Here is another connector: ‫بَ ْل‬.

It is often used when someone makes a mistake and wishes to

correct himself, e.g.

She met your (fs) mother, no, your sister.

ِ َ‫ُأخت‬
‫ك‬ ِ ‫ت َُّأم‬ ِ
ْ ‫ك بَ ْل‬ ْ َ‫لَقي‬
ِ َ‫ُأخت‬
‫ك‬ ِ ‫لَِقيْت ِه َي َُّأم‬
ْ ‫ك بَ ْل‬ َ

‫قُ ْمنَا‬
we rose up, we stood

Zaid stood, no, Yaqub did. (Yaqub is a non-Arab name.)

‫ب‬
ُ ‫قَ َام َزيْ ٌد بَ ْل َي ْع ُق ْو‬
‫ب‬
ُ ‫قَ َام َزيْ ٌد بَ ْل َي ْع ُق ْو‬

However, ‫ بَ ْل‬is also used not when the speaker has made a mistake but when he wishes to say
one thing about one word and the exact opposite about the following word. Look at the
following two sentences:

Ayeshah did not stand.

ُ‫ت َعاِئ َشة‬
ْ ‫َما قَ َام‬
ُ‫ت َعاِئ َشة‬
ْ ‫َما قَ َام‬

Ayeshah did not stand but Noor did.

‫ت َعاِئ َشةُ بَ ْل نُ ْو ٌر‬
ْ ‫َما قَ َام‬
‫ت َعاِئ َشةُ بَ ْل نُ ْو ٌر‬
ْ ‫َما قَ َام‬

So, ‫ بَ ْل‬has two possible meanings: 1. it can be used by the speaker to rectify a mistake he just
made or 2. it can be used to say one thing about one word and the opposite about the following
word. How can you tell what the speaker's intention is? If the sentence is not negative, only the
first meaning could have been intended, but if the sentence is negative, either meaning is
possible.

By the way, in the last sentence, it should be clear that "Noor" is a boy's name, not a girl's. The
reason is that if it were a girl's name, it would not have the n-sound at the end, because it would
be a feminine proper noun. Observe:

Noor rode the horse.

‫صا َن‬ ِ ِ
َ ‫ب نُ ْو ٌر احْل‬
َ ‫َرك‬
‫صا َن‬ ِ ِ
َ ‫ب نُ ْو ٌر احْل‬
َ ‫َرك‬
or
‫صا َن‬ ِ ِ
َ ‫ت نُ ْو ُر احْل‬
ْ َ‫َركب‬
‫صا َن‬ ِ ِ
َ ‫ت نُ ْو ُر احْل‬
ْ َ‫َركب‬

In the first case, "Noor" is male, and therefore the verb lacks the marker of femininity and
"Noor" has the n-sound. In the second case, it's exact opposite.

We saw Noor yesterday.

We cannot translate this sentence unless we know Noor's gender. If Noor is a girl, then the
translation is:

ِ ‫َر َْأينَا نُ ْو َر َْأم‬

‫س‬
ِ ‫َرَأيْنَا نُ ْو َر َْأم‬
‫س‬

But if Noor is a boy, the translation is:

ِ ‫َر َْأينَا نُ ْو ًرا َْأم‬

‫س‬
ِ ‫َرَأيْنَا نُ ْو ًرا َْأم‬
‫س‬

We have seen how to form adjectives from verbs. Now, here's how to form an adjective from a
noun: add iyy to its end. For example, from ‫"( فِلَ ْس ِطنْي‬Palestine") we get ّ ‫فِلَ ْس ِطْييِن‬.

Rule #31: To form an adjective from a noun, add iyy to its end.

The Palestinian man owned a slave.

‫الر ُج ُل الْ ِفلَ ْس ِطْييِن ُّ غُالًَما‬
َّ ‫ك‬َ َ‫َمل‬
‫الر ُج ُل الْ ِفلَ ْس ِطْييِن ُّ ُغالًَما‬
َّ ‫ك‬َ َ‫َمل‬

If the noun has ‫"( ال‬the") at its beginning, it loses it when you form an adjective from it. E.g.
from ‫"( الْعَِراق‬Iraq") you get ‫عَراقِ ّي‬.
ِ Now, the question is, why do Arabs say ‫ الْعِراق‬for "Iraq"? Why
َ
don't they just say ‫?عَراق‬ ِ I have no idea. Go ask them! Similarly, why do they say ‫ الْيمن‬for
ََ
"Yemen"? Why not just say ‫ ?مَيَن‬Once again, go ask them. But remember that if you want to
form an adjective from it, you have to say ّ ‫مَيَيِن‬.

‫َخا َن‬
betrayed

ِ‫ص‬
‫احب‬ َ
companion

An Iraqi man betrayed me.

‫َخانَيِن ْ َر ُج ٌل ِعَراقِ ٌّي‬
‫َخانَنِ ْي َر ُج ٌل ِعَراقِ ٌّي‬

The Iraqi man betrayed his companion.

ِ ‫الرجل الْعِراقِي‬
ُ‫صاحبَه‬
َ ُّ َ ُ ُ َّ ‫َخا َن‬
ِ ِ ِ
ُ‫صاحبَه‬
َ ‫الر ُج ُل الْعَراق ُّي‬
َّ ‫َخا َن‬

Here ‫ العراقي‬does have ‫ال‬, but only because we want it to be specific (because it's a db from a word
that's specific). Otherwise, it would not have it, as in:

Junaid the Baghdadi owned a beast of burden.

ُّ ‫ك ُجَنْي ٌد الَْب ْغ َد ِاد‬
ً‫ي َدابَّة‬ َ َ‫َمل‬
ُّ ‫ك ُجَنْي ٌد الَْب ْغ َد ِاد‬
ً‫ي َدابَّة‬ َ َ‫َمل‬

Junaid the Baghdadi was, of course, a famous saint. In Urdu we say ‫جنيد بغدادى‬, but in Arabic you
have to put ‫ ال‬on ‫ بغدادي‬because it is a db from ‫جنيد‬, which is specific because it is a proper noun.

Salman the Persian gathered the people together.

‫َّاس‬ ِِ
َ ‫مَجَ َع َسْل َما ُن الْ َفارس ُّي الن‬
‫َّاس‬ ِِ
َ ‫مَجَ َع َسْل َما ُن الْ َفارس ُّي الن‬

‫َد َع ْونَا‬
we called

Did you (fd) call Maryam the Egyptian?

َ‫ص ِريَّة‬ ِ
ْ ‫ََأد َع ْومُتَا َمْرمَيَ الْم‬
َ‫ص ِريَّة‬ ِ
ْ ‫ََأد َع ْومُتَا َمْرمَيَ الْم‬

ِ ِ
Note that the adjective from ‫صر‬ ّ ‫ص ِر‬
ْ ‫"( م‬Egypt") is ‫ي‬ ْ ‫م‬, of course, but here we made it feminine by
adding at after the iyy. We needed to make it feminine because Maryam is female, of course.