The simple Nominal Sentence : Noun + Noun In the previous lesson on definite nouns, you learnt how to make

a noun definite. In this lesson, you will learn how to form a simple Arabic sentence using nouns you learnt earlier. 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.

not show when in the present tense; we'll keep the details for later).

Nominal Sentence 2 : Noun + Adjective Nominal sentences with adjectives You learnt in a previous lesson a kind of nominal sentence made up of two nouns. The first one is definite while the second is indefinite. Now we will study another way of forming a nominal sentence. In the place of the second noun we will use an adjective (see note below). The adjective must be indefinite. For example,

You will notice that each sentence above starts with a definite noun followed by an 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 Notice also that, because of the adjective, there is no indefinite article after the verb "to be" in the English translation of the sentences above as in the first type. Two or more adjectives NOTE 1. In Arabic an adjective is a type of noun, so this type of nominal sentence is actually made up of a definite noun and an indefinite one, like the first kind. adjective (which is indefinite).

If the first noun is qualified by more than one adjective, we separate them by the conjunction meaning "and". Nominal sentences with adjectives English The man is nice and generous The house is new and beautiful NOTE The conjunction is NOT separated from what follows it. Arabic

Forming feminine adjectives The feminine of an adjective is formed by adding a to the masculine, the same way a feminine noun is formed from the masculine. Feminine adjectives English Arabic

new young beautiful We can then use these adjectives with

feminine nouns to form nominal sentences, Nominal Sentence 3 : Feminine nouns & adjectives Feminine nouns English As examples of nominal sentences, we will use some of the feminine nouns in the previous lesson. The first must be definite, and the second indefinite. Nominal sentences (with feminine nouns) English The girl is a student The princess is a writer The president is a doctor Arabic The car is new The girl is young The garden is beautiful as shown below Nominal Sentences (with feminine adjectives) Arabic

Nominal Sentence 4 : Pronoun + Noun/Adjective Pronouns are definite nouns All pronouns are nouns. All pronouns are

definite. Therefore, pronouns are definite nouns in Arabic.

We studied in a previous lesson that a nominal sentence starts with a definite noun, which means that a pronoun can start a sentence as it is considered a definite noun in Arabic. We also learnt that this first noun is then followed by an indefinite noun or adjective. So, using some pronouns, some nouns, and some adjectives we can form a few sentences, as shown below.

The last four adjectives in the table above are also used as proper nouns. For each of them, add/remove to change gender.

Arabic sentences 5 : Types of Nominal sentences Some possible components of a Nominal sentence

Nominal sentences starting with pronouns English I am an engineer You (m.) are a student You (f.) are a student He is a president She is a doctor Arabic

So far we learned that a nominal sentence starts with a definite noun, or a pronoun. This definite noun or pronoun is then followed by an indefinite noun (or adjective) which agrees with the first noun/pronoun in gender and number. This is demonstrated in the examples below. Note the agreement between the two words. Noun + Noun/Adjective

Now some examples with adjectives. noun + noun Nominal sentences, with pronouns + adjectives English I am hardworking You (m.) are generous You (f.) are beautiful He is happy She is honest Arabic English the man is a teacher the woman is a teacher the (two) men are teachers the (two) women are teachers Arabic

The definite of is and NOT . The first "alif" is dropped, and changes occur in vowelling. noun + adjective English the boy is tall the girl is tall the (two) boys are tall the (two) girls are tall Pronoun + Noun/Adjective pronoun + noun English he is a writer she is a writer they are writers they are writers pronoun + adjective English he is young she is young they are young they are young we are hardworking Arabic Arabic Arabic

you are intelligent

To know whether a dual pronoun indicates masculine or feminine, we look at the noun/adjective that agree with it

Nominal sentences begin with a noun or a pronoun, while verbal sentences begin with a verb. Nominal sentences have 2 parts: a subject ( )and a predicate ( .)When the nominal sentence is about being, i.e. if the verb of the sentence is to be in English, this verb is not given in Arabic. Instead, it is implied and understood from the context. This can be confusing to some learners who speak European languages and are used to having a verb in each sentence. Consider the first 3 examples below where verb to be is not given in the Arabic sentence. The subject of the nominal sentence is a noun or a pronoun, while the predicate can be a noun, adjective, preposition and noun, or verb. In the following examples the subject is underlined: . This is an excellent article. . Her father is Lebanese. .

We are in Egypt. . The boy plays. The subject of a nominal sentence is usually definite, yet an indefinite subject is allowed in some types of sentences that express existence or possession, and in this case the subject comes after the predicate. In the following examples the subject is underlined: . There are kids in the park.

