Lesson 13

In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful.

Assalamu'alaikum and greetings to all.


LESSON 13 SENTENCES

1. In Arabic, there are two basic types of sentences :
1. the nominal sentence, اَلْجُمْلَةُ الْإِسْمِيَّةُ ( aljumlatul ismiah )
2. the verbal sentence, اَلْجُمْلَةُ الْفِعْلِيَّةُ ( aljumlatul fi’liah )
2. Table 26 below shows the differences between the two types of sentences.

TABLE 26 CHARACTERISTICS OF NOMINAL AND VERBAL SENTENCES

NO		NOMINAL SENTENCE	VERBAL SENTENCE
1)	Begins with	nominals	verbs
2)	Content	roles of subject, مُبْتَدَأٌ (mubtada’) and predicate, خَبَرٌ (khabar )	a verb, فِعْلٌ ( fi’il ) and the role of subject, فَاعِلٌ ( fa’il )
3)	Agreement	Kindly see Table 27 and Table 28 below.	Kindly see Table 29, Table 30 and Table 31 below.
4)	Grammative states	if the subject is a noun alone then both the subject and the predicate are in the nominative case. the verb Kaana and the particle Inna bring about certain vowel changes in respect of the subject and the predicate ( which are explained later ).	When the doer is the subject of the verb, the doer assumes the nominative case.
5)	Other remarks	the subject is normally a definite noun and the predicate is usually indefinite.

TABLE 27

The predicate has to agree with its subject in respect of number and gender i.e. if a subject is masculine or feminine singular, dual or plural the predicate should be likewise.
No	NOMINAL SENTENCE	TRANSLITERATION	ENGLISH
1)	اَلْمُهَنْدِسٌ مَاهِرٌ	almuhandisun mahirun	The engineer is expert.
2)	اَلْمُهَنْدِسَانِ مَاهِراَنِ	almuhandisani mahirani	The two engineers are experts.
3)	اَلْمُهَنْدِسُونَ مَاهِرُونَ	almuhandisuna mahiruna	The engineers are experts.

TABLE 28

If the subject is the plural of any irrational noun, the predicate could be singular feminine.
No	NOMINAL SENTENCE	TRANSLITERATION	ENGLISH
1)	اَلْمَدَارِسُ مَفْتُوحَةٌ	almadarisu maftuhatun	The schools are open.

TABLE 29

If the subject is masculine singular, dual or plural, the verb is put in the third person singular masculine.
No	VERBAL SENTENCE	TRANSLITERATION	ENGLISH
1)	ذَهَبَ رَجُلٌ	zahaba rajulun	A man went.
2)	ذَهَبَ رَجُلَانِ	zahaba rajulani	Two men went.
3)	ذَهَبَ رِجَالٌ	zahaba rijalun	Many men went.

TABLE 30

If the subject is feminine singular, dual or plural, the verb is put in the third person singular feminine.
No	VERBAL SENTENCE	TRANSLITERATION	ENGLISH
1)	ذَهَبَتْ بِنْتٌ	zahabat bintun	A girl went.
2)	ذَهَبَتْ بِنْتَانِ	zahabat bintani	Two girls went.
3)	ذَهَبَتْ بَنَاتٌ	zahabat banatun	Many girls went.

TABLE 31

If the subject is a collective noun, the verb may be in the third person, singular, masculine or feminine.
No	VERBAL SENTENCE	TRANSLITERATION	ENGLISH
1)	تَنَاوَلَتْ اَلْاُسْرَةُ اَلْعَشَاءَ	tanawalat al-usrah al-asha’	The family took supper.

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