Arabic with Husna – Nahw Textbook

7.1 Unit 7.1: Introduction to Arabic Words

HOMEWORK
By  the  end  of  this  lesson,  I  should  be  able  to…
Recognize, define and give examples of ism’s,  fi’l’s,  and  harf’s
Know the four properties of an ism
Know the status of an ism in an English sentence
Tell the status of an ism by ending sound or ending combination
Recite the Muslim Chart by heart

1 – THREE KINDS OF WORDS IN ARABIC

In all languages, we communicate using sentences. Sentences are composed of
different kinds of words that come together to create a meaning.

In the Arabic language, we have only 3 kinds of words. They are:

1) Ism ‫ ِا ْﺳ ٌﻢ‬: The name of a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb
and more.

ٌ ْ A word that has a tense (past, present or future)

2) Fi’l ‫ ِﻓﻌﻞ‬:
ٌ A word that needs another word with it in order to make
3) Harf ‫ﺣ ْﺮف‬:
َ sense.

2 – ISM STUDIES
Isms are the first of the three kinds of words in Arabic that we will study. Recall
that an ism is the name of a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb or more.

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2.1: The Properties of the Ism

We start our study of Arabic by studying the ism. Every ism has four properties:
ٌ ْ ‫إ‬, number ‫ ﻋﺪ ٌد‬, gender ‫ ﺟ ْ ٌﺲ‬and type ‫ﻗ ْﺴ ٌﻢ‬. Every time you come
status ‫اب‬ ِ َ َ ِ ِ
across an ism you should be able to identify its four properties.

2.1.1 Properties of the Ism – Status (‫اب‬ ‫)إ‬

When studying the status of an ism we should first know:

1. The three forms of status
2. How to Tell Status
3. Light vs. Heavy
4. Flexibility

2.1.1.1 Properties of the Ism – Status – Three Forms of Status

There are three forms of status which can be identified in sentences that have an
action. They are:
(SUBJECT) Doer of the act: ‫ ﻣ ْﺮﻓُﻮع‬ / ‫ رﻓﻊ‬Raf (R)
َ َ
ْ
(OBJECT) Detail of the act: ‫ ﻣﻨﺼﻮب‬/ ‫ َﻧ ْﺼﺐ‬Nasb (N)
ُ َ
ْ
(POSSESSIVE) Word  after  ‘of’:  ‫ ﻣﺠﺮور‬/ ‫ ﺟﺮ‬Jarr (J)
َ ّ َ
Worked Examples:
R N
A teacher entered the classroom.
In  the  sentence  above,  the  action  is  “entered”.  The  doer  of  the  act  is  “teacher”  therefore  it  is  
in the raf status. The  word  “classroom”  answers  the  question  “where  did  the  teacher  enter?”  
Since  the  word  “classroom”  provides  more  information  about  the  action  “entered”  is  it  in  the  
nasb status.

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J R N
The teacher’s student woke up suddenly.
In  English  sometimes  we  have  to  create  the  word  ‘of’.  The  phrase  “teacher’s  student”  can  be  
written  as  “student  of the  teacher”.  Therefore  the  word  teacher  is  really  after-of even though
the  word  ‘of’  is  hidden  here.

2.1.1.2 Properties of the Ism – Status – How to Tell

Now that we know the kinds of status, we need to know how to tell what status an
ism is in.

In English the status of a word depends on where the word is in the sentence. For
example: Ahmed hit Zayd.

The doer (Ahmed) comes first and the detail (Zayd) is second. If we change the
order of the names and say Zayd hit Ahmed then now we have changed the
statuses of Ahmed and Zayd.

In Arabic, changing the order of the words does not change the status, rather the
sounds at the end of the words tell us the status of the words.

There are two basic ways to tell the status of an ism: ending combination or
ending sound.

Remember: When telling status look for ending combination FIRST and then look
for ending sound.

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The following table is a summary of the ending sounds and ending combinations.

