Parts of speech
Arabic words are studied as nouns, verbs or particles. Meaning and context matter; spelling alone is not always enough.
كَتَبَ مُحَمَّدٌ فِي الْكِتَابِ
Nouns
A noun names or describes something without expressing a tense. Common signs include accepting al-, tanwin or a preceding preposition. Not every noun shows every sign.
كِتَابٌ · الْكِتَابُ · فِي كِتَابٍ
Verbs
A verb expresses an event with a time or request. Past, present/future and imperative are different forms; a first letter alone does not identify a verb.
كَتَبَ · يَكْتُبُ · اُكْتُبْ
Particles
Particles connect words or add meanings such as a question, negation or a preposition. Unrecognized words are not automatically particles.
فِي · إِلَى · هَلْ
Nominal sentences
A basic nominal sentence has a subject (mubtada) and a predicate (khabar). The predicate may be a word, a clause or a phrase.
الطَّالِبُ مُجْتَهِدٌ
Verbal sentences
A basic verbal sentence contains a verb and its subject; a transitive verb may also take an object. The subject can be an understood pronoun.
كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ
Context and vowels
The same unvowelled spelling can have different readings. Add vowels or a sentence before deciding between a noun and a verb.
كُتُب · كَتَبَ · عَلَم · عَلِمَ
Definiteness
Al- is one way to make a noun definite. Proper names, pronouns and demonstratives can be definite without al-.
الْكِتَابُ · مُحَمَّدٌ · هَذَا
Your input stays on this page and is not saved or uploaded.