Arabic Sentence
Patterns
Georgia Center for Language
Sentence Components
Subject: Noun or noun phrase that tells who or
what the sentence addresses

Ex. Harry went to the store.
Predicate: Verb or verb phrase telling what the
subject is or does

Ex. Harry is smart.
Clause: Part of a sentence that contains its own
subject and predicate

Ex. I ran to the store and bought a loaf of bread.
Main Clause
Sub-Clause
Sentence Components
Phrase: Group of related words without a
subject or predicate.



Ex. I went to the store. (Prepositional Phrase)
Ex. Stolen grapes are especially sweet.
(Verbal Phrase)
My brother, a kid at heart, loves to watch
cartoons. (Appositive Phrase)
Parts of Speech
Nouns: Name a person, animal, place, thing, or
idea.

Ex. My uniform is heavy.
Adjectives: Describe or modify nouns and
pronouns

I like bloody steaks.
Adverbs: Modify a verb, adverb, adjective,
phrase, or clause by indicating how, where,
when, or how much

I visited the bathroom frequently after eating that
steak.
Parts of Speech
Verbs: indicate an action or a state of
being


Ex. This building smells funny.
In Arabic, verbs are conjugated for three
things:
Gender: Masculine or Feminine
Person: 1st, 2nd or 3rd
Number: Singular, Plural or Dual
Parts of Speech
Person indicates who the action of the verb
refers to.



1st person Arabic pronouns: ‫انا\نحن‬
َ
2nd person Arabic pronouns: ّ‫انتِ\انتم\انتما\انتن‬
3rd person Arabic pronouns: ّ‫هو\هي\هم\هما\من‬
Number indicates how many members the
subject is made up of.




Singular: Subject is made up of one member
Plural: Subject is made up of multiple members
Dual: Subject is made up of two members
In Arabic, nonhuman plurals are treated as a feminine
singular subject.
Parts of Speech
Pronouns: Replace a noun without specifying a
name




I want my MTV.
Personal Prounouns: I, we, he, she, it, they
Demonstrative Pronouns: This, that, these, those
Relative Pronouns: Who, whose, which
Prepositions: Indicate spatial, temporal or
conceptual relationships between words.


I think of my wife often.
I put the bean up my nose.
Parts of Speech
Conjunctions: Link other words, phrases,
or clauses together

Coordinating Conjunctions
I’ll have the ham and eggs or the pancakes.

Correlative Conjunctions
Whether you like it or not, it has to be done.

