🧰 Arabic Lesson 7 — Grammar Toolkit

Present-verb table · الذي/التي · opposites · word order · dialogue completion (from the worksheet) · Exam: Saturday 11:30

Present tense — one verb, six persons (سَكَنَ → يَسْكُن)

أناأنتَأنتِهُوَهِيَنَحْنُ
Iyou (m)you (f)heshewe
أَسْكُنُتَسْكُنُتَسْكُنينَيَسْكُنُتَسْكُنُنَسْكُنُ
The prefix tells you the person: أ=I, تـ=you/she, يـ=he, نـ=we. Talking to a female adds the ending ـينَ (تَسْكُنينَ).

Relative pronouns الذي / التي (who / which)

الذيالتي
for a masculine wordfor a feminine word
الرَّجُلُ الذي يَعْمَلُالبِنْتُ التي تَسْكُنُ

Opposites الأَضْداد

كَبيرصَغيرbig ↔ small
واسِعضَيِّقwide ↔ narrow
جَديدقَديمnew ↔ old
قَريببَعيدnear ↔ far
طَويلقَصيرlong ↔ short
ثَقيلخَفيفheavy ↔ light
سَريعبَطيءfast ↔ slow
نَظيفمُتَّسِخclean ↔ dirty
مُرْتَفِعمُنْخَفِضhigh ↔ low
قَوِيّضَعيفstrong ↔ weak

Extra exam facts (from the lectures)

PointRecall
4 present prefixesأ=I, تـ=you/she, يـ=he, نـ=we. «You-m.» أنتَ and «she» هي share the same form تَفْعَلُ ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V06 §27; V19 §49
Feminine «you» endingsFem. addressee present = ـينَ (تَفْعَلِينَ); the dual = ـانِ; fem. plural = ـنَ (تَفْعَلْنَ) ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V15 §51
3 case-endings = roleḍammah = fāʿil (subject), fatḥah = mafʿūl bihi (object), kasrah after a preposition; a noun never takes sukūn ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §67
Word order = meaningOrder is verb → fāʿil → mafʿūl; swap subject/object and the meaning flips: قَتَلَ داوُدُ جالوتَقَتَلَ جالوتُ داوُدَ ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V44 §32
jumla typesjumla ismiyya = mubtadaʾ + khabar (two nouns, no verb); jumla fiʿliyya starts with a verb. mubtadaʾ is definite, takes الـ, a single noun ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V44 §34; Sheikh Riyas · V25 §9
Future سـ / سوفسـ / سوف + present verb = future (سَأقرأُ القرآن); both work, سـ for the near-at-hand ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V15 §18
كان and its sistersكان/أصبح/أمسى/بات/صار/ظلّ/ليس — all ≈ «became», ليس = «is not». Entering a noun-sentence → predicate becomes manṣūb: كان زيدٌ طبيبًا ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §69, §79
Negative command (nahy)لا + present verb + sukūn (masc. لا تأكلْ) / drop the nūn (fem. لا تأكلي) — sukūn is the sign of jazm ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §23
Attached possessivesOn a noun: ـي (my) / ـكَ (your-m) / ـكِ (your-f) / ـهُ (his) / ـها (her) — اسمي/اسمُكَ/اسمُكِ/اسمُهُ/اسمُها ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §67
Adjective gender + عَنAdjective agrees in gender: البيتُ بعيدٌ / المدرسةُ بعيدةٌ; بعيد is followed by عَن («far from») ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §31
There is no single «grammar toolkit» lecture — this machinery is gathered from eight recorded sessions by both lecturers: Sheikh Irfan (conjugation, jumla types, case-endings, the future) and Sheikh Riyas (كان & its sisters, tarākīb, the negative command). The lesson's 6-person table and unnamed «verb/subject first» drill are faithful subsets of what they teach below. Tag ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §4 = arabic_v19, section 4. Off-topic and dialogue-vocab material is kept in From the lectures so nothing is lost.

Present-verb conjugation — all 14 persons

  • The 6-person table is a subset. The full frame is 14 persons: هو/هما/هم · هي/هما/هنّ · أنتَ/أنتما/أنتم · أنتِ/أنتما/أنتنّ · أنا/نحن. Arabic singles out the dual (two): 1 = singular, 2 = dual, 3+ = plural. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §37
  • Masc. present set: يَفْعَلُ / يَفْعَلانِ / يَفْعَلُونَ (he / they-two / they). Fem.: تَفْعَلُ / تَفْعَلانِ / يَفْعَلْنَ (she / they-two-f. / they-f.). ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §41
  • «You-m.» (أنتَ) and «she» (هي) share the same present form تَفْعَلُ — context tells them apart. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §49
  • Feminine «you» (أنتِ) = تَفْعَلِينَ — the distinctive ـينَ ending (the lesson's تَسْكُنينَ). ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §55
  • The verb's citation form is the past tense (ذَهَبَ = «he went»); add يـ(m.)/تـ(f.) to make the present. A verb = 3 root letters (model فعل); set aside weak verbs. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §69, §132
  • Feminine plural past adds نون النسوة (nūn an-niswah): فَعَلْنَ. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V19 §80

