Arabic Grammar Rules for Madeenah Book One

The three vowel markings

- kasrah

(i)

hdhamma -
(u)

fathah
(a)

Sukoon
shaddah

at-tanween :

((an ((un

fathataan

- dhammataan

((in

kasrataan

When vowel markings are doubled at the end of a word they are called

( tanween). The additional vowel at the end of a word represents a

(noon saakinah). The

is not written but is only pronounced. e.g.

The Arabic language is made up of

of three types they are known as:
Particle/Letter -

to -

Action/Verb
went,/to go

(words) and these words are

-

-

-

house -

Noun

He went to a house :ceSenten

The table below shows the properties of an

( noun):
Examples

Translation
Masculine, feminine
Singular, dual, plural
Intellect, non-intellect
Indefinite, definite

Properties

is when an ism is indefinite or not specific, it is general i.e., the

ism
a book this can be any book from the different types of
books.

is when an ism is definite or specific, it is not general i.e., the

ism
the book or

Muhammads book, here the
book is a particular book not just any book in general.
An ism in the Arabic language can be
(dual) meaning it shows upon
two i.e., the ism

means two students this is done by adding

(alif and noon)at the end of an ism.

An ism can be

possess intellect such as humans, angels and jinns or
it can be
e.t.c.

possess no intellect such as animals, objects, trees

The

( Asl) origin of an ism is that it carries

- two
dhammas (tanween) on the last letter of the word. The tanween
generally is also a sign showing that the ism is
( indefinite), however
there is an exception to this because you will find that Arabic male names
such as


accept tanween but they are ( definite).
The tanween is the Arabic indefinite article corresponding to the English
a/ an.
2

()

This is a house

Letter to bring to attention or alert

is a letter that is used to alert or to bring to attention the
person who is being addressed and it is mostly connected to

( nouns of indication).
noun of indication

is pronounced as , but it is written without the first alif.

The

is used to point or indicate to people, animals, objects
things which can be felt or touched and can also indicate to things that
have meaning such as
opinion or
knowledge.

This is beneficial knowledge

The table below shows the properties of the
)
Indicates,points to

the near
The masculine
the singular
The

is ( definite).
3

It can be used to indicate or point to those possessing intellect

or

things that do not possess intellect

.

Interrogative or Questioning Noun

The Interrogative Noun

is used to ask a question about something

that does not possess intellect

and it always comes at the
beginning of a sentence. When a word comes at the beginning of a
sentence it is called in Arabic

.
?What is this

-
Particle/Letter of interrogation or questioning or also known as the
Interrogative Hamzah.
The

comes at the beginning of the sentence as do all the

nouns or particles of questioning. It can be used to ask a question about
those possessing intellect as well as the things that do not possess
intellect.
?Is this a house
?Is this a boy

Letter of answer or reply

Letter/particle of answer and negation

is used to reply to a question with affirmation

whereas the particle is used to reply to a question with negation.
The particle of reply

?Is this a pen

Yes this is a pen

?Is this a shirt

.No, this is a pen

Noun of interrogation/questioning

This interrogative noun is used to ask a question about those who possess
intellect

?Who is this man

Question mark


( )

Noun of indication/pointing

This is a house and that is a mosque

is a noun of indication it is used to indicate/point to objects or people

that are distant or far.

can be broken down into three parts:
Noun of indication

The laam is for the far/distant

Particle of address

Some of the grammarians say that the

indicates upon far/distant and the
increased furtherness/distance.
The letter/particle of address
addressing is masculine.

particle of address also

shows upon even more or

is used if the person or objectwe are

The table below shows the properties of

:
Indicates,points to

The far/distant
The masculine
the singular
All the

nouns of indication are definite.

is pronounced

but is written without the alif.

Some of the grammarians say that the

have three levels

:
For the near/close

For the far/distant

For the middle between near and far

The particle of alert/bringing to attention and the laam indicating upon
the distant or far will never come together in a noun of indication i.e;

-this is wrong

( )

al) Definite Particle )

The definite particle

is prefixed to an ism which is ( indefinite)

become
( definite), and it also causes the

and it causes it to
tanween at the end to be dropped. The definite particle (al) corresponds
to the English the.
.This is a doctor

.The doctor is sitting

The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters. Of these 14 are called Solar

, and the


.