Conjunctive Adverbs
He was always jealous of his brother, therefore he
was happy to join the plot against him.
Nominal Sentences
Nominal (or equational) sentences and
clauses consist of two parts
The subject: ‫رجل‬
‫هو‬
And the predicate complement (also called
the predicate nominal): ‫هو رجل‬
The predicate complement describes or
renames the subject of the nominal
sentence. (He is who or what? A man.)
The Nominative Case
Examples of Equational Sentences
I am a teacher.
You are students.
He is a man.
She is pretty.
The car is red.
.‫انا استاذ‬
.‫انتم طُالب‬
.‫هو رجل‬
.‫هي جميلة‬
.‫السيارة حمراء‬
Nominal Sentences
If we were to put the case markings in the
sentence ‫السيارة حمراء‬, the subject of the
sentence would be voweled with a
dhamma ( ِ ), the short vowel used for
nominative case. The subject of any
sentence or clause, and any word or
phrase that modifies the subject, is
voweled in the nominative case (there are
exceptions which we will see later)
‫‪Nominal Sentences‬‬
‫‪Vowel and Translate the Following Sentences:‬‬
‫‪ .1‬الكتاب جديد‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬الطالب جميل‪.‬‬
‫‪ .3‬المدير طالب‪.‬‬
‫‪َ .4‬‬
‫انت مدير‪.‬‬
‫‪ .5‬أنا المدرّ س‪.‬‬
‫‪ .1‬الكتاب جديد‪.‬‬
‫‪ .2‬الطالب جميل‪.‬‬
‫‪ .3‬المدير طالب‪.‬‬
‫‪َ .4‬‬
‫انت مدير‪.‬‬
‫‪ .5‬أنا المدرّ س‪.‬‬
The Genitive Case
The Genitive Case is applied to nouns and
adjectives in the following situations:
Object of a Prepositional Phrase
Second or later term of an Idaafa
(Noun in Construct)
The Genitive Case
The Genitive case is indicated by the
vowel kesra ( ِ ).
The Genitive case is indicated by one
kesra ( ِ ) if the word is definite and two
kesras ( ِ ) if the word is indefinite
(nunation).
The Genitive Case
Object of a Prepositional Phrase
Prepositions position, or locate, another word in
the sentence.
English examples: over, under, around, above,
through, in, on, into
Arabic examples: ..‫ ب‬,..‫ ل‬,‫ الى‬,‫ من‬,‫ في‬,‫ على‬,‫عن‬
‫‪The Genitive Case‬‬
‫‪Examples of Prepositional Phrases‬‬
‫‪Vowel and translate the following‬‬
‫الكتاب على الطاولة‪.‬‬
‫الطالب في البيت‪.‬‬
‫أنت المدير في هذا المكتب‪.‬‬
‫َ‬
‫المكتبة قريبة من الجامعة‪.‬‬
‫الكتاب على الطاولة‪.‬‬
‫ُ‬
‫الطالب في البيت‪.‬‬
‫ُ‬
‫المدير في هذا المكتب‪.‬‬
‫أنت‬
‫َ‬
‫ُ‬
‫المكتبةُ قريبةٌ من الجامعة‪.‬‬
The Idaafa
Function
Form
The Genitive Case
The Idaafa (Noun in Construct)
The Idaafa is used for the following:
To show ownership or possession
To show membership or association
To show a characteristic feature or quality
The Genitive Case
Rules of the Idaafa
An Idaafa consists of two or more nouns*.
ONLY the last term of an Idaafa CAN have the
definite article.
ONLY the last term of an Idaafa CAN take
nunation.
The first term of an Idaafa can be in any case
based on the Idaafa’s function in the sentence, but
it will NOT be nunated.
All terms other than the first term of an Idaafa will
be in the genitive case, regardless of the Idaafa’s
position in the sentence.
The Genitive Case
Examples of the Idaafa
A university professor
The office director
A teacher’s house
The teacher’s house
An office director’s car
The office director’s car
‫أستا ُذ جامعة‬
‫مدير المكتب‬
ُ
‫بيت مدرس‬
ُ
‫بيت المدرس‬
ُ
‫سيارةُ مدير مكتب‬
‫سيارةُ مدير المكتب‬
‫‪The Genitive Case‬‬
‫‪Examples of the Idaafa‬‬
‫‪Vowel and translate the following‬‬
‫كتاب المدير جديد‪.‬‬
‫جديد‪.‬‬
‫كتاب المدير ٌ‬
‫ُ‬
‫مكتبها مكتب كبير‪.‬‬
‫مكتبها‬
‫كبير‪.‬‬
‫ٌ‬
‫ُ‬
‫مكتب ٌ‬
‫مدير هذا المكتب بليد‪.‬‬
‫بليد‪.‬‬
‫مدير هذا المكتب ٌ‬
‫ُ‬
‫دراسة قواعد اللغة العربية ممتعة‪.‬‬
‫دراسةُ قواعد اللغة العربية ممتعةٌ‪.‬‬
‫على مكتب تفاح استاذ‪.‬‬
‫تفاح استاذ‪.‬‬
‫على مكتب ُ‬
The Genitive Case
Constructs not easily recognizable as
Idaafas
The False Idaafa
 This idaafa is functioning as an adjective.
.‫قام الجيش االمريكي بعملية واسعة النطاق في بغداد‬
.‫الجيش االمريكي بعملية واسعة النطاق في بغداد‬
‫قام‬
ُ


The Genitive Case
Constructs not easily recognizable as Idaafas
The Indefinite Idaafa

None of the nouns in this type of Idaafa have
the definite article.
.‫قام الجيش االمريكي بعملية توغل واسعة النطاق في بغداد‬
.‫الجيش االمريكي بعملية توغل واسعة النطاق في بغداد‬
‫قام‬
ُ
The Genitive Case
Constructs not easily recognizable as Idaafas
Idaafas beginning with any, one, some, all, or same.
The Superlative
‫اي كتاب‬
ُّ
‫ايةُ لحظة‬
‫بعض االصدقاء‬
ُ
ُّ
‫كل الكتب‬
‫جميعُ السكان‬
‫نفس الكتاب‬
ُ
.‫احسن طالب‬
‫هو‬
ُ
The Genitive Case
Constructs not easily recognizable as Idaafas

