THE ARTICLE THE SIMPLE NOMINAL SENTENCE There is no indefinite article in- Arabic, but the presence of nunation at the end of a noun . indicates indefiniteness The definite article in . Arabic is When the definite article is attached to a noun in Arabic, .nunation is removed
The hamza in the definite article is- . This disappears when it follows another word. In pronunciation, the sound I immediately .follows the final sound in the preceding word When the definite article is attached to a noun that begins with certain letters called sunletters, the I of the definite article changes into : the initial letter of the word. These letters are - - Adjectives are placed after the-
nouns they qualify in the Arabic language. The adjectives agrees with the noun it modifies with regards to definiteness and indefiniteness among other things, such as number . and gender When two or more adjectives modifythe same noun it is not necessary to put and between them. However, if the two adjectives form the predicate of a nominal sentence, and is inserted
.between them The singular personal pronouns- : in Arabic are I You (masculine) You (feminine) he/it She/it
The pronouns for he and she inArabic are both used to refer to things (i.e., it) since there is no .neuter in Arabic GENDER There are only two genders in- 1 Arabic, masculine and feminine. . There is no neuter in Arabic There is no special sign for the- 2 masculine. Words are assumed to be masculine unless they belong
: to one of the following categories A- Words that are feminine by virtue of their .meaning B- Words that are feminine by form, i.e., they .end in ta marboota Words ending in ta marboota are assumed to be .feminine, unless known to be otherwise
: C- Words feminine by convention .Geographical names * .Parts of the body
* .Some nouns are feminine for no apparent reason Adjectives must agree with the nouns they- 3 .modify in gender COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Some words have a collective.meaning in their singular form To indicate a single object, thefeminine marker ta marboota is .added DECLENSION OF NOUNS-THE THREE CASES There are three cases in Arabic, andthey are indicated by changing the . vowelling of the final consonant
:The three cases areA. the nominative case it is indicated .with a damma B. the accusative case it is indicated .with a fatha C. the genitive case it is indicated with .a kasra THE GENITIVE OF POSSESSION Every Arabic preposition takes it followingnoun in the genitive. Prepositional : phrase :
When the nominal sentences has aprepositional phrase as a predicate, and the subject is indefinite, the subject is .usually not placed first When a noun is followed by another noun in .the genitive it loses its nunation When the second noun is definite, the first .noun is definite A noun followed by a genitive must not take the article Nothing must interpose between the noun
.and its following genitive If the noun is to be qualified by an adjective, it .must come after the genitive It is possible to form the genitive of possession with an indefinite genitive, but in . such cases the noun remains indefinite
