Adjectives in Arabic

What is an adjective?

An adjective is a word that qualifies a noun. Below are some adjectives:

Adjectives (alone)

Placement & Agreement

Unlike in English, an adjective comes after the noun it qualifies. They both agree in gender, number, and definiteness, i.e, they are both either definite or indefinite. They also agree in declension (final vowel; this will be explained later). Now let us use each adjective above to qualify a noun.

Adjectives (with the nouns they qualify)

NOTE
The adjective always comes after the noun, and they both share the same vowel on their last letter.

The nouns in the above examples are all indefinite (and so are the adjectives). To render the nouns definite, the definite article is added to them, and since an adjective must be definite or indefinite just like its noun, the definite article is added to the adjectives as well. See below:

Adjectives (which qualify definite nouns)

Note the repetition of the definite article

Summary

An Adjective:

• comes after the noun it qualifies
• agrees with the noun in gender and number
• is definite only if the noun is definite
• ends with the same vowel as the noun

Vocabulary

English	Arabic
hardworking	مُجْتَهِـدٌ
old/big	كـَبـِيْرٌ
ancient	قـَدِيْمٌ
clean	نَظِيْفٌ
dirty	وَسِخٌ

Exercise

Try to qualify each noun you learnt with an adjective from above. Pay close attention to (in)definiteness of both the noun and the adjective.

The Arabic Alphabet

About the Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is completely different from the English alphabet. The 28-letter Arabic alphabet is written from right to left, unlike the 26-letter English alphabet. It is a script with no uppercase letters, but instead it has different forms for each letter based on its position within the word. Its most challenging difference, however, may be the cursive style in which it is written.

On the other hand, once you master the Arabic script you will be able to write any word you hear (provided it is pronounced correctly) as Arabic is a very phonetic language, especially compared to English. No two letters in Arabic are pronounced the same way, nor any letter has two distinct sounds. Compare this to English c, g, s and such.

Consonants & vowels

The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters and all are consonants; vowels in Arabic are something different and they do not form part of the alphabet like in English. However, three of the consonants are used together with the (short) vowels to form what are called long vowels.

Direction & shape

The Arabic script is written and read from right to left, and letters forming one word are joined together in a cursive writing style, taking different shapes depending on its position in a word.

For the 28 letters there is a total of only 18 shapes, as 8 shapes are shared by more than one letter (18 letters are represented by 8 different shapes). In such cases, the difference between letters is indicated by the number and position of dot(s). For example, ب ت ث have the same shape but differ in the number of dots above/below them.

English equivalents

Not all Arabic letters have their equivalents in English. Among those Arabic sounds with no equivalent in English, some can be represented by a combination of two English letters, while others can be represented by how certain sounds are pronounced in other languages; but still there are others that the learner should absolutely hear from someone who knows how to pronounce it correctly (or from audio files). The beginner is advised to master this from the very beginning.

Nor do all English letters have their equivalents in Arabic. Such letters are either represented by letters with somewhat similar pronunciation, or Arabic letters with the nearest pronunciation are modified, usually by adding some dots.

Letters and sounds

No two letters in Arabic can have the same sound; there must be some difference, however subtle. Compare this with the English "John Gerrard".

No Arabic letter represents two different sounds: compare this to the English "God and gender". However, the same Arabic letter can have very subtle differences in pronunciation when carrying different vowels. This might escape the beginner at first, but with practice ...

The letters of the Arabic alphabet are listed below, with the English equivalent next to each. Where there is a noun, the sound is represented by the letters in bold. The names of the letters are not provided here on purpose, they will be in another lesson, in Arabic.

(twin) ط note4 ظ note5 ع note6 غ f ف note7 ق k ك l ل m م n ن h ه w و y ي

note1 أ b ب t ت (think) ث j ج note2 ح note3 خ d د (this) ذ r ر z ز s س sh ش (sweet) ص (dwarf) ض

The First letter

The first letter أ is a combination of ء over ا. Each component can be a letter on its own. The letter can be part of a long vowel, as well as a support for ء. The ء sometimes needs support, and other times is strong enough to stand on its own without any supportting letter.

Also the ء above the ا is sometimes placed below the ا; this is due to a different vowelling.

---

Notes:

1. depending upon the vowel it carries, this letter may be equivalent to a, i or u as in apple, imagine or Uzbek respectively.
   Note that the U in Uzbek can be pronounced like the "u" in "put" and like that of "run", but here I mean the 1st one only.
2. needs direct hearing
3. this is roughly equivalent to the ch in Scottish "loch", usually transliterated by "kh"
4. this is a combination of th + w, the "th" being like that of "this"
5. needs direct hearing
6. this is somewhat like the french "r", usually transliterated by "gh"
7. this is somewhat like the french "cr", usually transliterated by "q"

Definite Nouns — The Definite Article

The Definite article

To make an indefinite noun definite in Arabic, you just prefix the definite article to it. The Arabic definite article is اَلْ, and it is the same for both masculine and feminine. Furthermore, it does not change with dual or plural either.

The following are examples of definite nouns:

Each of the above nouns ends with a single vowel. The vowel may not be a (ــُـ), but it must be single. This is because of the اَلْ prefixed to the noun.

NOTE
You will never come across a noun having both ال and double vowels; either one of the two, or none at all.

Summary

• The definite article is اَلْ; it is attached to the beginning of indefinite nouns to make them definite.
• The same definite article is used with masculine and feminine.
• The same definite article is used with singular, dual and plural.
• A definite noun will have a single vowel at the end. This does not apply to proper nouns without ال.

Indefinite Nouns — The Indefinite Article

The Indefinite Article in Arabic

In Arabic a noun is indefinite by the mere absence of the definite article; there is no indefinite article in Arabic like there is in English. So, there is no equivalent for "a". To translate "a boy" for example, we would use only the Arabic equivalent of "boy", leaving out the "a", for which there is no equivalent.

The following are examples of indefinite nouns: 

Each of the above nouns ends with double vowels (called tanween).

NOTE
The double vowel can be considered as the "indefinite article" of the Arabic language; similarly to the English "a" it is a vowel, but on the contrary, it comes at the end of a word.

Arabic sentences — The Nominal Sentence

Types of Arabic sentences

Arabic sentences are of two types: nominal and verbal. In this lesson we shall learn how to form the Arabic nominal sentence. We'll leave the verbal sentence for later in the course.

You are expected to have knowledge of indefinite and definite nouns. We will use both types of nouns to make nominal sentences.

The simple Nominal Sentence : Noun + Noun

In this lesson, you will learn how to form a simple Arabic sentence using only nouns.

By definition, a nominal sentence is a sentence which starts with a noun. The nominal sentence starts with a definite noun. This first noun is then followed by another noun which is indefinite.

You will have noticed that each of the Arabic sentences above starts with a definite noun followed by an indefinite one. The translation reflects this by the use of "the" and "a" for each noun respectively.

However, there is no mention of the English "is" in the Arabic sentences, whereas the nouns were translated exactly. This brings us to the main difference between English and Arabic sentences: a complete English sentence must contain a verb, whereas a complete Arabic sentence needs not (in fact there is a verb, but it does not show when in the present tense; we'll keep the details for later).

Summary

• We can form an Arabic sentence using a definite noun followed by an indefinite one.
• The verb "to be", when in the present tense, is not translated into arabic.

Arabic For Beginners — Free Online Course

Start learning Arabic now

Learn Arabic using this series of clear, simple lessons of Arabic for beginners.

Whether you are an absolute beginner without any knowledge of the Arabic alphabet, or you are familiar with the Arabic script, which you can read (and write), this site provides you with what you need to get started learning Arabic for free.

The Arabic lessons for beginners deal with those parts of Arabic grammar essential for beginners in a simple, clear fashion. The focus is on functional grammar, and excessively detailed, complicated grammatical points are avoided.

About the Arabic language

Arabic is the largest member of the Semitic languages family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language and by 250 million more as a second language. Most native speakers live in the Middle East and North Africa. Different varieties of spoken Arabic exist and differ according to region. Standard Arabic, also called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in the office and the media.