The possessive pronoun ending
Nouns with a possessive pronoun ending are idaafas.
The noun being possessed will take the case appropriate to
its function in the sentence.
.‫المدير في مكتبه‬
.‫المدير في مكتبه‬
.‫سيارته في الشارع‬
.‫سيارتُهُ في الشارع‬
Voweling the Pronoun ‫ه‬
Pronouns starting with ‫) هم \ هما \ ه \ هنّ ( ه‬
are affected by the vowel that precedes
them:
If it is preceded by a kasra, it will take on the kasra
 If it is preceded by a fatha, dhamma, or sukkun, it
keeps its dhamma
Examples:

‫ ه‬+ ‫فيه = في‬
‫ مع‬+ ‫معه = ه‬
‫في مكتبِه‬
The Accusative Case
The Accusative case is indicated by the
vowel fatha ( َِ ).
The Accusative case is indicated by one
fatha ( َِ ) if the word is definite and two
fathas ( ِ or ‫ ) ا‬if the word is indefinite
(nunation).
There are numerous sentence patterns
which require the use of the accusative
case
‫‪Kanna and the Nominal Sentence‬‬
‫كان و اخواتها ‪Predicate Complement following‬‬
‫‪ may be used in nominal sentences‬كان و اخواتها‬
‫‪ are‬كان و اخواتها ‪Predicate complements of sentences using‬‬
‫‪‬‬
‫‪‬‬
‫‪declined (voweled) in the Accusative case.‬‬
‫كانت اختي طالبة جديدة‪.‬‬
‫كان المدير الطالب الجديد‪.‬‬
‫اصبح الجندي رقيب‪.‬‬
‫ما زال االرهاب خطير‪.‬‬
‫ما دامت السيارة معطلة‪.‬‬
‫كانت اختي طالبةً جديدةً‪.‬‬
‫يد‪.‬‬
‫المدير‬
‫كان‬
‫الطالب الجد َ‬
‫َ‬
‫ُ‬
‫الجندي رقيباً‪.‬‬
‫اصبح‬
‫ُ‬
‫هاب خطي اًر‪.‬‬
‫ما زال االر ُ‬
‫ما دامت السيارةُ معطلةً‪.‬‬
Verbal Sentences
When a sentence contains a verb that indicates
an action or state of being, that sentence is
called a verbal sentence.
The verb can be intransitive, i.e. it doesn’t take a
direct object:

‫امتنع الولد عن التدخين‬
Or the verb can be transitive, i.e. it takes a direct
object. The direct object tells us who or what
was affected by the action of the verb:

.‫منع األب ولده عن التدخين‬
Verbal Sentences
When a sentence contains a transitive verb, the
direct object of that verb is declined in the
accusative case:
.‫رمى الولد الكرة‬
.ََ َ‫الولد الكرة‬
ُ ‫رمى‬
.‫كسرت البنت زجاجة‬
.ً‫البنت زجاجة‬
‫كسرت‬
ْ
ُ
.‫اصدرت المنظمة الدولية تقرير‬
.‫اصدرت المنظمةُ الدوليةُ تقري اًر‬
ْ
The Adverb
There is no adverb, as such, in Arabic.
However, derived nouns and adjectives
can function as adverbs in a sentence.
When they do, they are declined in the
accusative:
‫وصل صديقي ماشياً و قال لي ضاحكاً ”سيارتي‬
“.ً‫تعطلت فجأة‬
.ً‫ان تسافر شرقا‬
ْ ‫دائماً تقول َّإنها تريد‬
The Haal Clause
The above sentences contain examples of the
Haal Clause. A Haal clause is a sentence which
contains a main clause + a subordinate clause
which modifies the verb in the main clause. The
Haal clause can be constructed with or without a
verb:

‫درس الطالب العربية و هو يبتسم‬
In the above example, the conjunction ‫ و‬is NOT
being used as the coordinating conjunction
“and”. It is functioning as a conjunctive adverb
that introduces a sub-clause which is modifying
the verb in the main clause.
The Haal Construct
In other words, the sub-clause is
describing how or when the action in the
main clause is being done. The best
translation of ‫ و‬when it’s used to introduce
the adverbial Haal clause is the
conjunctive adverb while, or as:


