TEN LESSONS OF ARABIC

TEN LESSONS OF ARABIC

based on
Das Sabaq of Mawlana Abd al-Salam Kidwai Nadvi

Revised & Edited by

Aamir Bashir

Copyright Dr al-Sadah Publications 2011

First Online Edition Dec 2011
Second Online Edition Jul 2012
ilmresources.wordpress.com
General and unrestricted permission is granted for the unaltered
duplication, distribution, and transmission of this text.
In Plain English: Make as many copies as you want.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents

List of Tables

ii

Acknowledgments

iii

Foreword
LESSON 1
LESSON 2
LESSON 3
LESSON 4
LESSON 5
LESSON 6
LESSON 7

Subject and Predicate

Past Tense Verb


Verb, Subject, Object

Prepositions

Pronouns

Present and Future Tense Verb

1
7
11
19
25
31
39

LESSON 8

Adjective

49

LESSON 9

Imperative & Prohibitive
Singular, Dual, Plural

57

LESSON 10

67

LIST OF TABLES
3.1
3.1a
3.2

)
Past Tense Verb Forms in Active Voice (

5.1

Prepositions (

)

6.2
7.1
7.1a
7.2
7.2a
9.1
9.2
9.2a
9.3
9.4

25
31

Attached (
) Pronouns

32

Verb Forms of (
)

) in Active Voice (

)
Second Person Imperative in Active Voice (

58
58
59

) in Active Voice
Creating Second Person Prohibitive (

) in Active Voice
Second Person Prohibitive (


Singular, Dual, and Plural

41
42

)
Creating Second Person Imperative In Active Voice (

10.1

39
40

Verb Forms of (

) in Passive Voice ()

14
15

) Pronouns
Unattached (

9.4a

12
13

Past Tense Verb Forms in Passive Voice (

)

3.2a

6.1

60
60
61
68

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who helped in making this project a
success. To begin with, I would like to thank Sr. A. Naviwala who, working on
behalf of Darul Uloom al-Madania, prepared the first draft, which I edited. I would
also like to thank Mawlana Ibrahim Memon for his valuable feedback. I am also
indebted to my First year students at Darul Uloom (20112012 academic year) who
suggested important improvements and pointed out the many mistakes. My
prepatory year students at Darul Uloom (20112012), including Ahmad Hatim
who proof-read the draft for the second edition, have also given me valuable
feedback. I have greatly benefitted from their questions, comments and suggestions.
May Allah reward them, and all others for their contributions and help.

iii

FOREWORD

This is the second edition of the revised Ten Lessons of Arabic, which in turn was
based on the famous Urdu language primer of Arabic grammar Das Sabaq [Ten
Lessons] by Mawlana Abd al-Salam Kidwai Nadvi. Das Sabaq in Urdu has been a
part of the Aalim course curriculum in Western madrasahs for a number of years.
In 2011, I was commissioned by Darul Uloom al-Madania to edit a translation that
they had prepared by revising an existing translation of the text that was available
online. I completed the editing in a few months. During this process, I took liberty
with the translation to make the content more accessible and beneficial to the
student. The edited version was then used as a textbook for Darul Ulooms eAlim
program. At that time, I received a number of suggestions from eAlim instructors
and students regarding improvement of the text.
Later, I got the chance to teach the first four chapters myself during Ramadan
2011 to a sincere student. At that time, I realized the many flaws that had
remained, especially in the first four chapters. I revised these chapters thoroughly to
make them more student friendly. Later still, I got the chance to go over the whole
text during the first term of 20112012 academic year, while teaching it to first year
students at Darul Uloom. During this time, a number of issues came up and I made
the changes accordingly. The first online edition was released at that time.
Later, during the last two terms of 20112012 academic year, I got the chance
to teach it again; this time, to the prepatory year students at Darul Uloom. More
issues came up and I fixed them. Now, at the end of this academic year (2011
2012), I have gone through the whole text again and revised it throughly. I have
added more explanation and tables in many chapters. I have also revised the word
lists and exercises, and reduced the overall number of vocabulary words. While
teaching, I had felt that memorizing too many new words was taking the students
attention away from the real thing, viz. grammar rules and construction of the
language. In many cases, plurals of words are given, but they are merely for
reference. Students should not be required to memorize these. The vocabulary lists
still appear quite formidable. However, this is because of the many repeated words.
If they were to be taken out, the overall count will be much less.
This text has been revised multiple times. In the process, it has changed
considerably and those looking for an exact translation of Das Sabaq will be
disappointed. However, I believe it is now much more beneficial. I have tried my

best, with help from many of my students, to remove all of the errors in it.
Nevertheless, as is the case with all human endeavors, there are bound to be some
mistakes in it, and definitely, room for improvement. I hope that the readers,
students and teachers, will apprise me of any such issues. Your feedback
(suggestions, constructive criticism, etc.) is valuable to me. You can contact me at
the email address given at the end.
This is a beginner-level text but notwithstanding its ease, it should be studied
with a teacher. It is also expected that the student will be studying other Arabic
books along with it as well. I would recommend Fundamentals of Classical Arabic
vol. 1 (by Dr. Husain Abdul Sattar) and Durus al-Lughah al-Arabiyyah vol. 1 (by
Dr. V. Abdur Rahim). I got the chance to teach both during this academic year.
They are both excellent books. There is some overlap between them and Ten
Lessons. However, this should not be seen as redundancy, but as re-inforcement. Of
the three, Fundamentals is for Sarf, Ten Lessons and Durus al-Lughah are for general
Arabic. The last one is probably the best in terms of its gradual and progressive
introduction to Arabic language concepts. However, the former two provide concise
information for Sarf and Nahw, which is spread out in Durus al-Lughah. I
recommend that Ten lessons and Durus al-Lughah be started at the beginning of the
semester, while Fundamentals be started in the second half.
Since this is a beginner-level text; therefore, Arabic words have not been
transliterated exactly, keeping in mind that most people at this stage will not be
comfortable with Arabic transliteration schemes. Rather, their approximate
equivalents have been used that are easier to read for the untrained. Nevertheless,
non-English words have been italicized.
As for duals and plurals of Arabic words, the original Arabic duals and plurals
have not been used; rather, their plurals have been created the English way by
adding an s to the singular. Thus, two dammahs is used instead of dammahtain.
The word still remains italicized to reflect its non-English origin.
The following abbreviations appear in the text:
S = Singular
M = Masculine

D = Dual
F = Feminine

P = Plural

Many times, these have been used in combination. Thus, we also have the
following abbreviations:
(S/M)
(D/M)
(P/M)
(S/F)
(D/F)
(P/F)

=
=
=
=
=
=

Singular masculine which means one male

Dual masculine which means two males
Plural masculine which means multiple males
Singular feminine which means one female
Dual feminine which means two females
Plural feminine which means multiple females

vi

I hope and pray that this revised translation will be of benefit to the students.
I also pray that Allah Most High accepts this humble effort from all those who have
contributed to it in any way, and gives us the power to continue with more. I also
request the readers and all those who benefit from it in any way to remember us all
in their prayers.
And He alone gives success.

