Subject-Verb Agreement

Posted by Aziza
Nov
7
2009

In this post, I explain an important yet simple rule related to subject-verb agreement in Arabic. When the verb follows the subject, it must agree with it in number and gender, e.g.

الطلاب يدرسون في الجامعة.

“Students (masc.) study at university.”

الطالبان يدرسان في الجامعة.

“Students (dual, masc.) study at university.”

الطالبات يدرسن في الجامعة.

“Students (fem.) study at university.”

الطالبتان تدرسان في الجامعة.

“Students (dual, fem.) study at university.”

However, if the verb comes before the subject, it only agrees with the subject in gender and it remains singular, e.g.

يدرس الطلاب في الجامعة.

“Students (masc.) study at university.”

يدرس الطالبان في الجامعة.

“Students (dual, masc.) study at university.”

تدرس الطالبات في الجامعة.

“Students (fem.) study at university.”

In sum, when the subject comes after the verb, it agrees with it in both gender and number; however, when it comes before it, it agrees with it in gender, but remains singular at all times. This rule is not affected by the tense of the sentence, i.e. it applies to any verb and subject regardless of the tense. Can you start the following sentences with the verb bearing this rule in mind?

الأولاد لعبوا الكرة في النادي.

البنات لعبن الكرة في النادي.

 
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case marking with feminine plurals

Posted by Aziza
Nov
3
2009

In this post, I explain the use of the case marking system with sound feminine plurals. Sound feminine plural nouns and adjectives end with (ات). They are marked for their case with vowels like singular nouns. However, they have special markings. In the nominative case, i.e. when the noun is used as the subject of a verbal sentence or as a subject or predicate of a nominal sentence, feminine plural nouns and adjectives are marked with (ـُ) if they are definite and (ـٌ) if they are indefinite, e.g.

تعمل المهندساتُ المصرياتُ في نفس الشركة.

“The Egyptian engineers work at the same company.”

المهندساتُ المصرياتُ مجتهداتٌ.

“The Egyptian engineers are hard-working.”

When the noun is used as an object, the case is accusative. Feminine plural nouns and adjectives are marked with (ـِ) if they are definite and (ـٍ) if they are indefinite, e.g.

قابلنا المهندساتِ المصرياتِ.

“We met the Egyptian engineers.”

كلّمتُ طالباتٍ عربياتٍ.

“I talked to Arab students.”

When the noun is used after a preposition or after the first word of an idafa construction, the case is genitive. Feminine plural nouns and adjectives are marked with (ـِ) if they are definite and (ـٍ) if they are indefinite, e.g.

تكلمت مع المهندساتِ المصرياتِ.

“I spoke with the Egyptian engineers.”

شركة المهندساتِ كبيرة.

“The company of the engineers is big.”

The special thing to be noted about feminine plurals is that they take the same marking for accusative and genitive cases, i.e. whether a feminine plural noun or adjective is accusative or genitive, they are marked with (ـِ) if they are definite and (ـٍ) if they are indefinite.

 
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Case marking with masculine plurals

Posted by Aziza
Nov
2
2009

In this post, I explain the use of the case marking system with sound masculine plurals. There are 2 endings that can be used with sound masculine plural nouns and adjectives, i.e. (ون) and (ين). In the nominative case, i.e. when the noun is used as the subject of a verbal sentence or as a subject or predicate of a nominal sentence, the first ending (ون) is used, e.g.

يعمل المهندسون المصريون في نفس الشركة.

“The Egyptian engineers work at the same company.”

المهندسون المصريون مجتهدون.

“Egyptian engineers are hard-working.”

When the noun is used as an object, the case is accusative and the ending (ين) is used, e.g.

قابلنا المهندسين المصريين.

“We met the Egyptian engineers.”

When the noun is used after a preposition or after the first word of an idaafa construction, the case is genitive and the ending (ين) is used, e.g.

تكلمت مع المهندسين المصريين.

“I spoke with the Egyptian engineers.”

شركة المهندسين كبيرة.

“The company of the engineers is big.”

 

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Dual with case marking

Posted by Aziza
Oct
31
2009

In previous posts, I explained the case marking system and the dual. In this post, I put explain them together in order to make their use together clearer. There are 2 endings that can be used with dual nouns and adjectives, i.e. (ان) and (ـَيْن). In the nominative case, i.e. when the noun is used as a subject or as predicate of nominal sentences, the nominative case applies and the ending (ان) is used, e.g.

درس الطالبان الجديدان في نفس الصف.

“Both new students studies at the same class.”

الكتابان الكبيران ثقيلان.

“The (2) big books are heavy.”

When the noun is used as an object, the case is accusative and the ending (ـَيْن) is used, e.g.

قرأت كتابين مفيدين.

“I read (2) useful books.”

قابلنا زميلتين قديمتين.

“We met (2) old colleagues.”

When the noun is used after a preposition or after the first word of an idafa construction, the case is genitive and the ending (ـَيْن) is used, e.g.

تكلمت مع صديقين جديدين.

“I spoke with (2) new friends.”

غرفة الطالبين واسعة.

“The room of the (2) students is spacious.”

It should be noted that the same applies to other dual forms that can be used with the nouns not only the adjectives, e.g. demonstratives and relative pronouns. Consider the use of the relative pronouns in the following sentences.

الطالبان الجديدان اللذان يدرسان في صفي لطيفان .

“The (2) new students who study at my class are nice.”

قابلت الطالبين الجديدين اللذين يدرسان في صفي.

“I met the (2) new students who study at my class.”

هاتان قصتان شيقتان.

“These are (2) interesting stories.”

 
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Meals

Posted by Aziza
Oct
29
2009

The work day in the Arab world is usually shorter than the work day in the West, especially for the bureaucratic class of employees, which represents a major percentage of the work force and of society as a whole. Work starts usually at around 8.30 am, and ends at around 2.30 pm. Therefore, people do not usually need to have lunch at work. Instead, lunch (الغَدَاء) is eaten at home, and it is the main meal of the day. In this way, meals (الوَجَبات) in the Arab world are different from the West, as most people in the West have their main meal at supper or dinner (العَشَاء). Breakfast (الإفْطار) is a very important meal for families, especially if they have children. Meals differ considerably from one country to another in the Arab world. Each country has its own distinctive dishes. An Egyptian breakfast would typically have cheese (جُبن), falafel (فلافل), bread (خُبْز) and tea (شَاي). An Egyptian lunch would typically have salad (سَلَطة) or soup (شوربَة), meat (لَحْم), vegetables (خُضرَوات) and rice (أَرُزّ) or bread (خُبْز) and fruits (فَواكِه). Dinner would be light, such as sandwiches (سندوتشات). These are only examples and the options are many.

 
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