What this lesson covers
1 · What joins: حُرُوفُ العَطْف #
حُرُوفُ العَطْف (ḥurūf al-ʿaṭf) are the particles that join one word or sentence to another. The book names four:
| Particle | Its work | English |
|---|---|---|
| وَ (الوَاو) | joins — no order implied | and |
| فَـ (الفَاء) | joins in order, at once — the second follows straight after the first | and so / and then straight away |
| ثُمَّ | joins in order, after a gap — the second comes later, not at once | then, afterwards |
| أَوْ | gives a choice — one or the other | or |
"The usages of these four differ — their meanings differ." The difference shows best through the book's six example sentences. The book also prints a one-line rule under the heading: what follows the particle takes the same case as what precedes it.
2 · The six example sentences #
١ — الوَاو lists. التَّلَوُّثُ وَالجَرِيمَةُ وَالاِزْدِحَامُ مِنْ مُشْكِلَاتِ المُدُنِ. — Pollution, crime and crowding are among the problems of cities.
Here the wāw (printed in colour in the book) works like a comma, listing items one after another. تَلَوُّث — things becoming dirty, pollution; جَرِيمَة — a crime; اِزْدِحَام — crowding.
٢ — الوَاو again. تَكْثُرُ فِي المُدُنِ الشَّرِكَاتُ وَالجَامِعَاتُ وَالأَسْوَاقُ. — Companies, universities and markets are many in cities. تَكْثُرُ — abounds, is found in large numbers.
٣ — الفَاء shows order. أَدْرَكَتْ بَعْضُ الدُّوَلِ المُشْكِلَةَ، فَبَنَتِ المَصَانِعَ. — Some countries realised the problem, so they built factories.
"This is first, this is second — it happened in that order." Realising came first, building second. The wāw does not show order; the fāʾ does.
٤ — أَوْ gives a choice. اِشْرَبْ شَايًا أَوْ قَهْوَةً عِنْدَ أَخِيكَ. — Drink tea or coffee at your brother's.
Set it against اِشْرَبْ شَايًا وَقَهْوَةً — tea and coffee, where you drink the one and then the other as well. With أَوْ it is one or the other.
٥ — ثُمَّ: afterwards, not at once. صَلَّى عَدْنَانُ الظُّهْرَ، ثُمَّ العَصْرَ. — ʿAdnān prayed Ẓuhr, then ʿAṣr.
"With ثُمَّ it isn't straight after — it takes time."
٦ — الفَاء: at once, in sequence. سَافَرْتُ إِلَى القَرْيَةِ، فَالمَدِينَةِ. — I travelled to the village, then straight on to the city.
"If I said سَافَرْتُ إِلَى القَرْيَةِ وَالمَدِينَةِ, you can't tell which came first. But فَالمَدِينَةِ — I reached the village, and then I reached the city."
3 · The drill — ضَعْ مَعْطُوفًا مُنَاسِبًا #
ضَعْ مَعْطُوفًا مُنَاسِبًا وَاضْبِطْهُ بِالشَّكْلِ، كَمَا فِي المِثَال — put in a suitable joined word and vocalise it, as in the example: لَدَيَّ قَلَمٌ وَكِتَابٌ — I have a pen and a book.