Aamir Bashir
Buffalo, NY
19th Shaban, 1433 (9th July, 2012)
Email: ainbay97@yahoo.com

vii

LESSON 1

Subject and Predicate

Consider the following sentences: Mahmood is knowledgeable, Haamid is pious,
Khalid is a conqueror. These sentences and other sentences of the same pattern are
called mubtada ( ) and khabar ()
. The subject of the sentence is called
mubtada and it comes at the beginning of the sentence. The predicate of the
sentence is called khabar and it is the second part of the sentence. For example, in
Mahmood is knowledgeable, Mahmood is the subject and the information about
him being knowledgeable is the predicate. Therefore, Mahmood is mubtada and
knowledgeable is khabar.
To translate a sentence of this type into Arabic, follow these steps:
1. Take out the is.
2. Translate the words into Arabic.

3. Give two dammahs (
) to both words in the sentence.

Examples:
1. Mahmood is knowledgeable.

2. Haamid is pious.

3. Khalid is a conqueror.

4. Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) is a messenger.

(
)

5. Naasir is a friend.

In the above examples, the mubtada is a definite noun.1 However, if it is a

common noun, an alif-laam will be added to the beginning of the word. For
example, if the first sentence was the man is knowledgeable, it would be translated

.
as

It is important to note here that whenever alif-laam comes before a word, the

tanween becomes a single fathah (

) as the case
), kasrah ( ) or dammah (
1

).
In Arabic, a definite noun is called marifah ( ) and a common noun is called nakirah (

Lesson 1

may be, eg.

becomes . Alif-laam is mainly used in place of the definite
article the. It gives distinction to a word. For example, a man is any man and
the man is a specific man. Sometimes alif-laam is used for the meaning of a whole

category/class. For example,

means mankind and means all praise.
If the mubtada is feminine, then the khabar will also have to be feminine. To
change a word to its feminine form, add the round taa ( )to the end of the word.

. Now if you want to say the

For example, the man is pious is written as

woman is pious, you will say

. Similarly, the girl is knowledgeable will be
written as
.
Word List
Arabic

English
father
mother
son
boy
daughter, girl

Singular

Plural

paternal uncle
paternal aunt

maternal uncle
maternal aunt

brother
sister

grandfather

grandmother
grandson
granddaughter
man
woman


Arabic

English

Singular

male child, infant, toddler

female male child, infant, toddler

strong
weak
ice, snow
cold

water
sweet
small
fat
pious
worshipper
intelligent, smart
hard-working
beautiful
thankful, grateful
truthful

Lord
prophet, messenger

messenger
path
straight
Muslim
man, mankind
slave
leader, commander

Plural

Lesson 1

Arabic

English

Singular

brave
generous
the hour; day of resurrection
coming (F)
respectful
and
merciful
going (M)
knowledgeable; scholar
Exercise 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Haamid is a father.
Mahmood is a son.
Khalid is an uncle (paternal).
Zayd is an uncle (maternal).
Bakr is a brother.
Saeed is a grandfather.
Hameed is a grandson.
The man is strong.
The child (M) is weak.
The ice is cold.
The water is sweet.
The son is small.
Hamzah is fat.
The brother is pious.

Exercise 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Translate into Arabic.

Translate into Arabic.

The woman is strong.

The mother is beautiful.
The daughter is a worshipper.
The aunt (maternal) is intelligent.
The aunt (paternal) is hard-working.
The sister is beautiful.
The grandmother is thankful.

Plural


Aishah is intelligent.
Fatimah is small.
Maimoonah is a grand daughter.
The aunt (paternal) is pious.
The girl is fat.
The grandmother is pious.
The aunt (maternal) is a worshipper.
Translate into English.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Exercise 3:

11.

12.

1.

2.
(
)

15.

16.

5.

6.

3.

4.

13.

14.

7.

17.

18.

8.

9.

19.


20.

10.

LESSON 2

Consider the following sentences: slave of Allah, messenger of Allah, door of the
house, the Messengers order, Mahmoods pen, Khalids book, Hameeds
house. These phrases and those with a similar pattern are called mudaaf (

)

and mudaaf ilayhi (

) . One thing (mudaaf) is attributed to the other
(mudaaf ilayhi). Many times, the relationship is that of the possessed to its
possessor. The possessed is called mudaaf and the possessor is called mudaaf ilayhi.
For example, in the phrase Mahmoods pen, the pen is owned by Mahmood.
Therefore, pen is mudaaf and Mahmood is mudaaf ilayhi.
To translate a sentence of this type into Arabic, follow these steps:
1. Take out of or the apostrophe and the s, which show possession.
2. If you have taken out the apostrophe and the s, reverse the sequence. Write
the second word first and the first word second. If you took out of, then
there is no need to reverse the sequence.
3. Replace the English words with their Arabic equivalents.
4. Give the mudaaf a single dammah and the mudaaf ilayhi two kasrahs.
For example, to translate the phrase Mahmoods pen to Arabic, first take out
the apostrophe and s. It becomes Mahmood pen. Then, change the order of the
words to pen Mahmood. Next, replace the words with their Arabic equivalents.
You get . Now, give the mudaaf a single dammah and the mudaaf ilayhi two
kasrahs. You get
. Following the same method, Khalids book becomes

. For a sentence with of, such as ring of gold, first remove the of. It
becomes ring gold. Now, replace the words with their Arabic equivalents. You get

. Now, give the mudaaf a single dammah and the mudaaf ilayhi two kasrahs.
.
You get
The rules concerning alif-laam have been mentioned in the first lesson. Those
rules will apply here also. Thus, if there is an alif-laam at the beginning of the

will become
mudaaf ilayhi, the two kasrahs will become one kasrah.
. It should be noted here that the mudaaf never accepts alif-laam or tanween.

For instance, in the above example,

will not accept alif-laam or tanween.

