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    Intermediate Topics in Masdar

    Saturday, April 19th, 2008

    Some intermediate topics in masdar–for example, you can replace the masdar with the particle “an” and the equivalent verb. You can translate the masdar two ways–as a verbal noun, or even as a noun. In either case, the meaning is more or less the same. Why? Because of the formula: verb + the particle “an” = masdar, which holds true in Arabic.

    Masdar: The Verbal Noun

    Saturday, April 12th, 2008

    In English, we have something called “the verbal noun.” This is when you have adverb, and you refer to the act of doing that verb. Since we’re talking about the act of that verb, the verbal noun is a noun. In Arabic, this is called the masdar (مَصدَر). The masdar takes the pattern of فُعُول (fu’ool). And, like in English, the masdar is a noun, not a verb. It can take any tanween, can be definite or indefinite, can be maf’ool bihi, mudaaf, etc.

    Al-Maqsuwr

    Friday, April 4th, 2008

    Arabic has a class of words called “Maqsuwr” (meem qaaf saad waw ra). Maqsuwr words end with alif-maqsuwr, the ya with no dots. This letter is special–it has a sukoon on it, and that’s understood. So it doesn’t show case via a change of tashkeel, unlike other words. So how can you add a possessive-case ya with kasra on the previous letter? The answer is, you write a ya with fatha!

    Negating With Maa and Laa

    Saturday, March 29th, 2008

    In Arabic, you can negate sentences with maa and laa. Maa, you can use to negate the past (eg. I didn’t eat), or the present (eg. I’m not eating right now). Laa, you can use to negate the present (eg. I don’t drink tea)–and you CAN negate the past tense, if you repeat the laa–as Allah says in Suratil Qiyaama: falaa saddaqa wa laa salla!

    Spot the Fa’il

    Saturday, March 15th, 2008

    What is the fa’il? The word fa’il (فاعِل) means doer, the one who does the action. It is the person doing the action. It is always definite, marfoo’, and it comes after the verb. But sometimes, you can construct a sentence (incorrectly) which has a double fa’il–if you have a verbal sentence where the verb has the fa’il (like thahabuw) and you add people to it, you can create a grammatically-incorrect sentence with two fa’ils!

    Comparative and Superlative

    Saturday, March 8th, 2008

    Ism Tafdiyl is the comparative/superlative–in English, things like “smarter” and “smartest.” Both take the pattern of af’alu. The comparative takes min (sometimes a hidden min), while the superlative takes a mudaf ilayh. Read some examples, it helps clarify.

    The Fa’il in Maadi

    Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

    In Arabic grammar, the fa’il can be a clear noun, pronoun, or even something attached at the end of a verb conjugation! In this post, we discuss the fa’il in a maadi (past-tense) verb, and point out the fa’il. In the past-tense, all conjugations except for the third-person singulars (he and she) have a fa’il.

    The Number System From 21-99

    Sunday, February 24th, 2008

    The number system from 21-99 is fairly simple. The ‘adad can take any case, and the single digit is like that of 1-9 or 11-19. The tens-digit is the same regardless of gender. The ma’duwd is, like the number system from 11-19, singular and mansoob and mabani.

    The Number System From 11-19

    Sunday, August 26th, 2007

    In the number system from 11-19, the ma’duwd is singular and mansoob, the tens digit is singular and mansoob and similar in gender to the ma’duwd, and the ones digit is singular and mansoob and opposite in gender to the ma’duwd.

    Surah Tiyn, Verse 8

    Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

    Grammatical dissection of the last ayah of Surah Tiyn: أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ الْحَاكِمِينَ (”Is Allah not the best of judges?”)

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