‫ رﻓﻊ‬Raf’  Recognition:
َ

 ٌ (un)
 ◌ُ (u) or ◌ ending sound for singular
   ‫( آ‬aa) or ‫آن‬
ِ (aani) ending combination for pair

‫( و‬oo) or ‫( ون‬oona) ending combination for plural

َ
ٌ
‫آت‬
ُ (aatu) or ‫آت‬ (aatun) ending combination for plural feminine

‫ َﻧ ْﺼﺐ‬Nasb Recognition:

 ◌َ (a) or◌  ً (an) ending sound for singular

‫◌ي‬  َ (ay) or ‫◌ ْﻳ ِﻦ‬

 َ (ayni)
ْ
ending combination for pair

‫◌ي‬  ِ (ee) or ‫◌ ْﻳ َﻦ‬

 ِ (eena)
ْ
ending combination for plural

‫آت‬
ِ (aati) or ‫آت‬
ٍ (aatin) ending combination for plural feminine

‫ ﺟﺮ‬Jarr Recognition:
ّ َ

 ◌ِ (i) or◌  ٍ (in) ending sound for singular

‫◌ي‬  َ (ay) or ‫◌ ْﻳ ِﻦ‬

 َ (ayni)
ْ
ending combination for pair

‫◌ي‬  ِ (ee) or ‫◌ ْﻳ َﻦ‬

 ِ (eena)
ْ
ending combination for plural

‫آت‬
ِ (aati) or ‫آت‬
ٍ (aatin) ending combination for plural feminine
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How to Tell Status Examples:

How do you say ‫ ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻢ‬in the following sentences?

ُ

1. A Muslim travelled across the sea

First  ask  yourself,  is  the  word  Muslim  a  doer,  detail  or  after  ‘of’?  
In  this  sentence  the  word  “Muslim”  is  the  doer,  so  it  should  be  in  the  raf  
status. Since this is one Muslim, we will  use  the  “un”  ending  sound:
‫( ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ ٌﻢ‬doer,  raf  “un”  ending  sound)
ُ

2. We met two Muslims on the way.

Is  the  underlined  phrase  “two  Muslims”  a  doer,  detail  or  after  ‘of’?  What  
status  should  it  be?  Will  we  use  an  ending  sound  or  combination  for  “two  
Muslims?”

3. The houses of Muslims are always clean.

4. The Muslim women went to the masjid.

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Status

Forms How to Tell Light v. Flexibility

Heavy

MASCULINE Plural ‫ﻊ‬ Dual ‫ﻣﺜﻨﻰ‬ Singular ‫ﻣﻔﺮد‬

Raf
‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ ُﻤ ْﻮن‬ ‫ﻤﺎن‬
ِ ‫ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ‬
ْ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ ٌﻢ‬
َ ُ ُ
ْ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ْ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ً Nasb
َ ‫ﲔ‬ ‫ﻤ‬
ِ ‫ﻠ‬
ِ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ِ َ ُ ‫ﻤ‬‫ﻠ‬ِ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻤﺎ‬
ُ ُ
ْ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ْ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ Jarr
َ ‫ﲔ‬ ‫ﻤ‬ ِ ‫ﻠ‬ ِ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ ِ َ ُ‫ﻤ‬‫ﻠ‬ ِ ‫ﺴ‬ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ ٍﻢ‬
ُ ُ

ٌ ٌ Raf
FEMININE ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻤﺎت‬ ‫ﺘﺎن‬
ِ ‫ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ َﻤ‬
ْ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻤﺔ‬
ُ َ ُ
ْ Nasb
‫ﻤﺎت‬ ْ
ٍ ‫ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ ‫ﺘ‬
ِ َ َ ُ‫ﻤ‬ ‫ﻠ‬ ِ ‫ﺴ‬ ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻤ ًﺔ‬
َ ُ
ْ ْ ْ Jarr
‫ﻤﺎت‬
ٍ ‫ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ ِ ‫ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ َﻤ َﺘ‬ ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠﻤ ٍﺔ‬
َ ُ

