Arabic Sentences

The aim of this lesson is to enable you to write simple Arabic sentences. Here you will learn about the definite article in Arabic, and using nouns and adjectives to form sentences. There will be three parts: 
(i) Articles, 
(ii) Sentences with Nouns only, and 
(iii) Sentences with Nouns and Adjectives. 


After studying all the three parts you should be able to form simple Arabic sentences with ease. 


Arabic sentences can be classified into two categories: Nominal sentences and Verbal sentences. In this lesson only the first type will be tackled.

Part I: Articles

There are two types of nouns in Arabic: definite and indefinite. So how do we know whether a word is definite or not?

The Indefinite Article in Arabic

In Arabic a noun is indefinite by the mere absence of the definite article; there is no indefinite article in Arabic as in English. So, there is no equivalent for "a". To translate "a boy" for example, we would use only the Arabic equivalent of "boy", leaving out the "a", for which there is no equivalent actually.


The following are examples of indefinite nouns:

Indefinite nouns

Each of the above nouns ends with double vowels (called tanween).

NOTE

• The double vowel can be considered as the "indefinite article" of the Arabic language; similarly to the English "a" it is a vowel, but on the contrary, it comes at the end of a word.
• There is no indefinite article in Arabic. Indefiniteness of a noun is usually indicated by double vowels above/below the last letter.

The Definite article in Arabic


To make an indefinite noun definite in Arabic, you just prefix the definite article to it. The Arabic definite article is اَلْ, and it is the same for both masculine and feminine. Furthermore, it does not change with dual or plural either.

The following are examples of definite nouns:

Notice that each of the above nouns ends with a single vowel. The vowel may not be a (ــُـ), but it must be single. This is because of the اَلْ prefixed to the noun.

NOTE

• You will never come across a noun having both ال and double vowels; either one of the two, or none at all.
  
• The definite article is اَلْ; it is attached to the beginning of indefinite nouns to make them definite.
  
• The same definite article is used with masculine and feminine.
  
• The same definite article is used with singular, dual and plural.
  
• A definite noun will have a single vowel at the end. This does not apply to proper nouns without ال.
  

Part II:  Sentences with Nouns only

The simple Nominal Sentence : Noun + Noun

Earlier in this lesson, you learnt how to make a noun definite. Now, you will learn how to form a simple Arabic sentence using nouns you learnt earlier.


By definition, a nominal sentence is a sentence which starts with a noun. The nominal sentence starts with a definite noun. This first noun is then followed by another noun which is indefinite.

You will have noticed that each of the Arabic sentences above starts with a definite noun followed by an indefinite one. The translation reflects this by the use of "the" and "a" for each noun respectively.


However, there is no mention of the English "is" in the Arabic sentences, whereas the nouns were translated exactly. This brings us to the main difference between English sentences and Arabic sentences: a complete English sentence must contain a verb, whereas a complete Arabic sentence needs not (in fact there is a verb, but it does not show when in the present tense; we'll keep the details for later).


NOTE

• We can form an Arabic sentence using a definite noun followed by an indefinite one.
  
• The verb "to be", when in the present tense, is not translated in Arabic.

Part III:  Sentences with Nouns and  Adjectives

Nominal sentences with adjectives

You learnt earlier a type of nominal sentence made up of two nouns. The first one is definite while the second is indefinite. Now we will study another way of forming a nominal sentence.


In the place of the second noun we will use an adjective (see note below). The adjective must be indefinite. For example,

You will notice that each sentence above starts with a definite noun followed by an adjective (which is indefinite).

NOTE

• In Arabic an adjective is a type of noun, so this type of nominal sentence is actually made up of a definite noun and an indefinite one, like the first kind.
• Note also that, because of the adjective, there is no indefinite article after the verb "to be" in the English translation of the sentences above, as in the first type.

Two or more adjectives

If the first noun is qualified by more than one adjective, we separate them by the conjunction وَ meaning "and".

Nominal sentences with adjectives

English	Arabic
The man is nice and generous	الرَجُلُ طَيِّبٌ وَكَرِيْمٌ
The house is new and beautiful	البيتُ جديدٌ وَجميلٌ

NOTE

• The conjunction وَ is NOT written separately from what follows it.
  
• The second part (noun) of a nominal sentence can be an adjective.
  
• It should be indefinite, unlike the first noun.

The Arabic language

About the Arabic language

Arabic is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language and by 250 million more as a second language. Most native speakers live in the Middle East and North Africa. Different varieties of spoken Arabic exist and differ according to region. Standard Arabic, also called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in the office and the media.

Here are a few facts about the Arabic language:

• It is the official language of more than 200 million people, in 22 countries.
  
• It is now one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
  
• It is the sacred language of Islam, and in it was revealed the Koran - the sacred book of the Muslims.
  
• Arabic is one of the family of Semitic languages.
  
• The Arabic language is more than 1500 years old! Despite being an ancient language, it fits the modern world.
  
• After more than a millenium of existence, it retains its initial form almost intact.
  
• The Arabic writing system is used by other languages as well, such as Persian and Urdu.
  

Read more on the Arabic language.