| # | Sentence | Particle |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | دَخَلَ الطُّلَّابُ، فَـ … — the students came in, and at once [opened their books] | فَـ |
| 2 | أُغْمِيَ عَلَيَّ، ثُمَّ أَفَقْتُ بَعْدَ سَاعَةٍ. — I fainted, then came round after an hour. | ثُمَّ |
| 3 | اِبْتَعِدْ عَنِ السُّكَّرِ وَالمِلْحِ. — Keep away from sugar and salt. | وَ |
| 4 | كُلْ مَوْزًا أَوْ تُفَّاحًا. — Eat a banana or an apple. | أَوْ |
| 5 | أَدْرُسُ الهَنْدَسَةَ وَالعُلُومَ. — I study engineering and science. | وَ |
| 6 | يَحْمِلُ النَّاسُ مَعَهُمْ إِلَى البَرِّ خِيَامًا وَطَعَامًا. — People carry tents and food with them into the open country. | وَ |
| 7 | يُفَضِّلُ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ الرِّيَاضَةَ، أَوْ … — some people prefer sport, or [travel] | أَوْ |
| 8 | التَّرْوِيحُ مُفِيدٌ لِلْجِسْمِ وَالعَقْلِ. — Recreation is good for the body and the mind. | وَ |
| 9 | عَلِّمُوا أَوْلَادَكُمُ السِّبَاحَةَ وَالرِّمَايَةَ وَرُكُوبَ الخَيْلِ. — Teach your children swimming, archery and horse-riding. | وَ |
| 10 | يُصَلِّي المُسَافِرُ الظُّهْرَ وَالعَصْرَ جَمْعًا وَقَصْرًا. — The traveller prays Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr combined and shortened. | وَ |
| 11 | كُلْ طَعَامَ العَشَاءِ، ثُمَّ اسْتَرِحْ قَلِيلًا. — Eat your dinner, then rest a little. | ثُمَّ |
Item 2 is the clearest statement of فَـ against ثُمَّ: "This did not happen straight away — it was after an hour, so ثُمَّ was put. Had he come round at once, it would be أُغْمِيَ عَلَيَّ فَأَفَقْتُ."
Item 11 takes a second answer too: كُلْ طَعَامَ العَشَاءِ ثُمَّ نَمْ مُبَكِّرًا — eat dinner, then sleep early.
Vocabulary from the drill: أُغْمِيَ عَلَيَّ (I fainted) · أَفَاقَ / أَفَقْتُ (came round) · البَرّ (open land) · خِيَام (tents) · الهَنْدَسَة (engineering) · التَّرْوِيح (recreation) · مُفِيد (beneficial) · الرِّمَايَة (archery) · رُكُوبُ الخَيْل (horse-riding) · جَمْعًا وَقَصْرًا (combined and shortened) · اِسْتَرَاحَ / اِسْتَرِحْ (rested / rest).
4 · The reading passage — its title #
لِمَاذَا يُفَضِّلُ بَعْضُ النَّاسِ الحَيَاةَ فِي المُدُنِ الكَبِيرَة؟ — Why do some people prefer living in big cities?
يُفَضِّلُ — prefers, likes more; الحَيَاة — here living; المُدُن — plural of مَدِينَة.
5 · The four warm-up questions (تَهْيِئَة) #
| # | Question | English |
|---|---|---|
| ١ | مَا أَكْثَرُ المُدُنِ ازْدِحَامًا بِالسُّكَّانِ فِي العَالَمِ؟ | Which cities in the world are most crowded with people? |
| ٢ | مَا المُشْكِلَاتُ الَّتِي تَكُونُ فِي المُدُنِ الكَبِيرَةِ؟ | What problems are there in big cities? |
| ٣ | لِمَاذَا يُهَاجِرُ سُكَّانُ الرِّيفِ إِلَى المَدِينَةِ؟ | Why do country people migrate to the city? |
| ٤ | أَيْنَ يَعِيشُ مُعْظَمُ سُكَّانِ العَالَمِ، فِي المُدُنِ أَمْ فِي القُرَى؟ | Where do most of the world's people live — in cities or in villages? |
- Question 1: Tokyo, Cairo, and cities in America, China and Japan.
- Question 2: go back to the first example sentence — التَّلَوُّثُ وَالجَرِيمَةُ وَالاِزْدِحَامُ.
- Question 3: الرِّيف is the countryside, like قَرْيَة; سُكَّانُ الرِّيف are the village people; يُهَاجِرُ is to migrate, to move one's place — لِلْعَمَل (for work), لِلدِّرَاسَة (for study), لِلْعِلَاج (for treatment).