Letters

other 14 are called Lunar Letters

In the articulation of the Solar Letters the tip or the blade of the tongue is
involved in the pronunciation. The tip or the blade of the tongue does not
play any part in the articulation of the Lunar Letters, (refer to lesson 3,
pg.19 Madinah bk.1).
When is prefixed to an ism beginning with a Solar Letter the laam of
al is not pronounced but is written, and the first letter of the ism takes a
shaddah . For example,

( ash-shamsu).
When is prefixed to an ism beginning with a Lunar Letter the laam of
al is pronounced and written. For example,
( al-qamaru).
In the definite particle
( al) the ( a) is known as

the
Connecting Hamzah. If it is not preceded by a word it will be
pronounced with the vowel marking - (fathah). If it is preceded by a
word it is dropped in pronunciation, though remains in writing.
The student is sitting and the

teacher is standing, (wa l-mudarrisu).

8

is a beneficial sentence (
), and it is made up
of 2 parts known as

( al-mubtada wa l-khabar).

(1)
is from the Arabic word
meaning the beginning or
starting, and from its origin is that it comes at the beginning of the
sentence.
(2)
is an ism that is the subject of talk or discussion.
(3)
is
( marfoo) meaning it takes a dhammah or
dhammataan on the last letter of the ism.
(4)
in its

( origin) precedes
( the khabar).
(5)
in its

( origin) is ( definite).

(1)

is that which comes after in its

( origin).
(2)

gives information or news about

completes a benefit with

.

and by which it

(3)

in its

( origin) is ( indefinite).
(4)

is
( marfoo) meaning it takes a dhammah or
dhammataan on the last letter of the ism.

.The mosque is near

10


( )

Particle of Jarr

-From

1)

-On/Above

In

is a Letter/Particle that enters upon an ism only.

(2)



changes the state of the ism to
( majroor),
meaning the ism takes kasrah/kasrataan on the last letter.
(3)

can have many meanings and its meaning is not known
or complete until it enters upon a sentence. Then its exact meaning is
known from the context of the sentence.

Muhammad is in the house

Noun of Questioning for Place

11

is an ism which is used to ask a question about the

whereabouts of someone/something.

?Where is the book

?It is on the desk/table

I -

You -

You-

It/She-

He/It-

-Detached Pronoun

is a type of ism that is used to indicate upon the

(Absent), or the


( Addressed), or the ( Speaker).

(1)

(2)

you can begin a sentence with it.
(3)

is a type of a
(4)

is ( definite).
5) The dhameer
and
can be used for those who possess intellect
and things that do not possess intellect. If they are used for the latter they
will have the meaning it.

12

?Where is Aaisha

She is in the room

?Where is the watch

It is on the bed
The table below shows the properties of

Detached Pronouns):

( the

Number

Gender

Indicates upon

Detached Pronoun

(1)

(1)

(1)

It/He

The Absent-

She/It -

The Addressed-

You-

Female

Male

(1)

Male

(1)

The Absent-

The Addressed-

You

I/Me

Female

The Speaker-

13

(Prevented from Tanween) is a Term that is used

for a particular group of nouns which do not accept tanween and when
they are in a state of

( kasra) they take Fathah.
This particular group of nouns further divides up into many categories
:and from them is the category known in the Arabic language as
Female Names Without Alif

This category contains Female Names which do not accept tanween but
there is a condition '

' for them not accepting tanween and that is,
that the names are made up of more than 3 letters. This category of
names is divided up into into 3 types with regards to their femininity.

Femininity-

-In)Wording)

(In)Meaning and Wording

9in wo

-In)Meaning)

14

The
( Round Taa) is a letter that is added at the end of an ism
and it signifies femininity of a word.
The diagram above shows that there are 3 categories of femininity in
female names without alif:
1) In wording and meaning - names which are feminine in their
wording i.e. they end in taa marboota and in their meaning i.e. they
are names which are used for females.
2) In meaning - names which are used for females but not feminine in
wording.
3) In wording - names which are feminine in wording but not
meaning, they are names which are used for males.

The origin of nouns ending with the

( Round Taa) is only to
distinguish the feminine from the masculine. And you will mostly find
that with the

(Adjectives) i.e. /( Generous, Noble).

The Verb/Action

The Command Verb

The Present Verb

The Past Verb

!you)Write)-

He Writes-

He Wrote-

The Definition :

-



.
The Past Verb-that which indicates upon an event/happening taking place
in the time which is before the time of speaking/conversation.
15

?Where is Abbaas
He went to the head teacher

For every action we have a doer or the one who performs the action. In
Arabic the doer of the action is called

( al-faail).
The Definition :

( the Doer) is an ism which is

takes dhammah or
dhammataan on the last letter and mentioned before it is its
verb.

Haamid went to the mosque

.
That is because in the past-tense verbs for the Male Absent if

is
not apparent then the

(pronoun) '( 'He) will be

. And
this dhameer is known as


( The Hidden Dhameer), you
You will find that

is

not always apparent after the verb

will not see it in writing or pronounce it even though it is there.