Lesson 2

Word List
Arabic

English

Singular

wall

home, house
door

window
room

roof

ceiling
bed

pen
heat

sun
day
judgment; religion
to establish, establishing

Plural

ritual prayer (salah)

to give, giving

poor due (zakah)

city, town

country; city, town

city, town
people

light
lamp

darkness






Arabic

English

Singular

night
finger, toe
foot; leg
tall, long
leader, governor
short
expensive
high
winter
summer
spring
autumn, fall
new
old
book

note-book
jouney, travel

Exercise 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Translate into Arabic.

Haamids son/son of Hameed

Khalids mother/mother of Khalid
Fatimahs sister/sister of Fatimah
The houses wall/wall of the house
The rooms door/door of the room
The rooms window/window of the room
The houses roof/roof of the house
The rooms ceiling/ceiling of the room
Hameeds bed/bed of Hameed
The grandfathers pen/pen of the grandfather
The suns heat/heat of the sun

Plural

Lesson 2

Exercise 2:

Translate into English.

1.
2.

6.
7.

5.

10.

8.

9.

3.
4.

Exercise 3:
Translate into Arabic.
1. Mahmoods pen is expensive.
2. The houses wall is long.
3. The houses roof is high.
4. Haamids son is tall.
5. Fatimahs sister is short.
6. Days of Summer are long.
7. Days of Winter are short.
8. Door of the house is high.
9. Ceiling of the room is expensive.
Exercise 4:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Translate into English.

10

LESSON 3

Past Tense Verb

In this lesson, we will look at the various forms a past tense verb takes in accordance
with the number and gender of the one(s) performing the action. To begin with, it
should be noted that means he (S/M) did, means they (D/M) did,

means they (P/M) did,

means she (S/F) did and so on. These verbs are in
active voice (
) .

(seeghah). Looking at the table below,

In Arabic, each verb form is called
we can see that there are fourteen seeghahs in it. Each of these seeghahs has a name.
This name identifies, whether it is singular, dual or plural, whether it is masculine or
feminine, and whether it is first person, second person or third person. In Arabic,

, , and , respectively; first

the words for singular, dual and plural are

person is called , second person is called

, and third person is called
;
and masculine is called , and feminine is called
. Thus, singular masculine

of the third person will be called

in Arabic. Dual masculine of the

third person will be called

, and plural masculine of the third person

will be called
, and so on.
In the case of the first person, because the gender is not identified, and there is
no separate seeghah for dual, therefore, the two seeghahs, singular first person and
and , respectively.
plural first person will be called

11

Lesson 3

We are listing below the verb forms (also called conjugations) of the past tense
verb in active voice. These should be memorized with their meanings.

Table 3.1

)
Past Tense Verb Forms in Active Voice (


Person

Gender
Masculine

Third
Person

(
)

()

Feminine
(
)

Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

First
Person
()

()
Feminine
(
)

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Feminine

Plurality

English

Arabic

Singular

He did.

Dual

They did.

Plural

They did.

Singular

She did.

Dual

They did.

Plural

They did.

Singular

You did.

Dual

You did.

Plural

You did.

Singular

You did.

Dual

You did.

Plural

You did.

Singular

I did.

Dual/
Plural

We did.

12




Before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 3.1 would be written in
Arabic. This is as follows:
Table 3.1a

Note: In the tables above, has been translated as he did and

as she
did. It should be kept in mind that these forms could also mean it (masculine)
did and it (feminine) did, respectively. The same is true of other forms. The
masculine could be any masculine thing or person, and the feminine could be any
feminine thing or person.

13

Lesson 3

Changing Active Voice to Passive Voice

Now, to change these verbs into passive voice, follow the following procedure. Put a
dammah on the first letter ( )of , and a kasrah on its second letter (). It will

become . Its meaning will change to he (S/M) was done upon. This is passive

voice (
) . Similarly, will become , will become ,
will

become
, and so on. We are listing below the verb forms (also called
conjugations) of the past tense verb in passive voice. These should be memorized
with their meanings.
Table 3.2

)
Past Tense Verb Forms in Passive Voice (


Person

Gender
Masculine

Third
Person

(
)

()

Feminine
(
)

Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

First
Person
()

()
Feminine
(
)

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Faminine

Plurality

English

Singular

He was done.

Dual

They were done.

Plural

They were done.

Singular

She was done.

Dual

They were done.

Plural

They were done.

Singular

You were done.

Dual

You were done.

Plural

You were done.

Singular

You were done.

Dual

You were done.

Plural

You were done.

Singular

I was done.

Dual/
Plural

We were done.

14

Arabic




Again, before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 3.2 would be
written in Arabic.
Table 3.2a

Note: In these two tables, has been translated as he was done and
as she
was done. As mentioned above in the note after Tables 3.1 & 3.1a, these forms
could also mean it (masculine) was done and it (feminine) was done,
respectively. The same is true of other forms. The masculine could be any
masculine thing or person, and the feminine could be any feminine thing or person.

15

Lesson 3

Creating Conjugation Tables from

Having memorized these two tables, the next stage is to identify the verb forms of

other verbs by comparing them to these tables. For this, we need to know that

of any verb table is considered to be the basic verb form. Generally, it is

composed of three letters. The first is called , the second is called ,
and the third is called . Now all that remains to be done is to identify which
letter of the new verb matches which letter of the basic verb form of the tables given

above. Consider, the verb

( he helped). Comparing this to of Table 3.1 or
Table 3.1a, we can see that in this verb, is the , is the , and is
the . Once, this is established, it is easy to compare any of its forms with the
rest of table.

Below, we are providing a list of the basic forms (

) of various verbs
and their meanings. Their remaining forms can be created from them.
Word List For Verbs
English

Arabic

he wrote

he read

he found
he cooked
he cut
he filled
he sought, he demanded

he asked
he made

he took
he ate

he ran, he fled
he went
he opened

16




English

Arabic

he hit

he entered
he put (something)

he helped
he joined, he arrived
he returned

he slaughtered
he oppressed
he imprisoned, he detained
Exercise 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Translate into Arabic.

I wrote.
They (P/F) read.
You (S/M) found.
You (P/F) cooked.
They (P/F) cut.
We filled.
You (P/M) demanded.
They (D/M) asked.
They (D/F) made.
You (S/F) took.

Exercise 2:
Translate into Arabic.
1. It (S/M) was eaten.
2. They (P/M) were cut.
3. They (P/F) were made.
4. They (P/F) ran.
5. You (S/M) went.
6. You (P/M) were found.
7. It (S/F) was opened.
8. He was hit.
9. They (P/F) entered.
10. It (S/F) was placed.