‫درس الطالب العربية و هو يبتسم‬
The student studied Arabic while smiling (as
he was smiling).
The Haal Construct
You can omit the ‫ و‬and the subject
pronoun in the Haal clause, and the
sentence will mean the same thing:

‫درس الطالب العربية يبتسم‬
You can also replace the verb with the
active participle of that verb and get the
same meaning:

‫درس الطالب العربية و هو مبتسم‬
The Haal Construct
When you replace the verb with the active
participle, you can omit ‫ و‬and the subject
pronoun just as you do with a Haal clause
that uses the verb:

‫درس الطالب العربية مبتسما‬
Notice that when you omit ‫ و‬and the
subject pronoun and you’re using the
active participle, the participle becomes
accusative. Why?
The Haal Clause
‫ و‬+ subject pronoun +
verb
Verb only
‫ و‬+ subject pronoun +
active participle
Active participle in the
accusative
‫درس الطالب العربية و هو‬
‫يبتسم‬
‫درس الطالب العربية يبتسم‬
‫درس الطالب العربية و هو‬
‫مبتسم‬
‫درس الطالب العربية‬
‫مبتسما‬
Other Uses of the Accusative
َّ (‫ لعل‬,‫ ألن‬,‫ لكن‬,‫)أن‬
Subject Following ‫إن و اخواتها‬

The Dummy Pronoun
َّ must be followed by a
Rules state that ‫إن و اخواتها‬
noun or pronoun.
However, it is often preferred to start sentences
and clauses with a verb followed by the subject.
How can this be accomplished?
By using the Dummy Pronoun ‫ ه‬.
Other Uses of the Accusative
Subject of a clause following ‫و اخواتها‬

Ex. Subject/Verb/Object clause:
‫ إن‬- The Dummy Pronoun
َّ ‫ئيس‬
.َ‫الجيش بدأ العملية‬
‫إن‬
َ
ُ ‫قال الر‬
Translation: The president said that the Army began the
operation.

Ex. Verb/Subject/Object clause with the dummy pronoun:
.َ‫الجيش العملية‬
‫ئيس َّإنهُ بدأ‬
ُ
ُ ‫قال الر‬
Translation: The president said that the Army began the
operation.

Note that the translations are the same – the pronoun is not
translated. It is used simply to satisfy the grammar rules of
َّ
‫إن و اخواتها‬.
The pronoun ‫ ه‬attached to these particles is not always
a dummy pronoun.
Ex. .‫ئيس َّإنهُ اصدر االمر لالنسحاب‬
ُ ‫قال الر‬
Translation: The president said that he issued the
order for the withdrawal.
The feminine pronoun suffix ‫ ها‬is never used as
the dummy pronoun, only
‫ه‬
Special Rules for Case
Masculine Sound Plurals
Masculine Sound Plurals (words ending in ‫ون‬
َ
or ‫ين‬
َ ) follow the following rules for case:
 The suffix ‫ون‬
َ is used for the nominative
case.
 The suffix ‫ين‬
َ is used for the accusative
and genitive cases.
 The final vowel (fatha) does not change.
 When functioning as the first term of the
Idaafa, the ‫ ن‬is dropped.
Dual
Masculine Dual forms follow the following
rules:
•The suffix ‫ ان‬is used for the
nominative case.
•The suffix ‫ ين‬is used for the
accusative and genitive cases.
•The final vowel (kesra) does not
change.
• When functioning as the first term
of the Idaafa, the ‫ ن‬is dropped.
Special Rules for Case
Diptotes


Diptotes follow special rules for case endings:
When a diptote is definite, it takes regular case endings.
When a diptote is indefinite it is never nunated.
When a diptote is indefinite, the accusative and genitive will
both be declined with the fatha (without nunation).
Diptotic Patterns
Broken Plurals of the following patterns:
‫ اكابر‬,‫ رؤساء‬,‫ اسابيع‬,‫ فرائد‬,‫ عوامل‬,‫مكاتب‬
All feminine personal names, most masculine personal
names, and most place names are diptotes
See Schulz page 123
Bibliography
All the Arabic You Never Learned the First
Time Around by Jim Price
A Student Grammar of Modern Standard
Arabic by Eckehard Schulz