- Question 4: مُعْظَم is most, the greater part — and أَمْ here "means أَوْ, the one we just saw: 'or'."
6 · Paragraph 1 — millions, and why they stay #
يَعِيشُ مَلَايِينُ النَّاسِ فِي المُدُنِ الكَبِيرَةِ، مِثْلَ: طُوكْيُو، وَلَنْدَنَ، وَنْيُويُورْكَ، وَالقَاهِرَةِ. وَيُوَاجِهُ سُكَّانُ المُدُنِ الكَبِيرَةِ مُشْكِلَاتٍ كَبِيرَةً، مِثْلَ: التَّلَوُّثِ وَالجَرِيمَةِ وَالاِزْدِحَامِ. وَبِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ هَذِهِ المُشْكِلَاتِ، يُفَضِّلُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ الحَيَاةَ فِي المُدُنِ الكَبِيرَةِ؛ لِأَنَّ فِيهَا المَصَانِعَ وَالشَّرِكَاتِ وَالجَامِعَاتِ وَالمَكْتَبَاتِ وَالمُسْتَشْفَيَاتِ وَالأَسْوَاقَ، وَأَمَاكِنَ التَّرْوِيحِ.
Millions of people live in big cities such as Tokyo, London, New York and Cairo. The people of big cities face great problems, such as pollution, crime and crowding. Despite these problems, many people prefer living in big cities, because they have factories, companies, universities, libraries, hospitals, markets and places of recreation.
The four new usages:
| Word | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| مَلَايِين ← مِلْيُون | millions ← a million | plural |
| يُوَاجِهُ ← وَاجَهَ | faces, confronts | from وَجْه, the face |
| بِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ | despite, in spite of | بِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ هَذِهِ المُشْكِلَات |
| يُفَضِّلُ | prefers | the title's verb |
Also: مِثْل — such as, for example; لِأَنَّ — because ("now the reason"); مَصْنَع/مَصَانِع (factory), شَرِكَة/شَرِكَات (company), مُسْتَشْفَيَات (hospitals), أَسْوَاق (markets), أَمَاكِنُ التَّرْوِيح (places of recreation).
المَكْتَبَات is libraries (singular مَكْتَبَة). Do not confuse it with offices, which is مَكَاتِب (singular مَكْتَب).
7 · Paragraph 2 — migration, and a remedy #
يَزْدَادُ سُكَّانُ المُدُنِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ؛ لِأَنَّ سُكَّانَ الرِّيفِ يُهَاجِرُونَ إِلَيْهَا لِلْعَمَلِ فِي المَصَانِعِ وَالشَّرِكَاتِ، وَيَتْرُكُونَ العَمَلَ فِي الزِّرَاعَةِ وَالرَّعْيِ؛ فَتَزْدَادُ مُشْكِلَاتُ المُدُنِ. وَقَدْ أَدْرَكَتْ بَعْضُ الدُّوَلِ هَذِهِ المُشْكِلَةَ — مُشْكِلَةَ الهِجْرَةِ مِنَ الرِّيفِ إِلَى المَدِينَةِ — فَبَنَتْ مَصَانِعَ كَثِيرَةً فِي الرِّيفِ؛ فَرَجَعَ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ لِلْعَمَلِ فِي الرِّيفِ، وَالحَيَاةِ فِيهِ.