17

Lesson 3

Translate into English and identify the seeghah.

9.
10.
11.

12.

13.

14.


15.
16.

Translate into English and identify the seeghah.

Exercise 2:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


6.

7.
8.

Exercise 3:

7.

8.

1.

2.

10.

11.

4.

5.

9.

12.

18

3.

6.

LESSON 4

Verb, Subject, Object

In Arabic, the word sequence in a verbal sentence is as follows: verb (

) , then

subject (
), and finally the object () .
( verb) = the action being done.
( subject) = the person doing the action.

( object) = the person or the thing to whom or to which the action is being
done.

Rule: The
gets a dammah (or two dammahs as the case may be), and the
gets a fathah (or two fathahs).
Examples:

1. Haamid helped Mahmood. In this sentence, the

is helped, Haamid is

the
and Mahmood is the . When translating this sentence into
Arabic, the Arabic word for helped (
)will come first followed by the
)with two dammahs, and then the mafool, Mahmood
faail, Hamid (

(
)
with
two
fathahs.
The final sentence will be

)opened ( )a door (). The same order used for the last
2. A servant (

example ( first,
second and last) will apply here. Remember,
will get two dammahs and the will get two fathahs. The full
the

sentence will be
.

Notes:
If there is an alif-laam on any word, the tanween (double harakah) at the
end will change to a single harakah (the two fathahs will change to a single
fathah, the two kasrahs will change to a single kasrah, and the two dammahs
will change to a single dammah). Thus, the servant opened the door will

. Here, the alif-laam caused the double harakah

be written as

to be dropped, and only a single harakah remained.

19

Lesson 4

Mudaaf and mudaaf ilayhi can combine to form a

or a . For
example:

Mahmoods servant opened the door.

The servant opened the door of the house.

Mahmoods servant opened the door of the house.

In this case, it is important to remember that the mudaaf does not accept an
alif-laam or a tanween. However, the mudaaf ilayhi can accept both.

Moreover, the effect of being a

or will show on the mudaaf alone
and not the mudaaf ilayhi.
Word List for Verbs
English

Arabic

he read

he stopped (someone)
he wrote
he defeated

he cooked
he ate
he hit; he beat
he worshipped
he broke (something physical)
he tore
he helped
he cheated, he deceived
he profited
he heard
he made (someone into someone
or something into something)

20

English

Arabic

he understood
he remembered
he looked (at/towards)
he broke (something nonphysical)
he gave an example
he separated
he created, he made; he originated
he was ungrateful; disbelieved
he killed
he sat (down)
he imposed; he made something
obligatory

( )

( )

( )

Word List for Nouns & Particles

English
book
letter
army
girl
meat
uncle (paternal)
bread
rice
dog
(drinking) glass
garment, dress; cloth
friend

Arabic
Singular

21

Plural

Lesson 4

English
mother
messenger; prophet
religion
sky
building; roof
land, earth
bed; spread; mattress
Satan, the Devil
not
trade
ear
heart
transgressor
oath; pledge; promise
Muslim
speech
man
example
blessing
sea
chicken, hen
servant
door
Exercise 1:

Arabic
Singular

Plural

Translate into Arabic

1. Hameed read a book.

2. Naseer stopped Mahmood.
3. Khalid wrote a letter.

22

(

)

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Tariq defeated the army.

The girl cooked the meat.
The uncle (maternal) ate the bread.
I ate the rice.
I hit the dog.
You (P/M) worshipped Allah.
You (S/F) tore the cloth.
Hameeds friend helped Khalids grandson (sons son).
The girls mother broke the glass.

Exercise 2:
applicable.

Translate into English and identify the
, , and , where

1.
)
(

2.

3.

4.


5.

6.

7.



8.

9.

10.

11.

23

LESSON 5

Prepositions

The following particles are used as prepositions in Arabic. They occur quite
frequently.
Table 5.1

Prepositions (
)

in; regarding
from; than
on; upon
as, like
about; from; regarding

with; at
to; up to
for; belongs to
up to, until
by (for oath)

The words that come after these prepositions end with a kasrah on the final letter.
Below, we give examples of each of these.

Zayd is in the house.

I wrote with the pen.

from the house to the mosque

Zayd sat on the chair.

The car belongs to Zayd.

Ahmad is like a lion.

I slept until the morning.

She asked about the book.

By Allah!

Besides the ten prepositions listed above, there are seven other prepositions that
occur less frequently. Since they do occur; therefore, it is appropriate to mention
them as well. They are as follows:
1.

: by (for oath). This is specific with Allah, the Exalted. Example:

By Allah!

25

Lesson 5

2 & 3. : since. These are used to define a time period. Example:

I have not gone to the school since Friday.
4.

5.

: many a, so many. The noun used after

is always singular. Example:
I helped so many men.


: besides, except. Example:

I taught the children
except Zayd.

6.

: besides, except. Example:

I stopped the men
except Amr.

7.

: besides, except. Example: The people came except

Khalid.

Word List for Verbs

English

Arabic

he went

he killed
he cut

he milked
he wrote
he ate

( )

he asked
he made
he looked (at)
he opened
he sat
he read
it (M) fell
it (M) was prescribed (upon)
he broke

26

( )




Word List for Nouns
Arabic
Plural

Singular

English
village
city
lion
sword
cloth; clothes
scissors
cow
milk

large bowl
card
pencil
biscuit
butter
cream
teacher
student
lesson
night-time
sleep; sleeping
day-time

27

buffalo
white; whiter
gold
silver
stone
moon

Lesson 5

English
star
lock
key
garden
grass
praise
right guidance

Arabic
Singular

Plural

people
clouds (collective noun)
something which is under
control
between; among, amidst
sky
land, earth
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Jew; Jewish
Christian
part, portion
good deed

world
hereafter

28

(

)

English
fly
food
ritual prayer (salah)
door
room
bed

Arabic
Singular

today
tomorrow
yesterday
Exercise 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Plural

Translate into Arabic

Zayd went from the village to the city.

Mahmood killed the lion with the sword.
I cut the cloth with the scissors.
She milked the cows milk in the bowl.
You (S/M) put the shirt and the pants (one pair) in the box.
You (P/M) wrote on the cards with pencils.
They (P/F) ate biscuits with butter and cream.
By Allah (oath).
The teacher asked the students about the lesson.
Allah made the night-time for sleeping and the day-time for working.
Buffalos milk is whiter than cows milk.
Gold and silver are like stones to Zahid.
I looked towards the moon and the stars.
They (P/M) opened the lock with the key.
We went to the garden and we sat on the grass.

