- In this part of lesson, we will learn a new concept of Arabic Grammar In-Shā’-Allâh (God-Willing). You have already learned that in Arabic language the words take different cases i.e., nominative (đammah/đammatain), accusative (fatħah/fatħatain) or genitive (kasrah/kasratain) on their last letter. A word takes single case when it appears with the definite article /al/ and double case when it is without the definite article /al/.
- There are certain words however which have to indicate their function therefore they do not change their case and maintain their vowel ending. The words which do not change their vowel endings in order to indicate their function are called indeclinable words and have to remain unchanged.
- The following are few examples of the indeclinable words (we will study this in detail in later lessons so this is only an introduction):
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Rule |
Translation |
(The Indeclinable Words) |
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The interrogative articles are indeclinable |
1. Who |
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2. Where |
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3. What |
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The directing words are mostly indeclinable |
1. This (masculine) |
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2. That (masculine) |
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3. This (feminine) |
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The prepositions are indeclinable |
1. On |
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2. In |
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3. To |
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The pronouns are always indeclinable |
1. He |
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2. She |
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3. You |
- The indeclinable words do not take different cases for different causes and do not take /tanwīn/ as well.
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Picture: |
Translation: |
Arabic: |
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This is a man |
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Who are you? |
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Whose bag is this? |
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This is a duck |
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Where is the lion? |
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What is on the desk |
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The teacher is in front of students |
- Read the following sentences carefully while taking particular care of the vowel endings
- Please note that we will introduce sentences related to Islam occasionally within this course for the benefit of Muslims studying this course. Those students who are not Muslim may find it beneficial to learn about Islamic belief which is the main religion in the Arab world and indeed many other parts of the world.:
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English: |
Arabic: |
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Where is the teacher's house? It is far away |
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The Quraan is the book of Allah (God) |
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The Ka'ba is Allah's (God’s) house |
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The teacher went out of the principal's room |
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Abbas's car is in the street |
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The door of the mosque is opened |
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Where is the dog? It is under the car |
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This is the house of Hamid and that is the house of Khalid |