BROKEN PLURAL ٌ‫أ ْﻗﻼم‬ ‫ﻤﺎن‬ ‫َﻗ َﻠ ٌﻢ‬

Raf
َ ِ ‫َﻗ َﻠ‬
ً ْ ْ ً Nasb
‫أَﻗﻼﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ِ ‫َﻗ َﻠ َﻤ‬ ‫َﻗ َﻠﻤﺎ‬
ْ ْ Jarr
‫ﻼم‬
ٍ ‫أَﻗ‬ ‫ﲔ‬ ِ ‫َﻗ َﻠ َﻤ‬ ‫َﻗ َﻠ ٍﻢ‬

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REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE STUDENT

1. What are the three types of Arabic words?
__________ __________ and _________

2. How many properties does the ism have and what are they?
_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

3. What are the three forms of status?

__________ __________ and _________

4. Determine the status of the highlighted words in the following sentence

(R=Raf’,  N=Nasb,  J=Jarr):

My teacher likes shawarmas.

___ ______ _________

ْ ْ
5. What is the status of the word ‫ﲔ‬
ِ ‫__________ ?ﻣُﺴ ِﻠ َﻤ‬

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IN-CLASS
TEACHER-LED DISCUSSION POINTS
1. A word that has a tense (past, present, or future) is called a ___________.
2. What is a harf?
3. In a sentence, the subject or doer of the act is in which status?
4. The word after  ‘of’  is  in  which  status?
5. There are two ways to tell the status of an ism. By ending _____________
or ending _____________.

TEACHER-LED ACTIVITIES
Identify  whether  the  words  in  the  table  below  are  isms,  fi’ls  or  harfs.

ٌ ٌ ‫ﻛﺘ‬
Table – َ ‫ﻃﺎو‬
ِ Books - ‫ﺐ‬ ُُ In – ‫ﰲ‬
ٌ
Dallas – ‫داﻟَﺲ‬ For – ‫َل‬ Intense – ‫َﺷ ِﺪ ْﻳﺪ‬
َ
ْ ٌ
Makes – ‫ﻳﺠﻌ ُﻞ‬ Peace – ‫ﻼم‬ ٌ ‫ﺳ‬ Tall - ‫ﻃ ِﻮ ْﻳﻞ‬
َ
َ َ َ
ْ ‫ﻣ‬ ْ ْ ْ
From – ‫ﻦ‬ ِ Sent - ‫أَﻧﺰ َل‬ Believers – َ‫ﻣﺆ ِﻣﻨِﲔ‬
َ ُ

Determine the status and place an R, N or J over the highlighted words.

1. My teacher drinks chocolate milk regularly.

2. He doesn’t  like  vegetables  or  fruits.  

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3. He buys his chocolate milk happily.

4. My teacher also likes yummy shawarmas.

5. His students also like shawarmas.

6. He buys shawarmas for his class sometimes.

7. My teacher patiently explains hard concepts.

Give the status of the following words. Is it determined by sound or combo?

Word Status Word Status

raf (ending sound)
1. ‫ِ ﺘﺎب‬ ‫اﻟ‬ 2. ‫اﻟ ِﻔ ْﻴ ِﻞ‬
ُ
ٌ
3. ‫آﻳﺂت‬ 4. ‫ﻳﺎت‬
ِ ‫اﻟﻌﺎ ِد‬

5. ‫ﻮﻻن‬
ِ ‫رﺳ‬ 6. ‫ﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ ُﻤﻮن‬
ُ َ َ ُ
ْ ْ ْ
7. ‫ﻦ‬ ِ ‫َﻣﺴ ِﺠ َﺪﻳ‬ 8. ‫ﲔ‬ ِ ‫ِﻓﺄ َ َﺗ‬
ٌ ْ
9. ‫ِﻓﺘﻴﺔ‬ 10. ً ‫ﻧﺎرا‬
َ

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