Exercise 2:

Translate into English

2.

3.



1.

29

Lesson 5

4.



5.





6.

7.

8.

9.

30

LESSON 6

Pronouns

. There are a number of

A pronoun is called
in Arabic. Its plural is

different types of pronouns in Arabic. We are listing below those pronouns that are
) . These dameers are not joined to any word but appear as
unattached (

separate words. They can appear as mubtada. These should be memorized.

Table 6.1

Unattached (
) Pronouns
Person

Gender
Masculine

Third
Person

(
)

()

Feminine
(
)

Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

First
Person
()

()
Feminine
(
)

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Feminine

Plurality

Pronouns
English
Arabic

Singular

he

Dual

they

Plural

they

Singular

she

Dual

they

Plural

they

Singular

you

Dual

you

Plural

you

Singular

you

Dual

you

Plural

you

Singular

Dual/
Plural

we

31

Lesson 6

)dameers. They are also called possessive (

Below, we list the attached (

)

and objective ( ) dameers. By possessive, we mean those pronouns, which

indicate possession (
;)and by objective we mean those pronouns, which refer to
the object () .

Table 6.2

Attached (
) Pronouns
Person

Gender
Masculine

Third
Person

(
)

()
Feminine
(
)

Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

First
Person
()

()
Feminine
(
)

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Feminine

Plurality

Pronouns
English
Arabic

Singular

his, him

Dual

their, them

Plural

their, them

Singular

hers, her

Dual

their, them

Plural

their, them

Singular

your, you

Dual

your, you

Plural

your, you

Singular

your, you

Dual

your, you

Plural

your, you

Singular

my, me

Dual/
Plural

ours, us

32



Examples of Usage of Unattached Dameers

He is Zayd.

I am a student.

You are hardworking.

Examples of Usage of Attached Dameers

These pronouns can come after nouns, verbs and particles as shown in the examples
below.
1. After a noun, showing attribution/possession (
):

his (S/M) pen

your (S/M) book

my book
her (S/F) book.

2. After a verb, indicating the object () :

I helped him

I commanded you

you (S/M) helped me.

3. After a particle:

in it
for him

from you (S/M)

to/towards us
indeed you (P/M)
on him.

Word List for Verbs

English

Arabic

he rode
he broke
he fell
he stopped (someone)

33

Lesson 6

English

Arabic

he raised (someone or something)

( )

he played
he looked
he worshipped
he remembered
he ate
he provided livelihood/sustenance

he sealed, he put a seal

he cheated, he deceived
he left; he abandoned
he snatched
he created

he presented
he took

)
(

he did (good deeds); he acted

(righteously)
Word List for Nouns & Particles

Arabic

English

Singular

father
mother

tongue
head

( )

nose
hand
tooth
chest

34

Plural



Arabic

English

Singular

handkerchief

car
bicycle
shoe
foot
ball

mango
apple
garden
melon, watermelon
cucumber
field; arable land

heart
hearing; also used for ears
eyesight; glance; also used for
eyes

veil, covering
themselves
darkness

lightning
Lord

fuel
people

stone
husband; wife; spouse
clean, pure (F)

angel

35

Plural

(

)

Lesson 6

Arabic

English

Singular

covenant

above
Mount Sinai

color
bright yellow
whoever
then; so; therefore;
sometimes, it is not translated

with

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

compensation, reward

Exercise 1:

Plural

Translate into Arabic

My father
His mother
Her tongue
Your (S/M) head
Your (S/F) nose
My hand
Their (P/F) teeth
His chest
Our handkerchief
I rode in your (S/M) car.
She broke my bike.
The shoe fell off your (S/M) foot.
I stopped them (P/F).
They (P/M) raised me.
You (P/M) played with the ball.
They (D/M) looked at me.
You (D/F) worshipped Him.
My mother remembered me yesterday.
You (S/M) ate a mango and an apple in your garden and you ate a watermelon
and a cucumber in your field.

36



Translate into English

Exercise 2:

1.

2.

3.


4.


5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

37

LESSON 7

Present and Future Tense Verb

We have already discussed the past tense verb and pronouns. In this lesson, we will

( past tense)
discuss

which is equivalent to present and future tense.

(pronouns) are the foundations

and

( present/future tense), as well as

of the Arabic language. These should be memorized properly. This will make all
future lessons much easier. We are listing below the conjugations (verb forms) of

) .

( present and future tense verb) in active voice (
Table 7.1

Verb Forms of (
)

) in Active Voice (
Person

Gender

Plurality
Singular

Masculine
Third
Person

(
)

()

Dual
Plural
Singular

Feminine
(
)

Dual
Plural
Singular

Second
Person

)
(

Masculine
()

Dual
Plural

39

English

Arabic

He/It is doing or
will do
They are doing or
will do
They are doing or
will do
She/It is doing or
will do
They are doing or
will do
They are doing or
will do
You are doing or
will do
You are doing or
will do
You are doing or
will do

Lesson 7

Table 7.1 Continued

You are doing or

will do
You are doing or
will do
You are doing or
will do
I am doing or will
do
We are doing or
will do

Singular
Feminine

Dual

(
)

)
(

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Feminine

First
Person

Plural
Singular
Dual/
Plural

Second
Person

) (

Before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 7.1 would be written in
Arabic. This is as follows:
Table 7.1a

40




Creating Passive Voice

( past tense active

In lesson 3, we discussed the method of converting

( past tense passive voice). Now, we discuss the method of
voice) to

converting

from active to passive voice. , which means he does or will

do, is in active voice (

) . To convert this



to
, we
give the first letter a dammah and the third letter a fathah.


becomes ,
becomes
, becomes ,
becomes
, and so on.

Table 7.2

Verb Forms of (

) in Passive Voice ()

Person

Gender

Plurality
Singular

Masculine
Third
Person

(
)

()

Dual
Plural
Singular

Feminine

(
)

Dual
Plural
Singular

Masculine
Second
Person

)
(

()

Dual
Plural
Singular

Feminine

(
)

Dual
Plural

41

English

Arabic

He/It is being done

or will be done
They are being done
or will be done
They are being done
or will be done
She/It is being done
or will be done
They are being done
or will be done
They are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done
You are being done
or will be done

Lesson 7

Table 7.2 continued

I am being done or
will be done
We are being done
or will be done

Singular
Dual/
Plural

Masculine/
Feminine
Masculine/
Feminine

First
Person

) (

Before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 7.2 would be written in
Arabic. This is as follows:
Table 7.2a

42

Note: When a passive verb is used, the

( subject) is not mentioned. Rather, the

( subject) and is called

( subject of
( object) takes the place of the

( substitute subject). Since it takes the place of the

the passive verb) or

, it also gets a dammah.

