Introduction
The nouns اَلْإِسْمُ are divided into two kinds:
Indefinite | النَّكِرَةُ |
Definite | المَعْرِفَةُ |
Indefinite nouns – أَسْمَاءُ النَّكِرَةُ
They are names given in general to a living or non-living thing (common nouns). Thus, indefinite nouns end with nunnation (Tanween – تَنْوِين)
Examples:
رَجُلٌ | Man |
اِمْرَأَةٌ | Woman |
سَمَكٌ | Fish |
مَاءٌ | Water |
مُلْكٌ | Kingdom |
Definite nouns – الأَسْماءُ المَعْرِفَة
Definite nouns are proper names given to a certain person, place, or object.
Example:
نُوْحٌ | Noah |
حَامِدٌ | Hamid |
أَحْمَدُ | Ahmed |
إِبْراهِيْمُ | Ibrahim |
Important characteristics of a noun
The following are some important characteristics of a noun.
1. Noun usually has a nunnation (Tanween) on it.
Examples:
بَيْتٌ | A house |
كُرْسِيٌّ | A chair |
قَلَمٌ | A pen |
كِتَابٌ | A book |
رَسُولٌ | A messenger |
2. There are two conditions in which the nunnation (tanween) is dropper:
- The indefinite noun can be changed to definite by adding the prefix
اَلْ
wich is a definite article, and the nunnation (tanween) is dropped.
Examples:
اَلْ +بِنْتٌ = اَلْبِنْتُ |
The + girl = The girl |
اَلْ + نَبَأٌ = النَّبَأُ |
The + news = The news |
اَلْ + فَاكِهَةٌ = اَلْفَاكِهَةُ |
The + fruit = The fruit |
اَلْ + مَالِكٌ = اَلْمَالِكُ |
The + ruler = The ruler |
اِلْ + فِضَّةٌ = اَلفِضَّةُ |
The + silver = The silver |
اَلْ + يَوْمٌ = اَلْيَوْمُ |
The + day = The day |
Note: The proper nouns like Khalid (خَالِدٌ) or Hamid (حَامِدُ) are definite by nature. Therefore, اِلْ cannot be added to them.
- When two nouns come together in the possessive form, the nunnation (tanween) is dropped from the first noun while the corresponding harakat (short vowel marks) will remain.
- The second noun will have Kasrah:
-ِ
or tanween kasrah:
-ٍ
- In the possessive case, the possessor comes after the thing possessed.
Examples:
نَارٌ + اَللَّهُ = نَارُ اللَّهِ |
Fire + Allah = Fire of Allah |
رَسُولٌ + اَللّهُ = رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ |
Messenger + Allah = Messenger of Allah |
أَصْحَابٌ + اَلْقُبُورُ = أَصْحَابُ الْقُبُورِ |
People + the grave = People of the grave |
كِتَابٌ + كُمْ = كِتَابُكُم |
Book + you = Your book (plural) |
بَيْتٌ + كَ = بَيْتُكَ |
House + your = Your house (singular) |
The Noun cases in Arabic
Nominative case – اَلْمَرْفُوع / حَالَةُ الرَّفْعِ
The nominative case is when the noun is the subject (doer of the verb) of the sentence, it will bear dammah :
_ُ
or tanween dammah :
-ٌ
The noun with dammah will be in the nominative case.
Examples:
قَالَ نُوحٌ رَّبِّ | Noah Said (71:21) |
وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ | And the moon was split (54:1) |
وَجَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةٌ | And a caravan came (12:19) |
Accusative case – حَالَةُ النَّصَبِ/الْمَنْصُوبُ
The accusative case is when the noun is the object of the sentence, it will bear fatha:
-َ
or tanwin fatha:
-ً
Here the noun will be in the accusative case.
Examples:
جَعَلَ اللَّـهُ الْكَعْبَةَ | Allah has made the Kaaba (5:97) |
وَضَرَبَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا | And Allah sets forth an example (66:11) |
فَبَعَثَ اللَّـهُ غُرَابًا | “Then Allah sent a crow” (5:31) |
Genitive case – الْمَجْرُورُ / حَالَةُ الْجارِّ
Genitive case: if a preposition precedes the noun, it will bear kasrah:
-ِ
or tanween kasrah:
-ٍ
Here the noun will be in the genitive case.
Examples:
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ | “From the evil of that which He has created” (113:2) |
فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ | “then he will lead a life of pleasure” (101:7) |
عَلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ | “On the straight path” (36:4) |
Exceptions nouns
Some nouns such as:
زَيْنَبُ, مَرْيَمُ, فِرْعَوْنُ, أَحْمَدُ, إِبْرَاهِيممُ
are exceptions to the rule and therefore do not have nunnation (tanween) nor kasrah in the genitive case:
-ِ
The genitive case will be denoted by fatha:
-َ
Examples:
اذْهَبْ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ | Go to Fir’awn; he has certainly rebelled” (79:17) |
وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ | “And mention in the book (about) Maryam.” (19:16) |
Usually, non-Arabic names and names with more than 3 letters do not bear nunnation (tanween).
Also, nouns used as adjectives denoting colors do not bear nunnation (tanween).
Examples:
أَحْضَرُ | Green |
أَسْوَدُ | Black |
أَصْفَرُ | Yellow |
أَحْمَرُ | Red |
أَبْيَضُ | White |
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ الشَّجَرِ الْأَخْضَرِ نَارًا | “He it is who made the fire for you from the green trees” (36:80) |
حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ | “You can distinguish the white thread” (2:187) |
This Arabic lesson is now finished. The next one will be insha’Allah about the dual in Arabic.
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