Jumla ismiyya vs fiʿliyya · fāʿil / mafʿūl

  • Two sentence types. jumla ismiyya = begins with a noun, no verb (هذا يومُ العطلةِ is a complete noun sentence); jumla fiʿliyya = begins with a verb. This is the lesson's unnamed «verb or subject first». ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V15 §36
  • jumla ismiyya = mubtadaʾ + khabar (both nouns): بَشيرٌ [mubtadaʾ] طالبٌ [khabar]. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V44 §34
  • 3 rules for the mubtadaʾ: usually definite (maʿrifah), usually carries الـ, and is a single noun (not a clause). ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §9
  • fiʿl / fāʿil / mafʿūl bihi = verb / subject / object. «What does he read? — al-Qurʾān» → القرآن is the object (mafʿūl bihi). ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V44 §22
  • Word order changes the meaning: قَتَلَ داوُدُ جالوتَ (David killed Goliath) vs قَتَلَ جالوتُ داوُدَ (Goliath killed David) — whoever holds the fāʿil (nominative) slot is the doer. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V44 §32
  • tarkīb (التركيب) = a sentence pattern — a finite set of structures, unlike the unlimited sentences (jumal). ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §2

Case-endings — ḍammah / fatḥah / kasrah

  • The 3 case-endings tie to syntactic role: ḍammah = subject (fāʿil), fatḥah = object (mafʿūl bihi), kasrah = after a preposition. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §67
  • The object takes fatḥah even when definite: أقرأُ الكتابَ / أُصلّي الجمعةَ; subject (fāʿil) takes ḍammah. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §61; V44 §27
  • A preposition (في، إلى، على) comes before a noun and forces kasrah: في الصباحِ، في المسجدِ. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §66; Sheikh Riyas · V25 §13
  • A noun never takes sukūn — only ḍammah, fatḥah or kasrah. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §72
  • Definite vs indefinite: ism nakirah = no الـ, ends in tanwīn (قلمٌ); ism maʿrifah = takes الـ, tanwīn → single ḍammah (القلمُ). The 14 sun letters assimilate the lām (الشَّجَرة = ash-shajarah). ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V16 §34, §40

Future سـ / سوف

  • سَـ (sa-) makes the future: سَأقرأُ القرآنَ = «I will recite the Qurʾān» — particle placed before a present-tense verb. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V15 §18
  • سـ and سوف both make the future; سـ is for the near-at-hand. Qurʾānic proof of سوف: كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ (al-Takāthur). ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V15 §29
  • Future = present verb + the particle: ماذا سَتَفْعَلُ / سَتَصْنَعُ؟. ▶ Sheikh Irfan · V20 §12

كان and its sisters

  • كان وأخواتها (kāna and its sisters): كان، أصبح، أمسى، بات، صار، ظلّ، ليس (+ أضحى). كان = «was/used to be»; أصبح/أمسى/صار/بات ≈ «became»; ظلّ = «kept on / remained». ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §69
  • How they work: they enter a jumla ismiyya (زيدٌ طبيبٌ); the subject stays rafʿ (ism of kāna), the predicate becomes manṣūb: كان زيدٌ طبيبًا. ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §79
  • ليس = «is not», the one negative sister, and it conjugates by person: لستُ / لستَ / ليس / ليست (لستُ طبيبًا، ليست طبيبةً). ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §76, §98
  • kāna → yakūnu → sa-yakūnu (past → present → future): سأكونُ مدرسًا إن شاء الله; fem. سأكونُ مدرسةً. ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V34 §80

Relative pronouns, the nahy & pronouns

  • Negative command (nahy): تأكلُ → لا تأكلْ («do not eat») — put لا in front + a sukūn on the last letter (the sign of jazm/jussive). ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §23
  • Statement vs prohibition: لا تأكلُ (with ḍammah) = «you will not eat»; لا تأكلْ (with sukūn) = prohibition. Feminine drops the nūn: تأكلينَ → لا تأكلي. ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §25, §27
  • Pronouns (ḍamāʾir): detached أنا/أنتَ/أنتِ/هو/هي; attached suffixes ـي / ـكَ / ـكِ / ـهُ / ـها on a noun (اسمي/اسمُكَ/اسمُكِ/اسمُهُ/اسمُها). ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §62
  • Match the pronoun by the verb/adjective form: هي تكتبُ vs أنتِ تكتبينَ; أنا أحبُّ / هو يحبُّ / هي تحبُّ. ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §71
  • Relative pronouns الذي/التي tie a describing clause to a noun by gender (the lesson's الرَّجُلُ الذي / البِنْتُ التي); a preposition forces kasrah on the following noun — the same rule both lecturers drill. ▶ Sheikh Riyas · V25 §13
📖 From the lectures — Sheikh Irfan & Sheikh Riyas, the grammar sessions (V06–V44) →
Tap the words in order (right to left) to build a correct sentence — the verb or subject comes first. This is practice; the gated quiz is the next tab.
Dialogue completion (from your worksheet) + relative pronouns + opposites + agreement + 📹 Lecture grammar. Score ≥12/14 on first try to finish the lesson.
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