences were polarizing in some cases, wit h early Muslim scholar Muhammad ibn `Isa at -
Tirmidhi favoring t he Kufan school due t o it s concern wit h poet ry as a primary source.[8]

Early Arabic grammars were more or less list s of rules, wit hout t he det ailed explanat ions which
would be added in lat er cent uries. The earliest schools were different not only in some of t heir
views on grammat ical disput es, but also t heir emphasis. The school of Kufa excelled in Arabic
poet ry and exegesis of t he Qur'an, in addit ion t o Islamic law and Arab genealogy. The more
rat ionalist school of Basra, on t he ot her hand, focused more on t he formal st udy of grammar.[9]

Division

For classical Arabic grammarians, t he grammat ical sciences are divided int o five branches:

al-lughah ‫( َا لُّل َغ ة‬language/lexicon) concerned wit h collect ing and explaining vocabulary.

at-taṣrīf ‫( َا لَّت ْص ِر يف‬morphology) det ermining t he form of t he individual words.

an-naḥw ‫( َا لَّن ْح و‬synt ax) primarily concerned wit h inflect ion (i‘rāb).

al-ishtiqāq ‫( َاالْش ِت َق اق‬derivat ion) examining t he origin of t he words.

al-balāghah ‫( َاْل َب اَل َغ ة‬rhet oric) which elucidat es st ylist ic qualit y, or eloquence.

The grammar or grammars of cont emporary variet ies of Arabic are a different quest ion. Said M.
Badawi, an expert on Arabic grammar, divided Arabic grammar int o five different t ypes based on
t he speaker's level of lit eracy and t he degree t o which t he speaker deviat ed from Classical
Arabic. Badawi's five t ypes of grammar from t he most colloquial t o t he most formal are Illit erat e
Spoken Arabic (‫‘ َع اِّم َّي ة َاُأْلِّم ِّي ين‬āmmīyat al-ummiyyīn), Semi-lit erat e Spoken Arabic (‫َع اِّم َّي ة َاْل ُم َت َنِّو ِر ين‬
‘āmmīyat al-mutanawwirīn), Educat ed Spoken Arabic (‫‘ َع اِّم َّي ة َاْل ُم َث َّق ِف ين‬āmmīyat al-muthaqqafīn),
Modern St andard Arabic (‫ ُف ْص َح ى َاْل َع ْص ر‬fuṣḥá l-‘aṣr), and Classical Arabic (‫ ُف ْص َح ى َا لُّت َر اث‬fuṣḥá t-
turāth).[10]

Phonology

Classical Arabic has 28 consonant al phonemes, including t wo semi-vowels, which const it ut e t he

Arabic alphabet .

It also has six vowel phonemes (t hree short vowels and t hree long vowels). These appear as
various allophones, depending on t he preceding consonant . Short vowels are not usually
represent ed in t he writ t en language, alt hough t hey may be indicat ed wit h diacrit ics.

Word st ress varies from one Arabic dialect t o anot her. A rough rule for word-st ress in Classical
Arabic is t hat it falls on t he penult imat e syllable of a word if t hat syllable is closed, and
ot herwise on t he ant epenult imat e.[11]
Hamzat al-waṣl (‫)َه ْم َز ة َاْل َو ْص ل‬, elidable hamza, is a phonet ic object prefixed t o t he beginning of a
word for ease of pronunciat ion, since Lit erary Arabic doesn't allow consonant clust ers at t he
beginning of a word. Elidable hamza drops out as a vowel, if a word is preceding it . This word will
t hen produce an ending vowel, "helping vowel" t o facilit at e pronunciat ion. This short vowel may
be, depending on t he preceding vowel, a fatḥah (‫َف ْت َح ة‬‎: ‫) َـ‬, pronounced as /a/; a kasrah (‫َكْس َر ة‬‎: ‫)  ِـ‬,
pronounced as /i/; or a ḍammah (‫َض َّم ة‬‎: ‫) ُـ‬, pronounced as /u/. If t he preceding word ends in a
sukūn (‫)ُس ُكون‬, meaning t hat it is not followed by a short vowel, t he hamzat al-waṣl assumes a
kasrah /i/. The symbol ‫َش َّد ة( ّـ‬‎shaddah) indicat es geminat ion or consonant doubling. See more in
Tashkīl.

Nouns and adjectives

In Classical Arabic and Modern St andard Arabic (MSA), nouns and adject ives (‫ِا ْس ٌم‏‬‎ism) are
declined, according t o case (i‘rāb), st at e (definit eness), gender and number. In colloquial or
spoken Arabic, t here are a number of simplificat ions such as t he loss of cert ain final vowels and
t he loss of case. A number of derivat ional processes exist for forming new nouns and adject ives.
Adverbs can be formed from adject ives.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

In Arabic, personal pronouns have 12 forms. In singular and plural, t he 2nd and 3rd persons have
separat e masculine and feminine forms, while t he 1st person does not . In t he dual, t here is no 1st
person, and only a single form for each 2nd and 3rd person. Tradit ionally, t he pronouns are list ed
in t he order 3rd, 2nd, 1st .
 Person Singular Dual Plural

‫َأ َن ا‏‬‎
‫َن ْح ُن‏‬‎

1st
anā naḥnu

‫َأ ْن َت‏‬‎
‫َأ ْن ُت ْم‏‬‎

masculine
anta ‫َأ ْن ُت َم ا‏‬‎
antum
2nd
‫َأ ْن ِت ‏‬‎
antumā ‫َأ ْن ُت َّن‏‬‎

feminine
anti antunna

‫ ُه َو‏‬‎
‫ ُه ْم‏‬‎

masculine
huwa ‫ ُه َم ا‏‬‎
hum
3rd
‫ ِه َي‏‬‎
humā ‫ ُه َّن‏‬‎

feminine
hiya hunna

Informal Arabic t ends t o avoid t he dual forms antumā ‫ َأ ْن ُت َم ا‬and humā ‫ ُه َم ا‬. The feminine plural
forms antunna ‫ َأ ْن ُت َّن‬and hunna ‫ ُه َّن‬are likewise avoided, except by speakers of conservat ive
colloquial variet ies t hat st ill possess separat e feminine plural pronouns.

Enclitic pronouns

Enclit ic forms of personal pronouns (‫ َا ل َّض َم اِئ ر ا ْل ُم َّت ِص َلة‬aḍ-ḍamā’ir al-muttaṣilah) are affixed t o various
part s of speech, wit h varying meanings:

To t he const ruct st at e of nouns, where t hey have t he meaning of possessive demonst rat ives,
e.g. "my, your, his"

To verbs, where t hey have t he meaning of direct object pronouns, e.g. "me, you, him"

To preposit ions, where t hey have t he meaning of object s of t he preposit ions, e.g. "t o me, t o
you, t o him"

To conjunct ions and part icles like ‫ َأ َّن‬anna "t hat ...", ‫ َأِلَّن‬li-anna "because ...", )) ‫( َو ) ٰل ِك َّن‬wa)lākinna
"but ...", ‫ ِإَّن‬inna (t opicalizing part icle), where t hey have t he meaning of subject pronouns, e.g.
"because I ...", "because you ...", "because he ...". (These part icles are known in Arabic as akhawāt
inna ‫( َأ َخ َو ات ِإَّن‬lit . "sist ers of inna".)

If t he personal pronoun -ī is added t o a word ending in a vowel (e.g. ‫ َر َأ ْي َت‬raʼayta "you saw"), an
ext ra -n- is added bet ween t he word and t he enclit ic form t o avoid a hiat us bet ween t he t wo
vowels (‫ َر َأ ْي َت ِن ي‬raʼayta-nī "you saw me").

Most of t hem are clearly relat ed t o t he full personal pronouns.