Examples:

The boy was hit.

The woman was stopped.

The door will be opened.

The wall will be broken.

Note: In the tables above, the first letter of each seeghah of

and

, both
, is called
( plural:
) . As can be seen in the table, these


are , , , and .

and
Relationship between the Seeghahs of


Before we move on, it will be useful to keep in mind that the ayn kalimah of the

and

can vary in a number of different ways. It
of a

and/or
can have a fathah, kasrah or dammah in

. It is beyond the

scope of this book to discuss all of these combinations. However, at this stage, it is,
nevertheless, important to take note of the harakah on the ayn kalimah of any given

and its corresponding

.
Word List for Verbs

Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he went
he wandered about
he made (someone into someone or
something into something)
he came to know

43

Lesson 7

Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he worshipped
he realized; he became aware
he heard
he played
he wore
he became sad, he grieved

he slaughtered
he drank

he stopped (someone)

he was angry (with someone)

he broke (something non-physical);
he nullified

( )

he made (something)

he laughed

( )

he cooked

he washed

he read

he opened

he commanded, he ordered
he concealed
he wrote
he cut
he helped

he deceived, he cheated
he colored, he dyed
he raised
he sent

44




Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he ate
he remembered; he mentioned

Word List for Nouns & Particles

Arabic

English
food
newspaper
potato
tea
spoon
lock
key
washerman
cloth; clothes
pond, pool
laughter
friend
house
prayer leader; leader

Singular

Plural

people
what?; do?; will?; etc.
(depending on the context)

sinfulness

disbelief, infidelity
today
tommorrow

45

Lesson 7

Arabic

English

Singular

day after tomorrow

a year ago
day before yesterday
letter

paternal uncle
fear

promise; pledge
that, which
piety, righteousness

that; to
cow
speech
rope
remembrance
prophet
fruit
library
magazine
article; essay
Exercise 1:

Translate into English

1.

2.

7.

8.

5.
6.

11.

12.

3.

4.

Plural

9.


10.

46

Exercise 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

They (P/M) came to know.

You (P/F) are reading.
She is cooking.
He is grieving.
They (P/F) are cooking.
I am making food.
We will drink.
You (S/F) will go.
You (S/M) will stop.
They (D/M) will go.

Exercise 3:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Translate into Arabic

Translate into Arabic

I will read your (S/M) newspaper.

They (P/F) will cook a potato for you (P/M).
You (P/M) are drinking tea with a spoon.
Your (P/M) uncle (paternal) will open the lock with his key.
The washerman is washing the clothes in the pond.
Haamid is laughing in his house.
I am hearing his laughter in my house.
Khalids friend will go to your (S/M) house.
We will make you (S/M) a leader for the people.
Are you (P/F) stopping them (P/M) from sinfulness and disbelief?
Today I read your (S/F) letter.
Tomorrow I will go to her uncles (paternal) house.
Are you (S/F) angry with him?

Exercise 4:

Translate into English

1.



2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

47

Lesson 7

Exercise 5:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Translate into Arabic

Is being read (S/M, third person)

Is being written (S/M, third person)
Will be broken (S/M, third person)
Will be cut (S/M, third person)
She is being helped.
You are being stopped (S/M)
I am being stopped.
We are being helped.
You (S/F) will be stopped.
You (S/M) are being cheated.

Exercise 6:

Translate into Arabic

1. The rope is being cut.

2. The cloth will be dyed.
3. Remembrance of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) is being
raised.
4. The prophets are being sent.
5. Fruits are being eaten.
6. Allah is being remembered.
7. Tomorrow, the newspaper will be read in the library.
8. An article will be written for your (S/F) magazine the day after tomorrow.
9. The promise was broken a year ago.

48

LESSON 8

Adjective

Consider the following phrases: truthful Muslim, pious man, large mosque,
small book, trustworthy servant. These phrases and other phrases of similar

(adjective) and
pattern are called

( the described). In the phrase small

(adjective), and book

book, small describes the book. Thus, small is
is

( the described).

To convert such a phrase into Arabic, follow the following steps:

1. Translate the individual words into Arabic.
2. Reverse the order of the words so that the first word comes second and the
second word comes first.
3. Give both words one or two dammah(s) (depending on the situation).
Example: We want to convert the phrase, truthful Muslim into Arabic. First, we

. Next, we reverse the

translate the individual words into Arabic. We get

. Then, we give two dammahs to both the words. We get

order to get

. Similarly, if we want to convert pious man into Arabic, we will first
. Next, we will reverse the
translate the individual words into Arabic

order of the words

.
Lastly,
we
will
give
two
dammahs to both words


.

States of Nouns:
Before we move on, it will be useful to keep in mind that each noun is always in a
certain state. There are three states in total for nouns. These are as follows:
1. : This is the state when a noun has one or two dammahs at the end. Such a
noun is called
. For example,
or
.
2.
: This is the state when a noun has one or two fathahs at the end. Such a

noun is called
.

. For example, or

3.
: This is the state when a noun has one or two kasrahs at the end. Such a noun

or
.
is called
. For example,

49

Lesson 8

Note: There is another state which is specific to verbs. This is

. This is the
condition in which a
appears at the end of a word or its substitute ( in the

) is dropped from the end.
example,
( he did not hit).

case of

Such a word is said to be

. For

and
Additional Rules for

:

and the
1. Both the

,
have to be in the same state, i.e., if one is

then the other should also be

. Similarly, if one is

, the other
. Since has two
should also be

. For example, consider

dammahs at the end, it is

;
therefore,

will
also
be
given two

dammahs to make it
. Similarly, if for some reason was

,

would also have to be

. The phrase would then have been

such as in


( I helped a pious man). If had been ,

such
would also have been
. The phrase would then have been

as in
( I went to a pious man).

and the
2. Both the

should either be marifah or nakirah. Thus, if

the

has an alif-laam, the should also have an alif-laam. For
would also change to
example, if

were to be changed to ,

and the
3. The gender of the

should be the same. Thus, if the

is feminine, the should also be feminine. To change a word to
its feminine form, just add a round taa ( )at the end of the word. For
and the pious teacher (F)
example, a pious teacher (F) will be

will be

.
4. If the

is a proper noun, it will not accept alif-laam. For non-proper

nouns alif-laam is used to change nakirah into marifah. However, all

proper nouns are considered marifah by default even without an alif-laam.