The cities' population grows every day, because country people migrate to them to work in factories and companies and leave work in farming and herding; so the cities' problems grow. Some countries have realised this problem — the problem of migration from country to city — and so built many factories in the countryside; so many people went back to work and live there.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| يَزْدَادُ | increases (of itself) |
| يُهَاجِرُ / يُهَاجِرُونَ | migrates / they migrate |
| لِلْعَمَلِ | for work — لِـ = for |
| يَتْرُكُونَ | they leave, abandon |
| الزِّرَاعَة | farming, agriculture |
| الرَّعْي | herding, grazing livestock |
| مُشْكِلَةُ الهِجْرَة | the problem of migration |
| بَنَى / بَنَتْ | built — بَنَتْ is feminine because its subject is الدُّوَل |
| رَجَعَ | went back, returned |
"Wherever the wāw comes in this, understand it the way we just learned." And on فَبَنَتْ: they realised the problem and at once built — "not ثُمَّ. See how finely these ḥurūf are used." The passage is the drill's grammar at work: فَتَزْدَادُ, فَبَنَتْ, فَرَجَعَ each follow straight on from what went before.
8 · Paragraph 3 — the numbers #
فِي القَرْنِ التَّاسِعَ عَشَرَ المِيلَادِيِّ، كَانَ يَسْكُنُ المُدُنَ نَحْوُ ٢٫٥٪ مِنْ سُكَّانِ العَالَمِ، ثُمَّ وَصَلَتِ النِّسْبَةُ إِلَى نَحْوِ ٤٠٪ سَنَةَ ١٩٨٠م، وَوَصَلَتْ إِلَى ٥٠٪ سَنَةَ ٢٠٠٠م. وَبَلَغَ عَدَدُ سُكَّانِ العَالَمِ سَنَةَ ٢٠٠٠م سِتَّةَ مِلْيَارَاتٍ، يَعِيشُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ مِلْيَارٍ مِنْهُمْ فِي مُدُنٍ، فِي دُوَلِ العَالَمِ الثَّالِثِ. وَسَيَبْلُغُ سُكَّانُ العَالَمِ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ثَمَانِيَةِ مِلْيَارَاتِ شَخْصٍ سَنَةَ ٢٠٢٥م — إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ — وَسَيَصِلُ سُكَّانُ العَالَمِ الثَّالِثِ مِنْهُمْ إِلَى أَرْبَعَةِ مِلْيَارَاتِ شَخْصٍ.
In the nineteenth century AD about 2.5% of the world's people lived in cities; then the share reached about 40% in 1980, and 50% in 2000. In 2000 the world's population reached six billion, more than a billion of them living in cities in Third-World countries. The world's population will reach more than eight billion in 2025, God willing, and the Third World's share of them four billion.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| القَرْن | century |
| التَّاسِعَ عَشَرَ | nineteenth |
| المِيلَادِيّ · الهِجْرِيّ | AD (the Gregorian dating) · AH (the Hijri dating) |
| النِّسْبَة | the proportion, the percentage |
| وَصَلَ إِلَى | reached |
| مِلْيَار / مِلْيَارَات | a billion / billions |
| دُوَلُ العَالَمِ الثَّالِث | Third-World (developing) countries |
| سَيَبْلُغُ | will reach — سَـ marks the future |
Writing a decimal in Arabic. In Arabic script a dot is the digit zero (٠), so "two point five" cannot be written with a dot: "If you put a dot, it would read as a zero — so it has to be put like a comma." The separator is a small comma-like mark: ٢٫٥.
The book was written before 2025 — that is why it speaks of 2025 in the future tense (سَيَبْلُغُ).
9 · اِزْدَادَ against زَادَ #
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| اِزْدَادَ – يَزْدَادُ | it increased — by itself | يَزْدَادُ سُكَّانُ المُدُنِ |
| زَادَ – يَزِيدُ | to increase something, make it more | رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا — My Lord, increase me in knowledge (Ṭā-Hā 20:114) |
زَادَ is an increase that someone does to something; اِزْدَادَ is one that grows of itself.
10 · Where the ḥurūf al-ʿaṭf met you before #
You met أَوْ as a حَرْف عَطْف, not a ḥarf jarr, in Lesson 5. This is the lesson where the four particles are taught as a set.