 Person Singular Dual Plural

‫ ـَي‏‬,‫ ِـي‬,‫ـِن ي‬‎

‫ـَنا‬
1st
-nī/-ī/-ya -nā

‫ـَك‏‬‎
‫ـ ُكْم‏‬‎

masculine
-ka ‫ـ ُكَم ا‏‬‎
-kum
2nd
‫ـِك ‏‬‎
-kumā ‫ـ ُكَّن‏‬‎

feminine
-ki -kunna

‫ ـِه‏‬, ‫ـُه‬‎
‫ ـ ِه ْم‏‬, ‫ـُه ْم‬‎

masculine
-hu/-hi ‫ ـ ِه َم ا‏‬,‫ـُه َم ا‬‎
-hum/-him
3rd
-humā/-himā ‫ ـ ِه َّن‏‬, ‫ـُه َّن‬‎

feminine -hā ‫ـَه ا‏‬‎

-hunna/-hinna

Variant forms

For all but t he first person singular, t he same forms are used regardless of t he part of speech of
t he word at t ached t o. In t he t hird person masculine singular, -hu occurs aft er t he vowels u or a (-
a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw), while -hi occurs aft er i or y (-i, -ī, -ay). The same alt ernat ion occurs in t he t hird
person dual and plural.

In t he first person singular, however, t he sit uat ion is more complicat ed. Specifically, -nī "me" is
at t ached t o verbs, but -ī/-ya "my" is at t ached t o nouns. In t he lat t er case, -ya is at t ached t o
nouns whose const ruct st at e ends in a long vowel or dipht hong (e.g. in t he sound masculine plural
and t he dual), while -ī is at t ached t o nouns whose const ruct st at e ends in a short vowel, in which
case t hat vowel is elided (e.g. in t he sound feminine plural, as well as t he singular and broken
plural of most nouns). Furt hermore, -ū of t he masculine sound plural is assimilat ed t o -ī before -ya
(presumably, -aw of masculine defect ive -an plurals is similarly assimilat ed t o -ay). Examples:

From ‫ِك َت اب‏‬‎kitāb "book", pl. ‫ ُكُت ب‬kutub:‫ كتابي‬kitāb-ī "my book" (all cases), ‫ كتبي‬kutub-ī "my books"
(all cases), ‫ كتاباي‬kitābā-ya "my t wo books (nom.)", ‫ كتابي‬kitābay-ya "my t wo books (acc./gen.)"

From ‫َكِلَم ة‏‬‎kalimah "word", pl. ‫ َكِلَم ات‬kalimāt: ‫ َكِلَم ِت ي‬kalimat-ī "my word" (all cases), ‫ َكِلَم اِت ي‬kalimāt-ī
"my words" (all cases)

From ‫ُد ْن َي ا‏‬‎dunyā "world", pl. ‫ ُد ْن َي َي ات‬dunyayāt: ‫ ُد ْن َي اَي‬dunyā-ya "my world" (all cases), ‫ ُد ْن َي َي اِت ي‬dunyayāt-
ī "my worlds" (all cases)

From ‫َق اٍض ‏‬‎qāḍin "judge", pl. ‫ ُق َض اة‬quḍāh: ‫ َق اِض َّي‬qāḍiy-ya "my judge" (all cases), ‫ ُق َض اِت ي‬quḍāt-ī "my
judges" (all cases)
 From ‫ُم َع ِّل م‏‬‎mu‘allim "t eacher", pl. ‫ ُم َع ِّل ُم ون‬mu‘allimūn: ‫ ُم َع ِّل ِم ي‬mu‘allim-ī "my t eacher" (all cases),
‫ِّل‬
‫ ُم َع ِم َّي‬mu‘allimī-ya "my t eachers" (all cases, see above)
From ‫َأ ب‏‬‎ab "fat her": ‫ َأ ُبوَي‬abū-ya "my fat her" (nom.), ‫ َأ َباَي‬abā-ya "my fat her" (acc.), ‫ َأ ِب َّي‬abī-ya "my
fat her" (gen.)

Preposit ions use -ī/-ya, even t hough in t his case it has t he meaning of "me" (rat her t han "my"). The
"sist ers of inna" can use eit her form (e.g. ‫ ِإَّن ِن ي‬inna-nī or ‫ ِإِن ي‬inn-ī), but t he longer form (e.g. ‫ِإَّن ِن ي‬
inna-nī) is usually preferred.

The second-person masculine plural past t ense verb ending -tum changes t o t he variant form -
tumū before enclit ic pronouns, e.g. ‫ َكَت ْب ُت ُم وُه‬katab-tumū-hu "you (masc. pl.) wrot e it (masc.)".

Pronouns wit h preposit ions

Some very common preposit ions — including t he proclit ic preposit ion li- "t o" (also used for
indirect object s) — have irregular or unpredict able combining forms when t he enclit ic pronouns
are added t o t hem:

Meaning Independent form With "... me" With "... you" (masc. sg.) With "... him"

‫
ِل ـ‬ ‫
ِل ي‬ ‫
َلَك‬ ‫
َلُه‬
"t o", indirect object
li- lī laka lahu

‫
ِب ـ‬ ‫
ِب ي‬ ‫
ِب َك‬ ‫
ِب ِه‬
"in", "wit h", "by"
bi- bī bika bihi

‫
ِف ي‬ ‫
ِف َّي‬ ‫
ِف يَك‬ ‫
ِف يِه‬
"in"
fī fīya fīka fīhi

‫
ِإ َلى‬ ‫َل‬
‫
ِإ َّي‬ ‫
ِإ َلْي َك‬ ‫
ِإ َلْي ِه‬
"t o"
ilá ilayya ilayka ilayhi

‫
َع َلى‬ ‫َل‬
‫
َع َّي‬ ‫
َع َلْي َك‬ ‫
َع َلْي ِه‬
"on"
‘alá ‘alayya ‘alayka ‘alayhi

‫
َم َع‬ ‫
َم ِع ي‬ ‫
َم َع َك‬ ‫
َم َع ُه‬
"wit h"
ma‘a ma‘ī ma‘aka ma‘ahu

‫
ِم ْن‬ ‫
ِم ِّن ي‬ ‫
ِم ْنَك‬ ‫
ِم ْن ُه‬
"from"
min minnī minka minhu

‫
َع ْن‬ ‫
َع ِّن ي‬ ‫
َع ْنَك‬ ‫
َع ْن ُه‬
"on", "about "
‘an ‘annī ‘anka ‘anhu
In t he above cases, when t here are t wo combining forms, one is used wit h "... me" and t he ot her
wit h all ot her person/number/gender combinat ions. (More correct ly, one occurs before vowel-
init ial pronouns and t he ot her before consonant -init ial pronouns, but in Classical Arabic, only -ī is
vowel-init ial. This becomes clearer in t he spoken variet ies, where various vowel-init ial enclit ic
pronouns exist .)

Not e in part icular:

‫ ِإ َلى‬ilá "t o" and ‫‘ َع َلى‬alá "on" have irregular combining forms ‫ ِإ َلْي ـ‬ilay-, ‫‘ َع َلْي ـ‬alay-; but ot her pronouns
wit h t he same base form are regular, e.g. ‫ َم َع‬ma‘a "wit h".

‫ ِل ـ‬li- "t o" has an irregular combining form la-, but ‫ ِب ـ‬bi- "in, wit h, by" is regular.

‫ ِم ْن‬min "from" and ‫‘ َع ْن‬an "on" double t he final n before -ī.

Less formal pronominal forms

In a less formal Arabic, as in many spoken dialect s, t he endings -ka, -ki, and -hu and many ot hers
have t heir final short vowel dropped, for example, ‫ ِك تاُبَك‬kitābuka would become ‫ ِك تاُبك‬kitābuk for
ease of pronunciat ion. This doesn't make a difference t o t he spelling as t he diacrit ics used t o
represent short vowels are not usually writ t en.

Demonstratives

There are t wo demonst rat ives (‫ َأ ْس َم اء َاِإْل َش اَر ة‬asmā’ al-ishārah), near-deict ic ('t his') and far-deict ic
('t hat '):

"This, these"
Gender Singular Dual Plural

‫
ٰه َذ اِن‬
nominative
‫ ٰه َذ ‏ا‬‎
hādhāni
Masculine
‫
ٰه َذ ْي ِن‬
hādhā
accusative/genitive
hādhayni ‫
ٰه ُؤ اَل ِء‬

‫
ٰه اَت اِن‬
hā’ulā’i
nominative
‫
ٰه ِذ ِه‬ hātāni
Feminine
‫
ٰه اَت ْي ِن‬
hādhihī
accusative/genitive
hātayni
"That, those"
Gender Singular Dual Plural

‫
َذ اِنَك‬
nominative
‫ َذ اَك‏‬، ‫ٰذ ِلَك‬‎
dhānika
Masculine
dhālika, dhāka ‫
َذ ْي ِن َك‬
accusative/genitive
dhaynika ‫
ُأ و ٰل ِئ َك‬

‫
َت اِنَك‬ ulā’ika
nominative
‫
ِت ْلَك‬ tānika
Feminine
tilka ‫
َت ْي ِن َك‬
accusative/genitive
taynika

The dual forms are only used in very formal Arabic.

Some of t he demonst rat ives (hādhā, hādhihi, hādhāni, hādhayni, hā’ulā’i, dhālika, and ulā’ika)
should be pronounced wit h a long ā, alt hough t he unvocalised script is not writ t en wit h alif (‫)ا‬.
Inst ead of an alif, t hey have t he diacrit ic ‫( ٰـ‬dagger alif: ‫ َأ ِل ف َخ ْن َج ِر َّية‬alif khanjarīyah), which doesn't
exist on Arabic keyboards and is seldom writ t en, even in vocalised Arabic.

Qur'anic Arabic has anot her demonst rat ive, normally followed by a noun in a genit ive const ruct
and meaning 'owner of':

"Owner of"
Gender Singular Dual Plural

‫ُذ و‏‬‎
‫
َذ َو ا‬ ‫ ُأ و ُل و‬،‫
َذ ُو و‬
nominative
dhū dhawā dhawū, ulū

‫
َذ ا‬
Masculine accusative
dhā ‫
َذ َو ْي‬ ‫ ُأ و ِل ي‬،‫
َذ ِو ي‬
‫
ِذ ي‬ dhaway dhawī, ulī
genitive
dhī
‫
َذ اُت‬ ‫
َذ َو اَت ا‬ ‫ ُأ واَل ُت‬، ‫
َذ َو اُت‬
nominative
dhātu dhawātā dhawātu, ulātu
‫
َذ اَت‬
Feminine accusative
dhāta ‫
َذ َو اَت ْي‬ ‫ ُأ واَل ِت‬، ‫
َذ َو اِت‬
‫
َذ اِت‬ dhawātay dhawāti, ulāti
genitive
dhāti
Not e t hat t he demonst rat ive and relat ive pronouns were originally built on t his word. hādhā, for
example, was originally composed from t he prefix hā- 't his' and t he masculine accusat ive singular
dhā; similarly, dhālika was composed from dhā, an infixed syllable -li-, and t he clit ic suffix -ka 'you'.
These combinat ions had not yet become complet ely fixed in Qur'anic Arabic and ot her
combinat ions somet imes occurred, e.g. dhāka, dhālikum. Similarly, t he relat ive pronoun alladhī
was originally composed based on t he genit ive singular dhī, and t he old Arabic grammarians not ed
t he exist ence of a separat e nominat ive plural form alladhūna in t he speech of t he Hudhayl t ribe
in Qur'anic t imes.

This word also shows up in Hebrew, e.g. masculine ‫ זה‬‎zeh (cf. dhī), feminine ‫ זאת‬‎zot (cf. dhāt-),
plural ‫אלה‬‎eleh (cf. ulī).

Relative pronoun

The relat ive pronoun is declined as follows:

Relative pronoun ("who, that, which")

Gender Singular Dual Plural
‫َا َّل‬
‫
ل َذ اِن‬
nominative
‫
َاَّل ِذ ي‬ alladhāni ‫
َاَّل ِذ يَن‬
Masculine
‫َا َّل‬
‫
ل َذ ْي ِن‬
alladhī alladhīn(a)
accusative/genitive
alladhayni
‫َا َّل‬
‫
ل َت اِن‬
nominative
‫
َاَّلِت ي‬ allatāni ‫
َا لاَّل ِت ي‬
Feminine
allatī ‫َا َّل‬ allātī
‫
ل َت ْي ِن‬
accusative/genitive
allatayni

Not e t hat t he relat ive pronoun agrees in gender, number and case, wit h t he noun it modifies—as
opposed t o t he sit uat ion in ot her inflect ed languages such as Lat in and German, where t he
gender and number agreement is wit h t he modified noun, but t he case marking follows t he usage
of t he relat ive pronoun in t he embedded clause (as in formal English "t he man who saw me" vs.
"t he man whom I saw").

When t he relat ive pronoun serves a funct ion ot her t han t he subject of t he embedded clause, a
resumpt ive pronoun is required: ‫ َاَّلَر ُج ُل ٱ َّل ِذ ي َت َكَّل ْم ُت َم َع ُه‬al-rajul(u) (a)lladhī takallamtu ma‘a-hu, lit erally
"t he man who I spoke wit h him".
The relat ive pronoun is normally omit t ed ent irely when an indefinit e noun is modified by a relat ive
clause: ‫ َر ُج ٌل َت َكَّل ْم ُت َم َع ُه‬rajul(un) takallamtu ma‘a-h(u) "a man t hat I spoke wit h", lit erally "a man I
spoke wit h him".

Colloquial varieties

The above syst em is most ly unchanged in t he colloquial variet ies, ot her t han t he loss of t he dual
forms and (for most variet ies) of t he feminine plural. Some of t he more not able changes:

The t hird-person -hi, -him variant s disappear. On t he ot her hand, t he first person -nī/-ī/-ya
variat ion is preserved exact ly (including t he different circumst ances in which t hese variant s are
used), and new variant s appear for many forms. For example, in Egypt ian Arabic, t he second
person feminine singular appears eit her as -ik or -ki depending on various fact ors (e.g. t he
phonology of t he preceding word); likewise, t he t hird person masculine singular appears
variously as -u, -hu, or - (no ending, but st ress is moved ont o t he preceding vowel, which is
lengt hened).

In many variet ies, t he indirect object forms, which appear in Classical Arabic as separat e words
(e.g. lī "t o me", lahu 't o him'), become fused ont o t he verb, following a direct object . These
same variet ies generally develop a circumfix /ma-...-ʃ(i)/ for negat ion (from Classical mā ...
shay’ 'not ... a t hing', composed of t wo separat e words). This can lead t o complicat ed
agglut inat ive const ruct s, such as Egypt ian Arabic /ma-kat ab-ha-ˈliː-ʃ/ 'he didn't writ e it (fem.)
t o me'. (Egypt ian Arabic in part icular has many variant pronominal affixes used in different
circumst ances, and very int ricat e morphophonemic rules leading t o a large number of complex
alt ernat ions, depending on t he part icular affixes involved, t he way t hey are put t oget her, and
whet her t he preceding verb ends in a vowel, a single consonant , or t wo consonant s.)

Ot her variet ies inst ead use a separat e Classical pseudo-pronoun īyā- for direct object s (but in
Hijazi Arabic t he result ing const ruct fuses wit h a preceding verb).

Affixat ion of dual and sound plural nouns has largely vanished. Inst ead, all variet ies possess a
separat e preposit ion wit h t he meaning of "of", which replaces cert ain uses of t he const ruct
genit ive (t o varying degrees, depending on t he part icular variet y). In Moroccan Arabic, t he word
is dyal (also d- before a noun), e.g. l-kitab dyal-i "my book", since t he const ruct -st at e genit ive is
most ly unproduct ive. Egypt ian Arabic has bitā‘ , which agrees in gender and number wit h t he
preceding noun (feminine bitā‘it/bita‘t, plural bitū‘ ). In Egypt ian Arabic, t he const ruct -st at e
genit ive is st ill product ive, hence eit her kitāb-i or il-kitāb bitā‘-i can be used for "my book" [t he
 difference bet ween t hem is simlar t o t he difference bet ween 'my book' and 't he book is mine'],
but only il-mu‘allimūn bitū‘-i "my t eachers".

The declined relat ive pronoun has vanished. In it s place is an indeclinable part icle, usually illi or
similar.

Various forms of t he demonst rat ive pronouns occur, usually short er t han t he Classical forms.
For example, Moroccan Arabic uses ha l- "t his", dak l-/dik l-/duk l- "t hat "
(masculine/feminine/plural). Egypt ian Arabic is unusual in t hat t he demonst rat ive follows t he
noun, e.g. il-kitāb da "t his book", il-binti di "t his girl".

Some of t he independent pronouns have slight ly different forms compared wit h t heir Classical
forms. For example, usually forms similar t o inta, inti "you (masc./fem. sg.)" occur in place of
anta, anti, and (n)iḥna "we" occurs in place of naḥnu.

Numerals

Cardinal numerals

Numbers behave in a very complicat ed fashion. wāḥid- "one" and ithnān- "t wo" are adject ives,
following t he noun and agreeing wit h it . thalāthat- "t hree" t hrough ‘asharat- "t en" require a following
noun in t he genit ive plural, but disagree wit h t he noun in gender, while t aking t he case required by
t he surrounding synt ax. aḥada ‘asharah "eleven" t hrough tis‘ata ‘asharah "ninet een" require a
following noun in t he accusat ive singular, agree wit h t he noun in gender, and are invariable for
case, except for ithnā ‘asharah/ithnay ‘ashara "t welve".

The formal syst em of cardinal numerals, as used in Classical Arabic, is ext remely complex. The
syst em of rules is present ed below. In realit y, however, t his syst em is never used: Large numbers
are always writ t en as numerals rat her t han spelled out , and are pronounced using a simplified
syst em, even in formal cont ext s.

Example:

Formal: ‫ َأ ْل َف اِن َو ِت ْس ُع ِم َئٍة َو ٱْث َنَت ا َع ْش َر َة َس َنًة‬alfāni wa-tis‘u mi’atin wa-thnatā ‘asharatan sanah "2,912
years"
Formal: ‫ َبْع َد َأ ْل َف ْي ِن َو ِت ْس ِع ِم َئٍة َو ٱْث َنَت ْي َع ْش َر َة َس َنًة‬ba‘da alfayni wa-tis‘i mi’atin wa-thnatay ‘asharatan sanah
"aft er 2,912 years"
Spoken: )‫( بعَد ) ألفين وتسعمئة واثنتا عشرة سنة‬ba‘da) alfayn wa-tis‘ mīya wa-ithna‘shar sana "(aft er)
2,912 years"
Cardinal numerals (‫ َاَأْلْع َد اد َاَأْل ْص ِل َّي ة‬al-a‘dād al-aṣlīyah) from 0-10. Zero is ṣifr, from which t he words
"cipher" and "zero" are ult imat ely derived.

0 ٠ ṣifr(un) ( ‫ِص ْف ٌر‬‎)

1 ١ wāḥid(un) ( ‫ َو ا ِح ٌد‬‎)

2 ٢ ithnān(i) ( ‫ِا ْث َناِن‬‎)

3 ٣ thalātha(tun) ( ‫َث اَل َثٌة‬‎)

4 ٤ arba‘a(tun) (‫َأ ْرَبَع ٌة‏‬‎)

5 ٥ khamsa(tun) ( ‫ َخ ْم َس ٌة‬‎)

6 ٦ sitta(tun) ( ‫ِس ّت ٌة‬‎)

7 ٧ sab‘a(tun) (‫َس ْب َع ٌة‏‬‎)

8 ٨ thamāniya(tun) (‫َث َم اِن َي ٌة‏‬‎)

9 ٩ tis‘a(tun) (‫تسعٌة‏‬‎)

10 ١٠ ‘ashara(tun) (‫َع َش َر ٌة‏‬‎) (feminine form ‘ashr(un) ‫َع ْش ٌر‏‬‎)

The endings in bracket s are dropped in less formal Arabic and in pausa. ‫( ة‬tā’ marbūṭah) is
pronounced as simple /a/ in t hese cases. If a noun ending in ‫ ة‬is t he first member of an idafa, t he
‫ ة‬is pronounced as /at /, while t he rest of t he ending is not pronounced.

‫ ِا ْث َناِن‬ithnān(i) is changed t o ‫ ِا ْث َن ْي ِن‬ithnayn(i) in oblique cases. This form is also commonly used in a
less formal Arabic in t he nominat ive case.

The numerals 1 and 2 are adject ives. Thus t hey follow t he noun and agree wit h gender.

Numerals 3–10 have a peculiar rule of agreement known as polarit y: A feminine referrer agrees
wit h a numeral in masculine gender and vice versa, e.g. thalāthu fatayātin ( ‫" )َث اَل ُث َف َت َي اٍت‬t hree girls".
The noun count ed t akes indefinit e genit ive plural (as t he at t ribut e in a genit ive const ruct ).

Numerals 11 and 13–19 are indeclinable for case, perpet ually in t he accusat ive. Numbers 11 and
12 show gender agreement in t he ones, and 13-19 show polarit y in t he ones. Number 12 also
shows case agreement , reminiscent of t he dual. The gender of ‫ َع َش ر‬in numbers 11-19 agrees wit h
t he count ed noun (unlike t he st andalone numeral 10 which shows polarit y). The count ed noun
t akes indefinit e accusat ive singular.
 Masculine Masculine
Feminine
Feminine

Number Informal
nominative oblique nominative oblique

aḥada ‘ashar
aḥada ‘ashara
iḥdá ‘ashrata

11
‫َأ َح َد َع َش ر‬ ‫َأ َح َد َع َش َر‬ ‫إ ْح َد ى َع ْش رَة‬

ithnā ‘ashar
ithnā ‘ashara
ithnay ‘ashara
ithnatā ‘ashrata
ithnatay ‘ashratan

12
‫ِا ْث َنا َع َش ر‬ ‫ِا ْث َنا َع َش َر‬ ‫ِا ْث َن ْي َع َش َر‬ ‫ِا ْث َنَت ا َع ْش رَة‬ ‫ِا ْث َنَت ْي َع ْش رَة‬

thalāthata ‘ashar
thalāthata ‘ashara
thalātha ‘ashrata

13
‫َث اَل َثَة َع َش ر‬ ‫َث اَل َثَة َع َش َر‬ ‫َث اَل َث َع ْش رَة‬

Unit ary numbers from 20 on (i.e. 20, 30, ... 90, 100, 1000, 1000000, et c.) behave ent irely as nouns,
showing t he case required by t he surrounding synt ax, no gender agreement , and a following noun
in a fixed case. 20 t hrough 90 require t heir noun t o be in t he accusat ive singular; 100 and up
require t he genit ive singular. The unit ary numbers t hemselves decline in various fashions:

‘ishrūna "20" t hrough tis‘ūna "90" decline as masculine plural nouns

mi’at- "100" (‫ِم َئة‏‬‎or ‫ِم اَئة‏‬‎) declines as a feminine singular noun

alf- "1,000" (‫َأ ْلف‬‎) declines as a masculine singular noun

The numbers 20-99 are expressed wit h t he unit s preceding t he t ens. There is agreement in
gender wit h t he numerals 1 and 2, and polarit y for numerals 3–9. The whole const ruct is followed
by t he accusat ive singular indefinit e.

20 ‘ishrūna ( ‫ِع ْش ُر وَن‬‎) (plural of 10)

21 wāḥidun wa-‘ishrūna ( ‫) َو ا ِح ٌد َو ِع ْش ُر وَن‬

22 ithnāni wa-‘ishrūna ( ‫)اْث َناِن َو ِع ْش ُر وَن‬

23 thalāthatu wa-‘ishrūna ( ‫)َث اَل َثُة َو ِع ْش ُر وَن‬

30 thalāthūna ( ‫)َث اَل ُت وَن‬‎

40 arba‘ūna (‫َأ ْر َبُع وَن‏‬‎)

mi’at- "100" and alf- "1,000" can t hemselves be modified by numbers (t o form numbers such as
200 or 5,000) and will be declined appropriat ely. For example, mi’atāni "200" and alfāni "2,000"
wit h dual endings; thalāthatu ālāfin "3,000" wit h alf in t he plural genit ive, but thalāthu mi’atin "300"
since mi’at- appears t o have no plural.
In compound numbers, t he number formed wit h t he last t wo digit s dict at es t he declension of
t he associat ed noun, e.g. 212, 312, and 54,312 would all behave like 12.

Large compound numbers can have, e.g.:

‫ َأ ْلٌف َو ِت ْس ُع ِم َئٍة َو ِت ْس ُع ِس ِن يَن‬alfun wa-tis‘u mi’atin wa-tis‘u sinīna "1,909 years"

‫ َبْع َد َأ ْلٍف َو ِت ْس ِع ِم َئٍة َو ِت ْس ِع ِس ِن يَن‬ba‘da alfin wa-tis‘i mi’atin wa-tis‘i sinīna "aft er 1,909 years"
‫ َأ ْرَبَع ٌة َو ِت ْس ُع وَن َأ ْل ًف ا َو َث َم اِن ي ِم َئٍة َو َث اَل ٌث َو ِس ُّت وَن َس َنًة‬arba‘atun wa-tis‘ūna alfan wa-thamānī mi’atin wa-
thalāthun wa-sittūna sanatan "94,863 years"

‫ َبْع َد َأ ْرَبَعٍة َو ِت ْس ِع يَن َأ ْل ًف ا َو َث َم اِن ي ِم َئٍة َو َث اَل ٍث َو ِس ِّت يَن َس َنًة‬ba‘da arba‘atin wa-tis‘īna alfan wa-thamānī mi’atin
wa-thalāthin wa-sittīna sanatan "aft er 94,863 years"

‫ ِا ْث َنا َع َش َر َأ ْل ًف ا َو ِم َئ َت اِن َو ٱْث َنَت اِن َو ِع ْش ُر وَن َس َنًة‬iṯnā ‘ašara alfan wa-mi’atāni wa-thnatāni wa-‘ishrūna sanatan
"12,222 years"

‫ َبْع َد ٱْث َن ْي َع َش َر َأ ْل ًف ا َو ِم َئ َت ْي ِن َو ٱْث َنَت ْي ِن َو ِع ْش ريَن َس َنًة‬ba‘da thnay ‘ashara alfan wa-mi’atayni wa-thnatayni
wa-‘ishrīna sanatan "aft er 12,222 years"
‫َأ ْل‬
‫ ِا ْث َنا َع َش َر ًف ا َو ِم َئ َت اِن َو َس َنَت اِن‬ithnā ‘ashara alfan wa-mi’atāni wa-sanatāni "12,202 years"
‫َأ ْل‬
‫ َبْع َد ٱْث َن ْي َع َش َر ًف ا َو ِم َئ َت ْي ِن َو َس َنَت ْي ِن‬ba‘da thnay ‘ashara alfan wa-mi’atayni wa-sanatayni "aft er 12,202
years"

Not e also t he special const ruct ion when t he final number is 1 or 2:

alfu laylatin wa-laylatun "1,001 night s"

‫َأ ْلُف َل َلٍة َو َل َلٌٌة‬

‫ْي‬ ‫ْي‬

mi’atu kitābin wa-kitābāni "102 books"

‫َئُة‬
‫ِم ا ِك َت اٍب َو ِك َت اَباِن‬
Fractions

Fractions of a whole smaller t han "half" are expressed by t he st ruct ure fi‘l (‫ )ِف ْع ل‬in t he singular,
af‘āl (‫ )َأْف َع ال‬in t he plural.

half niṣfun ( ‫ِنْص ٌف‬‎)

one-t hird thulthun (‫ُث ْلٌث ‏‬‎)

t wo-t hirds thulthāni (‫ُث ْلَث اِن‏‬‎)

one-fourt h rub‘un (‫ُر ْبٌع‏‬‎)

 t hree-fourt hs thalāthatu arbā‘in ( ‫)َث اَل َثُة َأ ْر َباٍع‬

et c.

Ordinal numerals

Ordinal numerals (‫ األعداد الترتيبية‬al-a‘dād al-tartībīyah) higher t han "second" are formed using t he
st ruct ure fā‘ilun, fā‘ilatun, t he same as act ive part iciples of Form I verbs:

m. ‫ َأ َّو ُل‬awwalu, f. ‫ ُأ و َلى‬ūlá "first "

m. ‫ َث اٍن‬thānin (definit e form: ‫ َا لَّث اِن ُي‬al-thānī), f. ‫ َث اِن َي ٌة‬thāniyatun "second"

m. ‫ َث ا ِل ٌث‬thālithun, f. ‫ َث ا ِل َث ٌة‬thālithatun "t hird"

m. ‫ َر اِبٌع‬rābi‘un, f. ‫ َر اِب َع ٌة‬rābi‘atun "fourt h"

m. ‫ َخ اِم ٌس‬khāmisun, f. ‫ َخ اِم َس ٌة‬khāmisatun "fift h"

m. ‫ َس اِد ٌس‬sādisun, f. ‫ َس اِد َس ٌة‬sādisatun "sixt h"

m. ‫ َس اِبٌع‬sābi‘un, f. ‫ َس اِب َع ٌة‬sābi‘atun "sevent h"

m. ‫ َث اِم ٌن‬thāminun, f. ‫ َث اِم َنٌة‬thāminatun "eight h"

m. ‫ َت اِس ٌع‬tāsi‘un, f. ‫ َت اِس َع ٌة‬tāsi‘atun "nint h"

m. ‫‘ َع اِش ٌر‬āshirun, f. ‫‘ َع اِش َر ٌة‬āshiratun "t ent h"

They are adject ives, hence t here is agreement in gender wit h t he noun, not polarit y as wit h t he
cardinal numbers. Not e t hat "sixt h" uses a different , older root t han t he number six.

Verbs
Arabic Verb Chart

Arabic verbs (‫ فعل‬fi‘l), like t he verbs in ot her Semit ic languages, are ext remely complex. Verbs in
Arabic are based on a root made up of t hree or four consonant s (called a t rilit eral or quadrilit eral
root , respect ively). The set of consonant s communicat es t he basic meaning of a verb, e.g. k-t -b
'writ e', q-r-’ 'read', ’-k-l 'eat '. Changes t o t he vowels in bet ween t he consonant s, along wit h
prefixes or suffixes, specify grammat ical funct ions such as t ense, person and number, in addit ion
t o changes in t he meaning of t he verb t hat embody grammat ical concept s such as mood (e.g.
indicat ive, subjunct ive, imperat ive), voice (act ive or passive), and funct ions such as causat ive,
int ensive, or reflexive.

