The noun in Arabic

Introduction

 

 

The nouns اَلْإِسْمُ are divided into two kinds:

 

 

النَّكِرَةُ – Indefinite

 

 

المَعْرِفَةُ – definite

 

 

 

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Definite nouns – الأَسْماءُ المَعْرِفَة

 

Definite nouns are proper names given to a certain person, place, or object.

 

Example:

 

 

نُوْحٌ – Noah

 

 

حَامِدٌ – Hamid

 

 

أَحْمَدُ – Ahmed

 

 

إِبْراهِيْمُ – Ibrahim

 

Important characteristics of a noun

 

 

بَيْتٌ – a house

 

 

كُرْسِيٌّ – a chair

 

 

قَلَمٌ – a pen

 

 

كِتَابٌ – un crayon

 

 

رَسُولٌ – un messager

 

2. There are two conditions in which the nunnation (tanween) is dropper:

 

  • The indefinite noun can be changed to definite by adding the prefix

اَلْ

 

 

اَلْ +بِنْتٌ = اَلْبِنْتُ 

The + girl = The girl

 

 

اَلْ + نَبَأٌ = النَّبَأُ

The + news = The news

 

 

اَلْ + فَاكِهَةٌ = اَلْفَاكِهَةُ 

The + fruit = The fruit

 

 

اَلْ + مَالِكٌ = اَلْمَالِكُ

The + ruler = The ruler

 

 

اِلْ + فِضَّةٌ = اَلفِضَّةُ 

The + silver = The silver

 

 

اَلْ + يَوْمٌ = اَلْيَوْمُ 

The + day = The day

 

نَارٌ + اَللَّهُ = نَارُ اللَّهِ

Fire + Allah = Fire of Allah

 

رَسُولٌ + اَللّهُ = رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ

 Messenger + Allah = Messenger of Allah

 

أَصْحَابٌ + اَلْقُبُورُ = أَصْحَابُ الْقُبُورِ

People + the grave = People of the grave

 

كِتَابٌ + كُمْ = كِتَابُكُم

Book  + you = Your book (plural)

 

بَيْتٌ + كَ = بَيْتُكَ

House + your = Your house (singular)

The Noun cases in Arabic

 

 

Nominative case – اَلْمَرْفُوع / حَالَةُ الرَّفْعِ

 

 

The nominative case is when the noun is the subject (doer of the verb) of the sentence, it will bear dammah :

 

or tanween dammah :

 

The noun with dammah will be in the nominative case.

 

Examples:

 

 

قَالَ نُوحٌ رَّبِّ

Noah Said (71:21)

 

 

وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

And the moon was split (54:1)

 

وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌAnd a caravan came (12:19)

 

 

Accusative case – حَالَةُ النَّصَبِ/الْمَنْصُوبُ

 

The accusative case is when the noun is the object of the sentence, it will bear fatha:

or tanwin fatha:

Here the noun will be in the accusative case.

 

Examples:

 

جَعَلَ اللَّـهُ الْكَعْبَةَ

Allah has made the Kaaba (5:97)

 

 وَضَرَبَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا

And Allah sets forth an example (66:11)

 

فَبَعَثَ اللَّـهُ غُرَابًا

“Then Allah sent a crow” (5:31)

Genitive case – الْمَجْرُورُ / حَالَةُ الْجارِّ

 

Genitive case: if a preposition precedes the noun, it will bear kasrah:

or tanween kasrah:

Here the noun will be in the genitive case.

Examples:

 

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

“From the evil of that which He has created” (113:2)

 

فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ 

“then he will lead a life of pleasure” (101:7)

 

عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

“On the straight path” (36:4)

 

 

Exceptions nouns

 

Some nouns such as:

 

زَيْنَبُ, مَرْيَمُ, فِرْعَوْنُ, أَحْمَدُ, إِبْرَاهِيممُ

are exceptions to the rule and therefore do not have nunnation (tanween) nor kasrah in the genitive case:

The genitive case will be denoted by fatha:

Examples:

 

اذْهَبْ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ

Go to Fir’awn; he has certainly rebelled” (79:17)

 

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ

“And mention in the book (about) Maryam.” (19:16)

Usually, non-Arabic names and names with more than 3 letters do not bear nunnation (tanween).

 

Also, nouns used as adjectives denoting colors do not bear nunnation (tanween).

 

Examples:

 

أَحْضَرُ  – green

Green

 

أَسْوَدُ – black

 

أَصْفَرُ – yellow

 

أَحْمَرُ – red

 

أَبْيَضُ – white


 

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ الشَّجَرِ الْأَخْضَرِ نَارًا 

“He it is who made the fire for you from the green trees” (36:80)

 

 

حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ

“You can distinguish the white thread” (2:187)

 

 

This Arabic lesson is now finished. The next one will be insha’Allah about the dual in Arabic.

 

Al-dirassa center offers you the possibility to study the Arabic language easily with a qualified teacher. If you are interested, do not hesitate to consult us.

 

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