The four joining particles #
| Particle | Order? | Meaning | Book example |
|---|---|---|---|
| وَ | no order | and | التَّلَوُّثُ وَالجَرِيمَةُ وَالاِزْدِحَامُ |
| فَـ | in order, at once | and so, straight after | أَدْرَكَتْ بَعْضُ الدُّوَلِ المُشْكِلَةَ، فَبَنَتِ المَصَانِعَ |
| ثُمَّ | in order, after a gap | then, later | صَلَّى عَدْنَانُ الظُّهْرَ، ثُمَّ العَصْرَ |
| أَوْ | — a choice | or | اِشْرَبْ شَايًا أَوْ قَهْوَةً |
- أُغْمِيَ عَلَيَّ ثُمَّ أَفَقْتُ بَعْدَ سَاعَةٍ — an hour passed, so ثُمَّ. At once would be فَأَفَقْتُ.
- سَافَرْتُ إِلَى القَرْيَةِ فَالمَدِينَةِ — village first, city straight after. With وَ you cannot tell which came first.
- أَمْ in a question does the work of أَوْ: فِي المُدُنِ أَمْ فِي القُرَى؟
Drill answers #
| # | Joined words | Particle |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | أُغْمِيَ عَلَيَّ، ثُمَّ أَفَقْتُ بَعْدَ سَاعَةٍ | ثُمَّ |
| 3 | السُّكَّرِ وَالمِلْحِ | وَ |
| 4 | مَوْزًا أَوْ تُفَّاحًا | أَوْ |
| 5 | الهَنْدَسَةَ وَالعُلُومَ | وَ |
| 6 | خِيَامًا وَطَعَامًا | وَ |
| 8 | لِلْجِسْمِ وَالعَقْلِ | وَ |
| 9 | السِّبَاحَةَ وَالرِّمَايَةَ وَرُكُوبَ الخَيْلِ | وَ |
| 10 | جَمْعًا وَقَصْرًا | وَ |
| 11 | كُلْ طَعَامَ العَشَاءِ، ثُمَّ اسْتَرِحْ قَلِيلًا | ثُمَّ |
Items 1 (فَـ … opened their books) and 7 (أَوْ … travel) — the answers are given in meaning.
The passage — key words #
| يُفَضِّلُ | prefers |
| مَلَايِين ← مِلْيُون | millions ← a million |
| مِلْيَار / مِلْيَارَات | a billion / billions |
| يُوَاجِهُ ← وَاجَهَ | faces (from وَجْه) |
| بِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ | despite |
| لِأَنَّ | because |
| الرِّيف | the countryside |
| يُهَاجِرُ · الهِجْرَة | migrates · migration |
| الزِّرَاعَة · الرَّعْي | farming · herding |
| مَصْنَع / مَصَانِع | factory / factories |
| مَكْتَبَة / مَكْتَبَات | library / libraries (office = مَكْتَب / مَكَاتِب) |
| أَمَاكِنُ التَّرْوِيح | places of recreation |
| مُعْظَم | most, the greater part |
| القَرْن · المِيلَادِيّ | century · AD |
| النِّسْبَة | the percentage |
| دُوَلُ العَالَمِ الثَّالِث | Third-World countries |
| سَيَبْلُغُ | will reach |
The passage — its argument #
- Millions live in big cities (طُوكْيُو، لَنْدَن، نْيُويُورْك، القَاهِرَة) and face pollution, crime and crowding.
- Despite that, many prefer them — factories, companies, universities, libraries, hospitals, markets, recreation.
- Country people migrate for work and leave farming and herding, so city problems grow.
- Some countries built factories in the countryside, and many people went back.
- City share of the world: ~2.5% (19th c.) → ~40% (1980) → 50% (2000). World: 6 billion (2000) → 8+ billion (2025).
Two more points #
| ٢٫٥ | the Arabic decimal mark is comma-like — a dot is the digit zero |
| اِزْدَادَ vs زَادَ | اِزْدَادَ — grows by itself · زَادَ — increases something: رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا |