‫َي ْوم‬

day

‫الَْي ْوم‬
today (literally: the day)

Ali read the book today.

ِ ِ
َ ‫َقَرَأ َعل ٌّي الْك‬
‫تاب الَْي ْو َم‬
ِ ِ
َ ‫َقَرَأ َعل ٌّي الْك‬
‫تاب الَْي ْو َم‬
qara'a aliyyuni lkitaaba lyawma

Here, both "l"s have alif written before them, but the fact that they (the aliphs) have no vowel
means they are to be ignored.

The word lyawma ("today") is red because it is telling us the time of the verb.

‫( ِل‬preposition)
for

‫َأخ َذ‬
َ
took

‫( ِم ْن‬preposition)
from

Muhammad took a book from Khalid.

‫َأخ َذ حُمَ َّم ٌد كِتابًا ِم ْن خالِ ٍد‬
َ
‫َأخ َذ حُمَ َّم ٌد كِتابًا ِم ْن خالِ ٍد‬
َ

‫فِْيل‬
elephant

fat
ِ
‫مَس نْي‬

Zayd hit a fat elephant.

‫ب َزيْ ٌد فِْيالً مَسِ ْينًا‬
َ ‫ضَر‬
َ
ِ ِ
‫ب َزيْ ٌد فْيالً مَس ْينًا‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ض‬
َ ََ
All the words in this sentence except the verb have the "n" sound at the end. Please remember:
by default, all nouns, pronouns, and adjectives get the "n" sound at the end. The umbrella term
for "nouns, pronouns, and adjectives" is "substantives". So, instead of saying "all nouns, pronouns,
and adjectives get the "n" sound at the end by default" we can simply say "All substantives get the
"n" sound at the end by default".

So, if someone asks you why you put an "n" sound at the end of a substantive, you can simply
say, "Why not?" That is the correct answer.

However, if a substantive has "l" ("the") at the beginning or if the substantive is owned, then it
loses its "n" sound.

Ammar ate Muhammad's food.

Ammar ate Muhammad's food.
‫عام حُمَ َّم ٍد‬
َ َ‫َأ َك َل َع ّم ٌار ط‬

‫َسَر َق‬
stole

‫َخلِْيل‬
friend

Bakr stole a pen from Khalid's friend.

Bakr stole a pen from Khalid's friend.
‫َسَر َق بَكٌْر َقلَ ًما ِم ْن َخلِْي ِل خالِ ٍد‬

‫والِد‬
father

‫َج ِديْد‬
new

Muhammad's father read a new book.

Muhammad's father read a new book.
‫َقَرَأ والِ ُد حُمَ َّم ٍد كِتابًا َج ِديْ ًدا‬

Remember, in English the describing borrower comes before the word it is borrowing from,
but in Arabic it comes after. That's why we said kitaaban jadeedan (a new book) and not
jadeedan kitaaban in the previous sentence.
‫َبْيت‬
house

‫( إىل‬preposition)
to, toward

‫ب‬
َ ‫ذَ َه‬
went (away)

Hasan went to Khalid's house.

Hasan went to Khalid's house.
‫ت خالِ ٍد‬
ِ ‫َذهب حسن إىل بي‬
َْ ٌ َ َ َ َ

‫َتَر َك‬
left

Husain left the school.

Husain left the school.
َ‫َتَر َك ُح َسنْيٌ الْ َم ْد َر َسة‬

‫َغ َس َل‬
washed

‫يَد‬
hand

Ali washed Zayd's hand.

Ali washed Zayd's hand.
‫َغ َس َل َعلِ ٌّي يَ َد َزيْ ٍد‬

Zayn found Ali's dog in Bakr's house.

Zayn found Ali's dog in Bakr's house.
ِ ‫وج َد َزين َكْلب علِي يِف بي‬
‫ت بَ ْك ٍر‬ َْ ْ ٍّ َ َ ٌ ْ َ َ

‫ب‬
َ َ‫َكت‬
wrote

‫َح ِد ْي َقة‬
garden

ْ ‫( يِف‬preposition)
in

Zayn ate Khalid's food in a garden.

Zayn ate Khalid's food in a garden.
‫عام خالِ ٍد يِف ْ َح ِد ْي َق ٍة‬
َ َ‫َأ َك َل َزيْ ٌن ط‬