?Where is Muhammad
He left from the mosque

16

The four signs of an ism

()

- -

There are 4 signs by which an ism is known, and you will not find these
signs entering upon the verbs or particles/letters, so they are specific to
the nouns. These 4 signs can be used to distinguish between the

(nouns) and the

( verbs) and

(particles).
(1) The first sign is that the ism accepts
( tanween).
(2) The second sign is that
( alif and laam) can enter upon the ism.
(3) The third sign is that
the ism.

(particles of jarr) can enter upon

(4) The fourth sign is that the ism can take

the last letter.

Muhammad prayed in the mosque

(kasrah)

17

(kasrah/kasrataan) on

( )

( al-idhaafah) is a relationship between two nouns with a hidden
particle of jarr, the first noun is called

( mudhaaf) and the second
noun is called


( mudhaaf ilaih).
.








This Particular idhaafah gives benefit by giving

( to

make

( to narrow down/particularise).
Meaning, if the


is ( definite) then the

will
become
, if the

is ( indefinite) then the


will be particularised or not so general but it will not be
( definite).

definite) to the mudhaaf or

This is the teachers book

18

The Idhafaah construction has a

which is omitted/hidden.

gives meaning to the Idhaafah, there are 3 different

that an Idhaafah can have, (1)
( in),
( from/part of)
and
) ( )for/belonging to).
At the moment we have only taken one meaning of the Idhaafah the
)

) which has the meaning of, for/belonging to/possession.
So when we say

it literally means, the book belongs to
Muhammad or Muhammads book (

).
This

( )

Always

Does not accept tanween

Majroor
Does not accept alif laam

-(over there) -

is a noun which is used to indicate/point to a place that is distant or

far.

:

It is on the table over there

?Where is Muhammads book

(
)


/

(under )

is a noun of place and the ism that follows it is majroor.

The bag is under the table

19

Abbaas- The one being called

O- Particle of calling

The particle ( O!) is used when we want to call somebody and the
person we are calling is the ism which comes after this particle and it is
known as
( the one being called). There are 5 types of
we will study 3 for now.

The first type is when we call

:( )
somebody by their name i.e. O Muhammad!, Haamid!, Abbaas!, and so
.on
The second type is

:
( )
when we call somebody and we intend a particular or specific person i.e.
.O Teacher!, Man!, and so on
The third type is when the one

:

( )
being called is mudhaaf i.e. O Abdallaahi!, O Daughter of Khaalid!,
.and so on
It is important to note that the first and the second types of
end in
one dhamma, not tanween. As for the third type then the Mudhaaf will be

( take Fathah on the last letter).

and
begin with hamzatu l-wasl. When preceded by a
word the kasrah (-) is dropped in pronunciation, i.e.

.
The words

20

( )

This is an iron

Letter to bring to attention or alert

is a letter that is used to alert or to bring to attention the
person who is being addressed and it is mostly connected to

( nouns of indication).

Noun of Indication

is pronounced as but it is written without the first alif.

The

is used to point or indicate to people, animals, objects
things which can be felt or touched and can also indicate to things that
have meaning such as
principle or

advice.
.This advice is beneficial

The table below shows the properties of

.
Indicates,points to

the near
the feminine
the singular or (non-intelligent
plurals)
The

is ( definite).

It can be used to indicate or point to those possessing intellect

things that do not possess intellect


.

21

or

-Generally words ending in ( taa marboota) are regarded as feminine so

when we indicate to them we use the

. However there
are exceptions to this, (refer to lesson 4 under types of femininity).

.This is a car and this is a bike

-Body parts that are in pairs are regarded as feminine.

This is an ear and this is an eye

-Also words which are particular to females are regarded as feminine.

This is the engineers

:

.sister and this is the imaams daughter

( ,Particle of Jarr (for, belongs to

The particle of jarr

enters upon an ism and causes it to take
(kasrah).
.Whose is this? This belongs to Yaasir

All Praise belongs to Allaah

Note that the word

becomes
by just dropping the alif and no laam
will need to be added to the word.

22



()

Noun of Indication

.This a doctor and that is a nurse

is a noun of indication it is used to indicate/point to objects or people

that are distant/far and feminine.

can be broken down into three parts:
Noun of indication

The laam is for the far/distant

Particle of address

Some of the grammarians say that the

indicates upon far/distant and the
increased furtherness/distance.
The letter/particle of address
addressing is masculine.

shows upon even more or

is used if the person or objectwe are

The table below shows the properties of

Indicates,points to

The far/distant
The feminine
The singular
All the

particle of address also

nouns of indication are definite.

in

is dropped when joined to the laam and kaaf and the

laam takes a sukoon .
The letter

23

Al-Iraab-

.
The Definition:
The Iraab is: Changing of the endings of the words because of the
changing of the active elements entering upon them (the change is)
apparent or not-apparent.