Since Arabic lacks an auxiliary verb "t o have", const ruct ions using li-, ‘inda, and ma‘a wit h t he
pronominal suffixes are used t o describe possession. For example: ‫( عنده بيت‬ʿindahu bayt) -
lit erally: At him (is) a house. → He has a house.

For t he negat ion of Arabic verbs, see Negat ion in Arabic.

Prepositions
Common prepositions
Arabic English

‫ب ـ‏‬‎bi- wit h, in, at

‫ت ـ‏‬‎ta- only used in t he expression ‫ تٱِهلل‬tallāhi 'I swear t o God'

‫ َل‏ـ‬‎la- cert ainly (also used before verbs)

‫ ِل ـ‏‬‎li- t o, for

‫ك ـ‏‬‎ka- like, as

‫ف ـ‏‬‎fa- [and] t hen

‫ِإ َلى‏‬‎’ilá t o, t owards

True

‫ َح َّت ى‏‬‎ḥattá unt il, up t o

prepositions
‫َع َلى‏‬‎‘alá on, over; against

‫َع ن‏‬‎‘an from, about

‫ِف ي‏‬‎fī in, at

‫َم َع‏‬‎ma‘a[a] wit h, along wit h

‫ِم ن‏‬‎min from; t han

‫ُم ْن ُذ‏‬‎mundhu since

‫ُم ْذ‏‬‎mudh since

Semi-prepositions ‫َأ ماَم‏‬‎’amāma in front of

‫َب ْي َن‏‬‎bayna bet ween, among

‫َت ْح َت‏‬‎taḥta under, below

‫ َح ْو َل ‏‬‎ḥawla around

‫خاِرَج‏‬‎khārija out side

‫ ِخ الَل ‏‬‎khilāla during

‫دا ِخ َل ‏‬‎dākhila inside

‫ُد وَن‏‬‎dūna wit hout

‫ِض َّد‏‬‎ḍidda against

‫ِع ْن َد‏‬‎‘inda on t he part of; at ; at t he house of; in t he possession of

‫َف ْو َق ‏‬‎fawqa above

‫َم َع‏‬‎ma‘a wit h

 ‫ِم ْث َل ‏‬‎mithla like

‫ َو راَء‏‬‎warā’a behind

There are t wo t ypes of preposit ions, based on whet her t hey arise from t he t riconsonant al root s
syst em or not . The 't rue preposit ions' ( ‫ ُح ُر وف َاْل َج ّر‬ḥurūf al-jarr) do not st em from t he
t riconsonant al root s. These t rue preposit ions cannot have preposit ions preceding t hem, in
cont rast t o t he derived t rilit eral preposit ions. True preposit ions can also be used wit h cert ain
verbs t o convey a part icular meaning. For example, ‫ َبَح َث‬baḥatha means "t o discuss" as a
t ransit ive verb, but can mean "t o search for" when followed by t he preposit ion ‫‘ َع ْن‬an, and "t o do
research about " when followed by ‫ ِف ي‬fī.

The preposit ions arising from t he t rilit eral root syst em are called "adverbs of place and t ime" in
t he nat ive t radit ion (‫ ُظ ُر وف َم َكان َو ُظ ُر وف َز َم ان‬ẓurūf makān wa-ẓurūf zamān) and work very much in
t he same way as t he 't rue' preposit ions.[14]

A noun following a preposit ion t akes t he genit ive case.[15] However, preposit ions can t ake whole
clauses as t heir object t oo if succeeded by t he conjunct ions ‫’ َأ ْن‬an or ‫’ َأ َّن‬anna, in which case t he
subject of t he clause is in t he nominat ive or t he accusat ive respect ively.

Syntax

Genitive construction (iḍāfah)

A noun may be defined more precisely by adding anot her noun immediat ely aft erwards. In Arabic
grammar, t his is called ‫ ِإ َض اَف ة‬iḍāfah ("annexat ion, addit ion") and in English is known as t he "genit ive
const ruct ", "const ruct phrase", or "annexat ion st ruct ure". The first noun must be in t he const ruct
form while, when cases are used, t he subsequent noun must be in t he genit ive case. The
const ruct ion is t ypically equivalent t o t he English const ruct ion "(noun) of (noun)". This is a very
widespread way of forming possessive const ruct ions in Arabic,[16] and is t ypical of a Semit ic
language.[17]

Simple examples include:

‫ ِب ْنُت َح َس ٍن‬bintu Ḥasan "t he daught er of Hasan/Hasan's daught er".

‫ َد اُر الَّس َالِم‬dāru‿s-salām "t he house of peace".
‫ُل‬
‫ ِك ي و َم ْو ٍز‬kīlū mawz "a kilo of bananas".
 ‫ َب ْي ُت َر ُج ٍل‬baytu‿rajul "t he house of a man/a man's house".

‫ َب ْي ُت ٱ لَّر ُج ِل‬baytu‿r-rajul "t he house of t he man/t he man's house".

The range of relat ionships bet ween t he first and second element s of t he idafah const ruct ion is
very varied, t hough it usually consist s of some relat ionship of possession or belonging.[18] In t he
case of words for cont ainers, t he idāfah may express what is cont ained: ‫ ِف ْن َج اُن َق ْه َو ٍة‬finjānu
qahwatin "a cup of coffee". The idāfah may indicat e t he mat erial somet hing is made of: ‫َخ اَت ُم َخ َش ٍب‬
khātamu khashabin "a wooden ring, ring made of wood". In many cases t he t wo members
become a fixed coined phrase, t he idafah being used as t he equivalent of a compound noun used
in some Indo-European languages such as English. Thus ‫ َب ْي ُت ٱ لَّط َلَبِة‬baytu al-ṭalabati can mean
"house of t he (cert ain, known) st udent s", but is also t he normal t erm for "t he st udent host el".

Word order

Classical Arabic t ends t o prefer t he word order VSO (verb before subject before object ) rat her
t han SVO (subject before verb). Verb init ial word orders like in Classical Arabic are relat ively rare
across t he world's languages, occurring only in a few language families including Celt ic,
Aust ronesian, and Mayan. The alt ernat ion bet ween VSO and SVO word orders in Arabic result s in
an agreement asymmet ry: t he verb shows person, number, and gender agreement wit h t he
subject in SVO const ruct ions but only gender (and possibly person) agreement in VSO, t o t he
exclusion of number.[19]

Full agreement: SVO order [20]

‫َاْل ُم َع ِّل ُم وَن َق َر ُؤ وا ٱ ْل ِك َت اَب‬
al-mu‘allimūna qara’u l-kitāb
t he-t eachers-m.pl.nom read.past-3.m.pl t he-book-acc
'The (male) t eachers read t he book.'

‫َاْل ُم َع ِّل َم اُت َق َر ْأ َن ٱ ْل ِك َت اَب‬

al-mu‘allimātu qara’na l-kitāb
t he-t eachers-f.pl-nom read.past-3.f.pl t he-book-acc
'The (female) t eachers read t he book.'
 Partial agreement: VSO order
‫َق َر َأ ٱ ْل ُم َع ِّل ُم وَن ٱ ْل ِك َت اَب‬
qara’a l-mu‘allimūna l-kitāb
read.past-3m.sg t he-t eacher-m.pl.nom t he-book-acc
'The (male) t eachers read t he book.'

‫َق َر َأ ْت ٱ ْل ُم َع ِّل َم اُت ٱ ْل ِك َت اَب‬

qara’at al-mu‘allimātu l-kitāb
read.past-3.f.sg t he-t eacher-f.pl-nom t he-book-acc
'The (female) t eachers read t he book.'