Since, the

is a proper noun; therefore, the will require an aliflaam to make it marifah. For example, when converting the conqueror
Khalid into Arabic, we will not add alif-laam to
because it is already a

50

( )because it
proper noun. However, we will add an alif-laam to the

is not a proper noun. The sentence will be
.
The following examples illustrate this point:

The king Mahmood will be

.

The commander Taariq will be .

.
The poet Ghalib will be

These sentences can also be read (not written) as
,
,
.
and

Word List for Verbs

English

Arabic

he drank
he defeated
he entered
he touched, he felt (by hand);
he examined

he provided
he conquered

he took

Word List for Nouns

Arabic

English

Singular

Plural

pious, righteous
father
son
most-forgiving
Lord
big, large

51

Lesson 8

Arabic

English
door
old
mat

Singular

Plural

good; excellent
article; essay
magazine

street
small, little
ship, boat
deep

sea
great; powerful
mountain
long
train
train engine
station
immoral person
man

beautiful, handsome; good

fan
sick, ill
woman
bitter

medicine
king

52





Arabic

English
army
capital city

Singular

Plural

today
skillful; outstanding
barber
store, shop
old man; scholar
mischievous

( )

boy
ugly
near, close

house
doctor

medical prescription
path
straight

torment; punishment
painful

mosquito
livelihood

trial, tribulation
night
dark
example
word
tree
good; pleasant (F)

53

( )

Lesson 8

Arabic

English
root
firm, established
branch
sky
commander, leader

fort, fortress, castle

conqueror
Romans

Translate into Arabic

Pious father
The son Saeed
Most-forgiving Lord
Big door
The old mat
Good article
Good magazine
Big street
Small boat
Deep sea
Great mountain
Long train
Big engine
Small station

Exercise 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

hand; possession

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Plural

city

Exercise 1:

Singular

Translate into Arabic

I hit an immoral man.

You (P/M) took a beautiful fan.
The sick woman drank bitter medicine.
Brave Tariq defeated a big kings army and he entered his capital.
Today I will go to a skilled barbers shop.

54





6.
7.
8.
9.

This is a pious old man and that is a mischievous child.

This is a handsome man and that is an ugly boy.
You (S/M) went to a shop close to your house.
Doctor Mahmood examined a sick woman and wrote a good prescription for
her.

Exercise 3:

Translate into English.

1.


2.

3.

4.

5.
6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

55

LESSON 9

Imperative (Positive Command) &

Prohibitive (Negative Command)
The command is used to demand an action. That verb which contains a command
to do something is called , for example, read! and write!; while that verb which
contains a command to not do something is called , as in do not go and do not

fear.

Creating for the Second Person

of any verb is created from its respective

. In this lesson, we will study
the method of making for the second person. This is as follows.

1. First, give a jazm to that seeghah of

, whose you wish to create. This

means that that seeghah which ends with a dammah, should have its dammah
replaced with a sukoon, while the noon should be dropped from that seeghah which

for
is an exception to this.2 Also, in the
ends with a noon. The

case of
, an alif should be added at the end, after dropping the noon.

2. Now, remove the

, which in this case is . The seeghah should be

unreadable.
3
3. Now, add a
at the beginning and give it a kasrah.

This process is illustrated in the following table.

is one of those words whose ends do not accept any vowel change. Such
In fact, this

words are called

.
3
Hamzat al-wasl appears at the beginning of a word. It is not pronounced when there is a
word before the word with a hamzat al-wasl. Giving it a kasrah is the basic principle. There
is more detail to it, and is mentioned later in the lesson.

57

Lesson 9

Table 9.1

)
Creating Second Person Imperative In Active Voice (


[From Left To Right]

Original seeghahs of
Second Person

Give jazm
to the
seeghahs

Drop the harf

al-mudari

Add a hamzat alwasl at the

beginning

Based upon the above procedure, we get the following seeghahs of second person
imperative in active voice. These must be memorized.
Table 9.2

)
Second Person Imperative In Active Voice (


Person

Gender
Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

()

Feminine
(
)

Plurality

English

Singular

(You) Do!

Dual

(You) Do!

Plural

(You) Do!

Singular

(You) Do!

Dual

(You) Do!

Plural

(You) Do!

58

Arabic



Before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 9.2 would be written in
Arabic. This is as follows:
Table 9.2a

Examples:

1. From
( you are opening/will open), we get ( open!).

2. From
(you are sitting/will sit), we get
( sit!).

3. From
( you are hearing/will hear), we get ( hear!).

4. From
( you are hitting/will hit), we get
( hit!).

5. From
( go!).
( you are going/will go), we get
Creating for the Second Person

Like , the of any verb is also created from its respective

. In this

lesson, we will study the method of making for the second person. It is partially

similar to the method given above for , but there are also differences. The process
is as follows.

1. Like in the case of , give a jazm to the

. This means that that seeghah
which ends with a dammah, should have its dammah replaced with a sukoon, while
the noon should be dropped from that seeghah which ends with a noon. As before,
for
will be an exception to this. Also, in the case of
the

, an alif should be added at the end, after dropping the noon.

59

Lesson 9

2. Now, instead of removing the

, just place a before it. This is a

.

, and is called

This process is illustrated in the following table.
Table 9.3

)
Creating Second Person Prohibitive In Active Voice (


[From Left To Right]

Original seeghahs of

Second Person

Give jazm to the

seeghahs

Add a laa al-nahiyah at

the beginning

Based upon the above procedure, we get the following seeghahs of second person
prohibitive in active voice. These must be memorized.

Table 9.4

)
Second Person Prohibitive In Active Voice (


Person

Gender
Masculine

Second
Person

)
(

()

Feminine
(
)

Plurality

English

Arabic

Singular

(You) Dont do!

Dual

(You) Dont do!

Plural

(You) Dont do!

Singular

(You) Dont do!

Dual

(You) Dont do!

Plural

(You) Dont do!

60



Again, before we move on, it would be useful to see how Table 9.4 would be
written in Arabic. This is as follows:
Table 9.4a

Examples:
1. From
( you are opening/will open), we get ( do not open!).

2. From
(you are sitting/will sit), we get
( do not sit!).

3. From
( you are hearing/will hear), we get ( do not hear!).
4. From
( you are hitting/will hit), we get
( do not hit!).


