Posts tagged with "Dual"

The use of dual relative pronouns

Posted by aziza No Comments
Jul 7 2011

The relative pronouns (الأسماء الموصولة) are used after definite nouns to provide additional information about them, and they are followed by complete sentences, e.g.

أحب الكتاب الذي أدرسه.

“I like the book which I study.”

أحب الكتابين اللذين أدرسهما.

“I like the books which I study.” (dual)

أحب الكتب التي أدرسها.

“I like the books which I study.” (plural)

Dual relative pronouns (اللذان/اللذين) masculine and (اللتان/اللتين) feminine can be tricky to use because they are often associated with certain case marks, i.e. in the nominative case, we should use اللذان and اللتان. In the accusative and genitive case, we should use اللذين and اللتين. Generally speaking, we use اللذان and اللتان after nouns that serve as subject of verbal sentences, or that serve as subject or predicate of nominal sentences; and we use اللذين and اللتين after nouns that serve as object of verbal sentences, or that follow a preposition or act as second noun of idafa construction.

Now, try to use this information to complete the sentences below with the appropriate form of dual relative pronouns, i.e. اللذان, اللتان, اللذين, and اللتين.

1-     هذان هما الطالبان ———- يدرسان في جامعتي.

2-      تحدثت مع المهندستين ———— تعملان في المشروع الجديد.

3-      قرأت كتب الكاتبين ———— عاشا في القرن الثامن عشر.

4-      زرت المدينتين —————- تقعان على شاطئ البحر.

5-      الأستاذان ————— يدرسان اللغة العربية في جامعتي ممتازان.

Tip: You need to decide on the gender of the noun first to choose between (اللذان/اللذين) masculine and (اللتان/اللتين) feminine. Then, you need to decide on the function of the noun in the sentence to choose between the ان forms ending in ين for nominative or those ending in  for accusative and genitive.
I will post the answers of this exercise with more exercises on other forms of relative pronouns in my next post!

 

Tricky Dual (both)

Posted by aziza No Comments
May 23 2010

Dual can be very tricky at times. The word (كِلا) in Arabic means ‘both’ in English. It is used mainly as part of an idaafa construction, either with a definite noun (كِلا الطالبان) ‘both students’ or a pronoun, e.g. (كِلاهما) ‘both of them’. Many people erroneously use (كِلا) with both masculine and feminine, without realizing that there is a feminine of the word which is (كِلتا); therefore, many people make mistakes in expressions like (كِلا اللغتين) ‘both languages’ and (كِلا الدولتين) ‘both countries’, when it should be (كِلتا اللغتين) and (كِلتا الدولتين).

In addition, when we mark the cases on these words, the final vowel is changes according to the case. i.e. we use (كِلا) and (كِلتا) in the (مرفوع) nominative case. When they are used in the (منصوب) accusative and (مجرور) genitive cases, the final vowel changes to (ي), e.g.

جاء كِلا الرجلان.

‘Both men came.”

زرت كِلتي الدولتين.

‘I visited both states.’

تكلمنا مع كِليهما.

‘We talked to both of them.’

Dual with case marking

Posted by aziza 2 Comments
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.”

Practice Dual and Plural Agreement – Answers

Posted by aziza No Comments
Sep 24 2009

I hope you have had a chance to practice changing the sentences in the previous post into dual and then into plural. In this post, I provide the answers to the exercise set in the previous post. You can check your answers against the sentences below.

Dual

1. هذان هما المهندسان المصريان اللذان يعملان في شركة كويتية.

2. تعرفت على صديقتين تدرسان العلوم السياسية في جامعتي.

3. أنتما الموظفان الجديدان ومكتبكما بجانب مكتبي.

4. رأيت الولدين الصغيرين وهما يلعبان الكرة مع صديقهما.

5. هذان هما الكتابان الشيقان اللذان ألفهما الكاتبان العربيان المعروفان.

Plural

1. هؤلاء هم المهندسون المصريون الذين يعملون في شركة كويتية.

2. تعرفت على صديقات يدرسن العلوم السياسية في جامعتي.

3. أنتم الموظفون الجدد ومكتبكم بجانب مكتبي.

4. رأيت الأولاد الصغار وهم يلعبون الكرة مع صديقهم.

5. هذه هي الكتب الشيقة التي ألفها الكُتاب العرب المعروفون.

Practice Dual and Plural Agreement

Posted by aziza No Comments
Sep 21 2009

In this post, I offer you a chance to practice much of the knowledge you have about dual and plural agreement and to practice the information presented earlier about agreement and about the case marking system. Today, you are asked to change the sentences below into dual, and then to change the same sentences into plural. Try to think about the reason for choosing suffixes and forms you intend to use, e.g. why use (صديقان) and not (صديقين). Try also to remember what we said about broken plurals and non-human plurals. To help you choose the forms, I translate the sentences below; however, if you can translate the sentences yourself, it will be much better. Enjoy the exercise, and wait for the next post to get the answers!

1. هذا هو المهندس المصري الذي يعمل في شركة كويتية.

“This is the Egyptian engineer who works at a Kuwaiti company.”

2. تعرفت على صديقة تدرس العلوم السياسية في جامعتي.

“I met a friend who studies political sciences at my university.”

3. أنت الموظف الجديد ومكتبك بجانب مكتبي.

“You are the new employee and your desk next to mine.”

4. رأيت الولد الصغير وهو يلعب الكرة مع صديقه.

“I saw the little boy, and he was playing ball with his friend.”

5. هذا هو الكتاب الشيق الذي ألفه الكاتب العربي المعروف.

“This is the interesting book written by the famous Arab writer.”

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