A nominal sentence in Arabic is a sentence that starts with the subject (a noun) and the verb follows. The subject can be a noun, a pronoun, a demonstrative, or a relative clause. The defining property of a nominal sentence is that the subject precedes the verb. Thus there are more than one possibility for nominal sentences in the presence of an object, an adverb, a prepositional phrase, etc. The first one is the standard usual one:

Standard Structure of Nominal Sentences

. I have a brother

Subject

Verb

Others

THE BOY . I have a car. THE BOY

reads

his book

Object

THE BOY

reads

fast in the library smart

Adverb Prepositional Phrase Adjective

reads

THE BOY

is

The capitalization is a reference to the fact that the subject is the stressed element in Nominal Sentences nominal sentences. The other possible structures for nominal sentences are more rare:

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences Others Subject Verb

Examples on nominal sentences:

Subject - Verb - Object

in the library THE BOY

reads 'al-walad(u) yaqra'(u) kitaaba-h(u) = the boy reads (the) book (of) him

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences Others in the library Subject Verb Others

Translation: THE BOY reads his book

THE BOY

reads

his book

Subject - Verb - Prepositional Phrase 'al-banaat(u) yal"abn(a) fee ('a)l-

Alternative Structure For Nominal Sentences Subject Other Verb

hadeeqa(ti) = the girls play in the yard/park Translation: THE GIRLS are playing in the yard/park

THE BOY in the library

reads

So the important point is that the subject always precedes the verb in nominal sentences.

Be-Sentences We talked in a separate section about the fact that nominal, present tense, "be" sentences do not have verbs in Arabic (the

verb "be" is omitted in the present tense). This is the only case in Arabic in which there is no verb in the sentence. In these verb-less sentences, the stress usually falls on the predicate not the subject (the part after the "be"); unless the intonation says otherwise.

laylaa hiy(a) zawja(tu) mahmood(in) = Layla she (is) (the) wife (of) Mahmud Translation: Layla is Mahmud's wife

Subject - Predicate Subject - Predicate hasan(un) hunaa sadeeq-ee huw(a) maalik(u) ('a)l-matjar(i) = Hassan (is) here = (the) friend (of) me he (is) (the) owner Translation: Hassan is here (of) the shop Translation: my friend owns the shop

Subject - Predicate haathaa yawm(un) "aseeb(un) = this (is) a day a hard Translation: this is a hard day Subject - Predicate 'al-qaahira(tu) hiy(a) "aasima(tu) misr(a) = Cairo she (is) (the) capital (of) Egypt Translation: Cairo is the capital of Egypt

Subject - Predicate

*Note: is a "forbidden to Noonation" word and it takes an irregular sign for the genitive case.

when rendered in the past tense; nor will they become "there will be" when in the future tense. To change the tense of these sentences from the present to the past of the future, a verbal sentence is usually used (i.e. "was there a man at the door" or "will be there a man at the door," we will cover this when we talk about verbal sentences soon).

Sentences that begin with an indefinite word, such as "a man is here" are NOT usually used in Arabic. The demonstrative "there" will be usually used for such sentences.

Be-sentences in the past tense will have the hunaak(a) rajul(un) bi-l-baab(i) = there (is) a man by the door Translation: there is a man at the door perfective verb kaan(a) = was or one of its conjugations.

Subject - Verb - Adverb 'as-samaa'(u) kaanat saafiya(tan) = the sky was/existed clearly

Translation: the sky was clear thammat(a) 'ahad(un) maa = there (is) one-some Translation: someone is there *The verb "be" in Arabic requires an adverb after it rather than an adjective as in English. This is only true when the verb appears but not when it is not apparent (i.e. in the present tense). Such verbs are called in Arabic the incomplete verbs Note that such sentences that begin with "there is" will NOT become "there was" .

Subject - Verb - Adverb husayn(un) kaan(a) hunaak(a) = Hussein was there Translation: Hussein was there

'as-samaa'(u) sa-takoon(u) saafiya(tan) = the sky will be/exist clearly Translation: the sky will be clear

KALIMAT NOMINAL (KALIMAT SENTENCE). Kalimat nominal (Nominal Sentence) adalah kalimat yang tidak mengandung kata kerja. Dengan kata lain kalimat nominal

Subject - Verb - Adverb haathaa kaan(a) yawma(n) "aseeba(n) = this was a day a hard Translation: this was a hard day *The literal sense: "this existed as a hard day."

adalah kalimat yang predikatnya bukan kata kerja, tetapi berupa kata benda (noun), kata sifat (adjective), atau kata keterangan (adverb). Mari kita lihat contoh-contoh kalimat dibawah ini dan bedakanlah dengan contoh kalimat verbal diatas.
1.

I am a dentist (Saya adalah

seorang dokter gigi).

2.

We are student (Kami

adalah pelajar).
3.

You are an awesome person

In the future tense, "be" verbs will be sayakoon(u) = will be, or sawf(a) yakoon(u) = will be.

(Kamu adalah orang yang mengagumkan).

4.

They are nasty (Mereka

menjijikan).
5.

He is in the classroom (Dia

Subject - Verb - Adverb

berada di ruang kelas).

6.

She is in the bathroom (Dia

berada di kamar mandi).

Perhatikanlah! Contoh-contoh kalimat diatas diatas tidak mengandung kata kerja, tetapi mengandung kata benda (noun : dentist = dokter gigi, student = pelajar), kata sifat (adjective : awesome = mengagumkan, nasty = menjijikan), dan kata keterangan (adverb : the classroom = ruang kelas, the bathroom = kamar mandi). Untuk lebih memperjelas perbedaan antara kalimat verbal dan kalimat nominal, saya sudah membuat beberapa contohnya dengan meggunakan tabel. Agar lebih memudahkan anda untuk membedakannya. Contoh Kalimat Nominal Subject Predicate Object I am a dentist We are student You are an awesome They are nasty She is in the He is classroom in the bathroom