5. From
( do not go!).
( you are going/will go), we get
The vowels (harakah) of and

Many times we find to be on the pattern of as in . However, this is not

always the case. Sometimes, it follows the pattern as in
, and sometimes the

pattern as in
. The reason behind this difference is that the particular vowel

pattern of and is dependent on the ( )letter of the

seeghah of

governs the in two ways,

. The ( )letter of this

and in one way.

The one way where it governs both and is the harakah of the ( )letter

of and . Here, the harakah has to correspond exactly. Thus, when the ()

has a fathah, or kasrah, or dammah, the ( )letter
letter of

61

Lesson 9

of and will have the same vowel. For example, in

the ( )letter is ( )and

has a fathah. Therefore, in its and forms, the ( )will also get a fathah. Its

will be and its will be

there is a kasrah under ( ;)therefore,

. In

its and forms will be

and
respectively. In


, there is a

dammah on ( ;)therefore, its and forms will be

and
respectively.

The other way in which ( )letter of

governs is with respect to
the hamzat al-wasl of . This hamzat al-wasl either gets a kasrah or a dammah. It

cannot have a fathah. If the ( )letter of

has a dammah, the hamzat al-wasl
of will also have a dammah. For example, the of
will be
because ()

is the ( )letter of


and it has a dammah. And if the ( )letter of

has a fathah or a kasrah, then in both cases the hamzat al-wasl of will get a kasrah.

For example, the of

is
.


is , and the of

It should be noted that there is no hamzat al-wasl in . It is only

dependent on the ( )letter of

for the harakah on its own ( )letter.
Word List For Verbs
Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he went
he stopped (someone)
he started
he opened
he searched
he heard
he laughed
he did, he acted, he worked
he came to know
he played
he accepted

62



Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he cooked
he was cautious
he went near, he came near
he became sad
he mocked

he did
he read
he entered
he drank

Word List for Nouns & Particles

Arabic

English

Singular

to

Plural

market
mosque
but, rather, however

box
for

yourself
a lot
advice

mother
with

doll
ball

speech

63

Lesson 9

Arabic

English

comb
meat
snake
scorpion
cat

upon, on
path
straight
good
that

all, each
thing
powerful
intercession
village
friend
hotel

milk
door

house
manager; editor
newspaper

1.

2.

Plural

mirror

Exercise 1:

Singular

Translate into English

7.

8.

64



9.
10.

3.
4.

5.

6.

Exercise 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

11.

12.
Translate into Arabic

Dont go (P/M) to the market, but go to the mosque.

Open (S/M) the box.
Work (D/M) for yourselves.
Dont laugh (P/M) a lot.
Accept (P/F) the advice of your mothers.
Dont (P/M) play with the doll; play (P/M) with the ball.
Listen (S/M) to the speech of Allah.
Dont (S/F) play with the mirror and the comb; cook (S/F) the meat.
Be cautious (P/F) of the snake and the scorpion.
Dont (D/F) go near the ball; play (D/F) with this cat.

Exercise 3:

Translate into English.

1.

2.


3.


4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

65

LESSON 10

Singular, Dual, Plural

We have seen in the previous lessons that verb forms are sometimes single,
sometimes dual, and sometimes plural.4 Similarly, nouns can also be single, dual

means two believers, and

and plural. For example, means one believer,

means three or more believers. Below, we give the rules for duals and plurals
of nouns.

)one of the
Dual: It is formed by placing at the end of a singular (

following:

An
preceded by a fathah and followed by a with a kasrah i.e. []
for the state of .
e.g.

two men

A preceded by a fathah and a with a kasrah i.e. [ ] for the states of

and .

e.g.

two men

)one of the
Plural: It is formed by placing at the end of a singular (

following:5

A preceded by a dammah and followed by a with a fathah i.e. []

for the state of .
e.g.

Muslims

A preceded by a kasrah and followed by a with a fathah i.e. [ ] for

the states of
and .

e.g.

Muslims

It should be remembered that when the verb forms are dual or plural, it is not the action that is dual
or plural. The action taking place is only one. It is only the doers of the action who are two or more.
5
There is more detail to it, which can be studied in more advanced books.

67

Lesson 10

For the ease of the students, a chart showing

and its dual and plural forms in
each of the different states is given below.
Table 10.1
Singular, Dual, and Plural

In the state of

)
Singular (

In the state of

In the state of

Dual ()

Plural ()

Examples:
1. Two men went to the market.

2. The scholars gave a speech in the mosque.

3. Khalid helped two oppressed persons.

4. Naseer hit the oppressors.

5. I wrote with two pens.

6. A man from amongst the believers came.

Note: The of dual and plural is dropped when it appears at the end of mudaaf.
For example,
1.
(Zayds two pens)
but the was dropped because it appeared at the
This was originally

end of mudaaf.
2.
(a mans two horses)

This was originally

but the was dropped because it appeared at the
end of mudaaf.

68

3.
( Muslims of Egypt)

This was originally
but the was dropped because it appeared at the
end of mudaaf.

4.
(seekers of knowledge)
This was originally but the was dropped because it appeared at the
end of mudaaf.

Word List for Verbs

Arabic

English
(for past tense)

he ordered
he wrote
he ate

he cut
he hit
he took
he studied

he cooked
he read

he filled
he imprisoned

he forgave
Word List for Nouns
English

Arabic
Singular

preacher
book
believer
bread

69

Plural

Lesson 10

English

Arabic
Singular

tree
boy
umbrella
year
worshipper
a fish

house
female servant, maid
jar

thief
jail, prison
guidance
pious, God-fearing
successful; prosperous
corrupt

notebook

uncle (maternal)

Plural

( )

we
peacemaker
oppressor

punishment
painful
disbeliever, infidel
humiliating, disgraceful

with
patient
all praise

70

( )

English

Arabic
Singular

Plural

Lord
world
blessing, grace (of Allah
Most High)

peace
upon, on

master; chief
messenger
seal; ring
prophet
family
companion
all
Exercise 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Translate into English

I ordered the preachers.

They (P/M) wrote a book for the believers.
They (P/F) ate the bread.
You (P/M) cut the tree.
She hit two boys and she took the umbrellas.
You (P/F) will study for two years.
You (S/F) will cook for the worshippers.
You (S/M) ate a fish, but I ate two fish.
She wrote two notebooks and you (P/M) read two books.
The houses maid cooked bread and she filled two jars.
Khalids uncle (maternal) imprisoned the thieves in the jail.

Exercise 2:

Translate into English

1.

2.

:
3.

71

Lesson 10

4.



5.


6.

7.


8.

9.

72