Despit e t he fact t hat t he subject in t he lat t er t wo above examples is plural, t he verb lacks plural
marking and inst ead surfaces as if it was in t he singular form.

Though early account s of Arabic word order variat ion argued for a flat , non-configurat ional
grammat ical st ruct ure,[21][22] more recent work[20] has shown t hat t here is evidence for a VP
const it uent in Arabic, t hat is, a closer relat ionship bet ween verb and object t han verb and
subject . This suggest s a hierarchical grammat ical st ruct ure, not a flat one. An analysis such as
t his one can also explain t he agreement asymmet ries bet ween subject s and verbs in SVO versus
VSO sent ences, and can provide insight int o t he synt act ic posit ion of pre- and post -verbal
subject s, as well as t he surface synt act ic posit ion of t he verb.

In t he present t ense, t here is no overt copula in Arabic. In such clauses, t he subject t ends t o
precede t he predicat e, unless t here is a clear demarcat ing pause bet ween t he t wo, suggest ing a
marked informat ion st ruct ure.[20] It is a mat t er of debat e in Arabic lit erat ure whet her t here is a
null present t ense copula which synt act ically precedes t he subject in verbless sent ences, or
whet her t here is simply no verb, only a subject and predicat e.[23][24][25][26][27][28]

Subject pronouns are normally omit t ed except for emphasis or when using a part iciple as a verb
(part iciples are not marked for person). Because t he verb agrees wit h t he subject in person,
number, and gender, no informat ion is lost when pronouns are omit t ed. Auxiliary verbs precede
main verbs, preposit ions precede t heir object s, and nouns precede t heir relat ive clauses.

Adject ives follow t he noun t hey are modifying, and agree wit h t he noun in case, gender, number,
and st at e: For example, ‫ َف َت اٌة َج ِم يَلٌة‬fatātun jamīlatun 'a beaut iful girl' but ‫ َاْل َف َت اُة ٱ ْل َج ِم يَلُة‬al-fatātu al-
jamīlatu 't he beaut iful girl'. (Compare ‫ َاْل َف َت اُة َج ِم يَلٌة‬al-fatātu jamīlatun 't he girl is beaut iful'.) Elat ive
adject ives, however, usually don't agree wit h t he noun t hey modify, and somet imes even precede
t heir noun while requiring it t o be in t he genit ive case.

’inna

The subject of a sent ence can be t opicalized and emphasized by moving it t o t he beginning of
t he sent ence and preceding it wit h t he word ‫ ِإَّن‬inna 'indeed' (or 'verily' in older t ranslat ions). An
example would be ‫ ِإَّن ٱلَّس َم اَء َز ْر َق اُء‬inna s-samā’a zarqā’(u) 'The sky is blue indeed'.

’Inna, along wit h it s relat ed t erms (or ‫َأ َخ َو ات‏‬‎’akhawāt "sist er" t erms in t he nat ive t radit ion) ‫َأ َّن‏‬‎anna
't hat ' (as in "I t hink t hat ..."), inna 't hat ' (aft er ‫َق اَل ‏‬‎qāla 'say'), ‫ َو ٰل ِك َّن‏‬‎(wa-)lākin(na) 'but ' and ‫َكَأ َّن‏‬‎ka-anna
'as if' int roduce subject s while requiring t hat t hey be immediat ely followed by a noun in t he
accusat ive case, or an at t ached pronominal suffix.

Arabic English

‫ِإَّن‏‬‎'inna indeed

‫َأ َّن‏‬‎'anna t hat (followed by noun clause)

‫ِإ َّن َو َأ َخ َو اُت َه ا‬ ‫َكَأ َّن‏‬‎ka'anna as, as t hough

‫ل ِك ‏‬‎lakinna but
'inna wa ’akhawātuha ‫َّن‬
‫ َلْي َت‏‬‎layta t o express a wish or desire

‫ َلَع َّل ‏‬‎la'alla perhaps

‫اَل ‏‬‎lā t here is no, t here is not

Definite article

As a part icle, al- does not inflect for gender, number, person, or grammat ical case. The sound of
t he final -l consonant , however, can vary; when followed by a sun let t er such as t , d, r, s, n and a
few ot hers, it is replaced by t he sound of t he init ial consonant of t he following noun, t hus
doubling it . For example: for "t he Nile", one does not say al-Nīl, but an-Nīl. When followed by a
moon let t er, like m-, no replacement occurs, as in al-masjid ("t he mosque"). This affect s only t he
pronunciat ion and not t he spelling of t he art icle.

Absolute object (al-maf'ūl al-muṭlaq)

The absolut e object (‫ المفعول المطلق‬al-maf'ūl al-muṭlaq) is an emphat ic cognat e object
const ruct ion in which a verbal noun derived from t he main verb appears in t he accusat ive (‫منصوب‬
manṣūb) case.[29]

Arabic transliteration English

‫ضحك الولد ضحكا‬ dahaka l-waladu dahikan The boy laughed much.

‫تدور األرض حول الشمس في‬ t aduru l-'ardu hawla sh-shamsi fi s- The eart h revolves around t he
‫السنة دورة واحدة‬ sanat i dawrat an wahida sun once a year.

‫أحبك حبا جما‬ uhibbuki hubban jamman I love you so much.

Object of purpose (al-maf'ūl li-'ajlihi)

The object of purpose (‫ المفعول ألجله‬al-maf'ūl li-'ajlihi) is an adverbial st ruct ure used t o indicat e
purpose, mot ive, or reason for an act ion.[30] It consist s of a verbal noun derived from t he main
verb t hat appears in t he accusat ive (‫ منصوب‬manṣūb) case.[30] It is followed immediat ely by a
preposit ional phrase.

Arabic transliteration English

t araka baladahu baht han an ar- He left his count ry in search of

‫ترك بلده بحثا عن الرزق‬
rizq sust enance.

‫ ذهبت إلى الجامعة طلبا‬dhahabat ila l-jāmi'at i t alban lil- She went t o t he universit y seeking
‫للعلم‬ 'ilm knowledge.

‫كتب لحبيبته رسالة‬ kat aba li-habibat ih risalat an He wrot e his beloved a let t er out of love
‫عشقا لها‬ 'ishqan laha for her.

Dynasty or family

Some people, especially in t he region of Arabia, when t hey are descended from a famous
ancest or, st art t heir last name wit h ‫آل‬, a noun meaning "family" or "clan", like t he dynast y Al Saud
(family of Saud) or Al ash-Sheikh (family of t he Sheikh). ‫ آل‬is dist inct from t he definit e art icle ‫ال‬.

Arabic meaning transcription example

‫ال‬ t he al- Mayt ham al-Tammar

‫آل‬ family/clan of Al, Aal Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

‫أهل‬ t ribe/people of Ahl Ahl al-Bayt

Other

Object pronouns are clit ics and are at t ached t o t he verb; e.g., ‫ َأ َر اَها‬arā-hā 'I see her'. Possessive
pronouns are likewise at t ached t o t he noun t hey modify; e.g., ‫ ِك َت اُب ُه‬kitābu-hu 'his book'. The
definit e art icle ‫ َا لـ‬al- is a clit ic, as are t he preposit ions ‫ ِل ـ‬li- 't o' and ‫ ِب ـ‬bi- 'in, wit h' and t he
conjunct ions ‫ َكـ‬ka- 'as' and ‫ َف ـ‬fa- 't hen, so'.

