سَجّادة root: س-ج-د / noun / plural: سَجاجيد / definition: carpet On the weekend, I returned from an expectation-exceeding week-long stay in beautiful Baku, Azerbaijan. And I would jump on the five-and-a-half hour flight again in a heartbeat, even just to get my hands on the perfect xalça that I didn’t have time to shopContinue reading “Imperatives of Sound Form I Verbs”
Category Archives: grammar explanations
The Plural of Few and the Plural of Many
قِلّة root: ق-ل-ل / noun / definition: few I’m writing this post in between kneading and leaving-to-rise the Cypriot hellimli zeytinli I’m making in the kitchen, and the smell of black olives is stirring up hunger pangs despite the fact fasting is over (!عيد مبارك). But this post isn’t about halloumi or olives, it’s aboutContinue reading “The Plural of Few and the Plural of Many”
Plural of the Plural
فَتْح root: ف-ت-ح / verbal noun of form I / definition: opening We’re somehow nearing the end of the second semester and this academic year seems to have zoomed by faster than the time it takes for students to open Arabiyyat al-Naas and flick to the right page. Writing about semesters again reminds me thatContinue reading “Plural of the Plural”
Quinquiliteral Arabic Roots
خُماسيّ root: خ-م-س / adjective / definition: consisting of five consonants I have just a matter of hours before I’m due to catch a flight, and an unexpected nap earlier means that I’m now two to-dos behind on my to-do list, with writing this post being in prime position. Anyhow, you’ve read about my obsessionContinue reading “Quinquiliteral Arabic Roots”
Form I Defective Verbs: ا or و or ي or ى?
ناقِص root: ن-ق-ص / active participle of form I / definition: defective, incomplete Defective verbs are those with either ي or و as their final root letter. For defective verbs, this final root letter appears as one of four letters when conjugated: ا or و or ي or ى. So, how can we tell whatContinue reading “Form I Defective Verbs: ا or و or ي or ى?”
Case Endings of the Sound Feminine Plural
مُؤَنَّث root: ء-ن-ث / passive participle of form II / definition: feminine Most of us will have learnt that sound masculine plurals in Arabic have one of two endings: ـونَ when مرفوع, and ـينَ when منصوب or مجرور. But the sound feminine plural ending (ـات) doesn’t change in spelling. Instead, we use either damma/dammatayn (ـاتُ/ـاتٌ)Continue reading “Case Endings of the Sound Feminine Plural”
The مَـ of Place and Time
مَكان root: ك-و-ن / noun / plural: أَماكِن / definition: place After 11 weeks, my first semester of teaching is officially over. And I’m reflecting on these past three months as I pack for my upcoming trip, having already tucked James Scanlan’s A Moroccan Journey into my backpack—a pertinent read considering my destination. One thingContinue reading “The مَـ of Place and Time”
Verbal Nouns of Hollow Roots
مَصْدَر root: ص-د-ر / noun / plural: مَصادِر / definition: verbal noun, source Back in June, when we looked at the different types of Arabic roots, we mentioned that hollow roots are those with either و or ي as the middle letter. Like ق-و-ل and غ-ي-ر. Verbal nouns (مصادر) derived from hollow roots sometimes followContinue reading “Verbal Nouns of Hollow Roots”
The Verb يتسبّب and its Prepositions
مُتَنَوِّع root: ن-و-ع / active participle of form V / definition: various In one of the examples in Arabic Observations: Words with Antonymic Meanings, we saw how changing the preposition following a verb could produce two completely opposite meanings. While the meaning of the form V verb تَسَبَّبَ / يَتَسَبَّبُ doesn’t change that drastically, it stillContinue reading “The Verb يتسبّب and its Prepositions”
Form I Active Participles of Geminate Roots
مُضَعَّف root: ض-ع-ف / passive participle of form II / definition: doubled, geminate As we saw in the post Arabic Roots: the Different Types, geminate roots are those whose final two letters are the same. Like م-س-س or ح-ر-ر. When it comes to the form I active participle of geminate roots then, we might expect itsContinue reading “Form I Active Participles of Geminate Roots”
What’s the Difference Between ابن and بن?
اِبْن root: ب-ن / noun / plural: أَبْناء or بَنون / definition: son Having finished my master’s, I took myself to the Tate Modern last week and wandered around the galleries and the exhibitions I’d booked to see. I was clearly inspired by the trip because I picked up my paintbrush again a few eveningsContinue reading “What’s the Difference Between ابن and بن?”
Meanings of منذ
رِحْلة root: ر-ح-ل / noun / plural: رِحلات / definition: a trip My mini summer getaway is just around the corner… and my dissertation deadline is almost just as close. I’ll try not to stress just yet, but with roughly 10,000 words left to write, I’m sure that the adrenaline will come in handy whenContinue reading “Meanings of منذ”
Active Participles of Defective Roots
مُمارَسة root: م-ر-س / verbal noun of form III / definition: practice So I got the chance to practise speaking Arabic today and it’s safe to say that I’m… rusty. I shouldn’t be overly surprised seeing as it’s somehow been three and a half months since my final Arabic oral exam in Jordan, and I’veContinue reading “Active Participles of Defective Roots”
Seats of the Hamza (ء)
هَمْزة root: ه-م-ز / noun / plural: هَمَزات / definition: the letter ء, the glottal stop This is a post I’ve been meaning to make for a while—for my own sake as well as yours, fellow Arabic nerds. I’m sure we’ve all noticed that the hamza (ء) sometimes appears independently in a word and, atContinue reading “Seats of the Hamza (ء)”
Arabic Roots: the Different Types
نَوْع root: ن-و-ع / noun / plural: اَنْواع / definition: type I’ve thought about writing a book about Arabic grammar for a long time. Just because I love it so much. I thought that maybe I’d start off with a small one about Arabic verbs, focusing on the forms perhaps, but when I start makingContinue reading “Arabic Roots: the Different Types”
Passive Form I Quadriliteral Verbs
رُباعي root: ر-ب-ع / adjective / definition: quadriliteral Quadriliterals… we meet again. And this time, we’re looking at how to transform form I quadriliteral verbs from active to passive.
The Causative بـ
ذاكِرة root: ذ-ك-ر / noun / definition: memory Ahh, finally, a grammar post! My brain feels at least somewhat refreshed now that I’ve had a week of doing nothing (except what we can call passive learning: watching Lebanese and Iraqi TV series and having الجزيرة on in the background every day while I play solitaireContinue reading “The Causative بـ”
The Case of امّحق: Form VII Assimilation
مُماثَلة root: م-ث-ل / verbal noun of form III / definition: assimilation (phonology) There’s less than three weeks until my study abroad module begins which means I’ll be jetting off very soon for a relaxing break an intensive period of Arabic study in Jordan. It really can’t come soon enough because I’ve forgotten almost allContinue reading “The Case of امّحق: Form VII Assimilation”
The False/Adjective إضافة
إضافة root: ض-ي-ف / verbal noun of form IV / definition: addition, genitive construction So we all know the إضافة, right? It’s a construction where nouns are put together, with certain rules, to indicate possession. Well… Did you know we can actually use adjectives inside إضافة constructions? I know this probably sounds contradictory to everythingContinue reading “The False/Adjective إضافة”
The Meaning of لم يكن لـ
إبْداعي root: ب-د-ع / adjective / definition: creative I was tempted to write another literature-inspired post this week (especially considering I just completed my first piece of creative writing Arabic homework which was so fun to do!), but how long can we go without some good old grammar?! A long while ago, when I wasContinue reading “The Meaning of لم يكن لـ”
The Arabic Pages 