The cases of the

ism

The origin signs of Iraab

Types of Iraab

- /-
- / - / -

The above definition for Iraab mentions the ending of words changing
what is meant by this is the changing of vowel markings that are on the
end or last letter of a word. It also mentions that it is the active elements
that enter upon a word that cause the change at the ending of a word, an
example of active elements are the

(letters/particles). The active
element is called
( al-aamil) in Arabic and the plural is
.

24

The definition also mentions that the change of a word can be apparent or
not apparent. What is meant by apparent change is when the vowel
markings at the end of a word can be pronounced and when the vowel
markings at the end of a word cannot be pronounced then the change is

not apparent.

This part will be explained in more depth later.

The table above illustrates types of Iraab and its origin signs.

( ar-rafu) is when the end or last letter of a word takes a dhammah

or dhammataan
/

(an-nasbu) is when the end or last letter of a word takes a fatha

or fathataan
/

( al-jarru) is when the end or last letter of a word takes a khasrah or

khasrataan
/

Also when an ism is in the state of
(marfoo).
When an ism is in the state of
mansoob).

( ar-rafu) it is called

( an-nasbu) it is called

When an ism is in the state of

(majroor).

(al-jarru) it is called

Zayd slaughtered the chicken
with the knife.

(
(

25

 is
the

(active element) which is causing it to be

is the

( past tense verb)

,
is

the

(active
element) which is causing it to be

is the

( past tense
verb)

,
( knife) is
the

(active element) which
is causing it to be

is the
)


).
The example above shows the three types of Iraab ,

The words which fall into the definition of Iraab as mentioned above are
known in Arabic as
( murab).

( al-binaa)
( al-binaa) are words which do not show change in their endings and
they are considered by the grammarians to be the opposite of words

( al-Iraab), as mentioned above.

fall into this category are called
( mabni).
which take

The words which

.





:


Definition of
( mabniyy): That which its ending doesnt change
because of the active elements entering upon it.
The definition explains that words which are

their endings do not

change because of the

(active elements) entering upon them, but
rather they are built upon one ending which doesnt change at all.
However, these words can grammatically have a place in Iraab but they
will be in the position or state of

due to their place
in the sentence. This point will be elaborated upon later.

26

.....

Built upon

Examples

Types of Al-binaa

-
-
-

-

-

can fall into four types

of endings which do not change due to the

entering upon them,
The table above shows that words which are

rather they are fixed or built upon that particular ending. There are four
possible endings,

?Whose book is this

The above example shows that the word

is

and we
know that the mudhaaf ilaih is always majroor (takes kasrah), however
the word
( who) is



( built upon a sukoon) so the
ending will always show a sukoon even though it is in the position or
state of

is

(al-jarr) due to its place in the sentence. So the

(active element) does not affect the ending of a word that

(mabni).

27

( )
-(Badal-al)

.This man is a trader

(al-badal)

is grammatically known as

(al-badal), it used in a sentence in order to give
( emphasis) and
( clarity or explanation) to the word that precedes it. So in the above

example the ism

is giving emphasis and clarity to the word , it

In the above example the ism

is telling us that the one being indicated to is the man.It can also be
understood that the badal is the same the thing as the word which
precedes it, i.e. the man is the one being indicated to and the one being
indicated to is the man.
Another example can be used to explain this, if I had a book in my hand
which I was indicating to and I said to my teacher, this is new

'.

It would be understood that the book is new and if I was to

mention the book in my sentence I would say in Arabic,

'

( extra or additional
word in the sentence which is known as
( al-badal). It is important
to note here that if I were to say in Arabic,
this would not
By mentioning

'
',

I have put a

be considered to be a complete or beneficial sentence. To make it a

beneficial sentence we must add a

(khabar), as shown in the example
above. The subject of
later on inshaallaah.

and the types of al-badal will be covered

28

The teacher is from

.





.America and the student is from England

.Hamid went to the hospital.

:

.




Definition: al-ismul-maqsoor, it is an ism murab which has an
inseparable or binding alif on its end and the letter before it takes a fatha
and all the vowel markings on it are not apparent.

all end with an binding alif
or the letter which looks like the letter ( ya) except that it doesnt
The words

have the two dots but it is pronounced as an alif. Also the ismul-maqsoor
is
( murab) it takes

( al-Iraab) but the Iraab is

(taqdeer) not apparent. The examples above illustrate this, the ismulmaqsoor (nouns ending with the binding alif at the end) are preceded by

but the change caused by the


is not apparent,
the case of

( al-jarr) cannot be seen. The Ismul-maqsoor falls into

one of the categories or types of words where the Iraab is
( please
refer back to the definition of Iraab).

29

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