Reform of the Arabic tradition

An overhaul of t he nat ive syst emat ic cat egorizat ion of Arabic grammar was first suggest ed by
t he medieval philosopher al-Jāḥiẓ, t hough it was not unt il t wo hundred years lat er when Ibn Maḍāʾ
wrot e his Refutation of the Grammarians t hat concret e suggest ions regarding word order and
linguist ic governance were made.[31] In t he modern era, Egypt ian lit t erat eur Shawqi Daif renewed
t he call for a reform of t he commonly used descript ion of Arabic grammar, suggest ing t o follow
t rends in West ern linguist ics inst ead.[32]

See also

Arabic language

List of Arabic dict ionaries

I‘rab

Lit erary Arabic

Variet ies of Arabic

Arabic alphabet

Quranic Arabic Corpus

Romanizat ion of Arabic

Wikt ionary: appendix on Arabic verbs

WikiBook: Learn Arabic

Sibawayh

Ibn Adjurrum

Ajārūmīya
 Ibn Malik

Alfiya

Notes

a. Some grammarians classify the word ‫ َم َع‬as a noun, not a preposition.[12][13]

References

1. Kojiro Nakamura, "Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians." Orient, v. 10, pgs. 89-113. 1974

2. Monique Bernards, "Pioneers of Arabic Linguistic Studies." Taken from In the Shadow of Arabic: The
Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture, pg. 213. Ed. Bilal Orfali. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011.
ISBN 9789004215375

3. Goodchild, Philip. Difference in Philosophy of Religion, 2003. Page 153.

4. Archibald Sayce, Introduction to the Science of Language. Pg. 28, 1880.

5. al-Aṣmaʿī (http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/38758/al-Asmai#ref190690) at the

Encyclopædia Britannica Online. ©2013 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. Accessed 10 June 2013.

6. Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 5, pg. 174, fascicules 81-82. Eds. Clifford Edmund Bosworth, E. van Donzel,
Bernard Lewis and Charles Pellat. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1980. ISBN 9789004060562

7. Arik Sadan, The Subjunctive Mood in Arabic Grammatical Thought, pg. 339. Volume 66 of Studies in
Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012. ISBN 9789004232952

8. "Sibawayh, His Kitab, and the Schools of Basra and Kufa." Taken from Changing Traditions: Al-
Mubarrad's Refutation of Sībawayh and the Subsequent Reception of the Kitāb, pg. 12. Volume 23 of
Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Ed. Monique Bernards. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997.
ISBN 9789004105959

9. Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, pg. 350. Leiden: Brill Archive, 1954.
New edition 1980.

10. Alaa Elgibali and El-Said M. Badawi. Understanding Arabic: Essays in Contemporary Arabic Linguistics
in Honor of El-Said M. Badawi, 1996. Page 105.

11. Kees Versteegh, The Arabic Language (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997), p. 90.

12. Wright, William. A Grammar of the Arabic Language (https://archive.org/details/WrightsArabicGrammar

2Of2/page/n89/mode/2up) . 2 (3rd ed.). Librarie Du Liban. p. 165. "‫ مع‬is, as the Arab grammarians
remark, properly the accusative of a noun, signifying association, connexion."

13. Drissner, Gerald (2015). Arabic for Nerds. Berlin, Germany: createspace. p. 65. ISBN 978-1517538385.
14. Ryding, Karin C. (2005). A reference grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (6th printing ed.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University press. p. 366. ISBN 978-0521777711.

15. Fischer, Wolfdietrich (2002). A Grammar of Classical Arabic. Translated by Rodger, Jonathan (3rd ed.).
Yale University Press. p. 153.

16. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2005), pp. 205-24 [§8.1].

17. Adam Pospíšil, 'The Idafa construction in Arabic and its morphosyntactic behaviour (https://dspace.cun
i.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/76386/BPTX_2011_2_11210_0_313970_0_126955.pdf?sequenc
e=1) ' (unpublished BA thesis, Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2015), §7.1.

18. Karin C. Ryding, A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2005), pp. 206-11 [§8.1.1].

19. Benmamoun, Elabbas 1992. “Structural conditions on agreement.” Proceedings of NELS (North-Eastern
Linguistic Society) 22: 17-32.

20. Benmamoun, Elabbas. 2015. Verb-initial orders, with a special emphasis on Arabic. Syncom, 2 edition

21. Bakir, Murtadha. 1980. Aspects of clause structure in Arabic. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University,
Bloomington.

22. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 1982. Linguistique Arabe: Forme et Interprétation. Rabat, Morocco,
Publications de la Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines.

23. Jelinek, Eloise. 1981. On Defining Categories: Aux and Predicate in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Doctoral
dissertation. University of Arizona, Tucson.

24. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 1993. Issues in the Structure of Arabic Clauses and Words. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

25. Shlonsky, Ur 1997. Clause Structure and Word order in Hebrew and Arabic: An Essay in Comparative
Semitic Syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

26. Heggie, Lorie. 1988. The Syntax of Copular Structures. Doctoral dissertation. USC, Los Angeles.

27. Benmamoun, Elabbas. 2000. The Feature Structure of Functional Categories: A Comparative Study of
Arabic Dialects. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

28. Aoun, Joseph, Elabbas Benmamoun, and Lina Choueiri. 2010. The Syntax of Arabic. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

29. "Quranic Grammar - Cognate Accusatives" (https://corpus.quran.com/documentation/cognateaccusati

ve.jsp) . corpus.quran.com. Retrieved 2021-05-28.

30. "Quranic Grammar - The Accusative of Purpose" (https://corpus.quran.com/documentation/purposeacc

usative.jsp) . corpus.quran.com. Retrieved 2021-05-28.

31. Shawqi Daif, Introduction to Ibn Mada's Refutation of the Grammarians (Cairo, 1947), p. 48.
32. "The Emergency of Modern Standard Arabic," (http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=1&rea
ding_id=35&print=1) by Kees Versteegh. Taken from The Arabic Language by permission of the
Edinburgh University Press. 1997.

External links

Arabic conjugation 24000 Verbs (ht t ps://play.google.com/st ore/apps/det ails?id=com.almared.

t arif)

Wright's Arabic Grammar (ht t ps://archive.org/det ails/Wright sArabicGrammar2Of2)

Arabic Grammar: Paradigms, Lit erat ure, Exercises and Glossary By Albert Socin (ht t ps://archive.
org/det ails/arabicgrammarpa00kenngoog/page/n134)

A Pract ical Arabic Grammar, Part 1 (ht t ps://books.google.com/books?id=ex4UAAAAYAAJ&pg=

PA183)

Einleit ung in das st udium der arabischen grammat iker: Die Ajrūmiyyah des Muh'ammad bin Daūd
By Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad Ibn Ājurrūm (ht t ps://books.google.com/books?id=BkEYAAAAYA
AJ&pg=PA50)

Alexis Neme and Eric Laporte (2013) Pattern-and-root inflectional morphology: the Arabic broken
plural |year=2013 (ht t ps://halshs.archives-ouvert es.fr/hal-00831338)

Alexis Neme (2011), A lexicon of Arabic verbs constructed on the basis of Semitic taxonomy
and using finite-state transducers (ht t p://alpage.inria.fr/~sagot /woler2011/WoLeR2011/Progra
m_ &_ Proceedings_ files/WoLeR%202011%20-%20Neme.pdf)

Alexis Neme and Eric Laporte (2015), Do computer scientists deeply understand Arabic
morphology? - ‫هل يفهم المهندسون الحاسوبّي ون علم الصرف فهًم ا عمي ًق ا؟‬, available also in Arabic,
Indonesian, French (ht t ps://www.academia.edu/13002690/Do_ comput er_ scient ist s_ deeply_ u
nderst and_ t he_ t radit ional_ Arabic_ morphology_ %D9%87%D9%84_ %D9%8A%D9%81%D9%8
7%D9%85_ %D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%86_ %
D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%91%D9%88%D9%
86_ %D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85_ %D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%81_ %D9%81%D9%8
7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%8B_ %D8%B9%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%8B_ )
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