EZ Arabic - a course to help you learn arabic

Supplement: Numbers 1 – 10
1. واحد
2. اثنتين - اثنين
3.ثلاثة - ثلاث
4.أربعة - أربع
5.خمسة - خمس
6.ستة - ستّ
7.سبعة - سبع
8.ثمانية - ثماني
9.تسعة - تسع
10.عشرة - عشر

There are special rules regarding using numbers in sentences.

1. the numbers 1 and 2 (واحِد واحدة اثنين اثنتين) come after the quantified noun (like any adjective in Arabic) and follow the noun in gender and ending vowel. The quantified noun has the vowel ending appropriate for its position in the sentence, that is, whether it is the subject or object, etc.

جاءَ رَجُلٌ واحدٌ one man came.
جاء رَجُلانِ اثنان two men came.
جاءتْ امرأة واحدةٌ one woman came.
جاءت امرأتان اثنتان two women came.

رَأيْتُ رجلاً واحِداً - I saw one man.
رأيتُ امرأة واحدَةً - I saw one woman.
رأيتُ رَجُلَيْنِ اثنين - I saw two men.
رأيتُ امرأتين اثنتين - I saw two women.

As you can see from the above examples, the number two اثنتين - اثنين changes case (subject / object) like the regular masculine dual noun. More about that in the lesson on singular and plural nouns.)

2. When using numbers 3 to 10, the number’s gender is opposite the gender of the quantified noun. That is, when used with masculine noun, the number contains the ending feminine ة and when used with a feminine noun, the number doesn’t contain the ending feminine ة . additionally, the quantified item comes after the number and is in the majroor case (that is, contains a kasra when singular) . While the number contains the vowel ending appropriate for its position in the sentence, that is, whether it is the subject or object or follows a preposition.

For example, three men: ثلاثة رجال

Three women: ثلاث نساء
10 books:عشرة كتب - كتاب is masculine
10 cars: عشر سيارات



Practice tip: learn to use numbers in sentences correctly.

format_quote Originally Posted by - Qatada -

jazakillah khayr.

I think it would be useful for beginners if you typed it up with Transliteration too, since that is one of the best ways to remove the confusion on the harakaat.


Also, it might be good to give a lesson on the reasons why certain harakaat are used. i.e. the useage of maRfoo', maNsoob and maJroor.

This touches upon that; http://linguisticmiracle.com/i3rab_index.htm

Insha-Allah that lesson is coming soon. i placed it later in the course so students wouldn't get confused with too much grammar.

Week 9: some questions
This week’s vocabulary:
What – مَاذَا
When - مَتَى
Where - أَيْنَ
In - فِيْ
On - عَلَى
Trip - رِحْلَة
Table - طاوِلَة
Market - سُوْق
Bag - حَقِيْبَة
How? – كَيْفَ؟

Here are some examples of questions with answers:
What are you studying? ماذا تَدْرُس؟
As you can see, the question is simply made of the question word and the present tense verb.
I am studying Arabic language.أدْرُسُ لُغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةَ.

Where are you studying?أيْنَ تَدْرُس؟
When will you study?مَتَى تدرس؟

Where will we study?أين ندرس؟
We will study in the school.نَدْرُسُ فِيْ المَدْرَسَةِ.

Where are we going?أين نَذْهَبُ؟
We are going to the market. نذهبُ إلى السُّوْقِ.

All of the above questions are in the present tense. To make questions in the past, simply change the present tense verb to past tense. For example, what did you study? Or what have you studied? ماذا دَرَسْتَِ؟
Where did you go? أينَ ذَهَبْتَِ؟

You can also make questions using question words + nouns:
Where is the book? أَيْنَ الْكِتابُ؟
The book is in the bag. الكِتابُ فِي الحَقِيْبَةِ.
The book is on the table. الكتابُ على الطاوِلَةِ.
How is the travelling? كَيْفَ الْسَفَرُ؟
When is the trip? مَتَى الرِّحْلَة؟
When will be the trip? متى سَتَكون الرحلة


More present tense verb conjugation:
They are studying. هم يَدْرُسُون.
They (female) are studying. هنّ يَدْرُسْنَ

You are studying.أنتَ تَدْرُس.
You (female) are studying. أنت ِ تَدْرُسِينَ.

Practice tip: make questions of your own. Write appropriate answers using both جملة الإسمية and جملة الفعلية .

Supplement 9:
Vocabulary:

To drinkيَشْرَبُ
Coffeeقهوى
Then - ثُمَ
So - ف
Sit يَجْلِسُ
Yes - نعم
No - لا

More Present tense conjugation:
You (dual) are studying. أَنْتُما تَدْرُسانِ
You (plural) are studying.أَنْتُمْ تَدْرُسونَ
You (plural feminine) are studying. أنْتُنَّ تَدْرُسْنَ
They are studying. هم يدرسون.
They (feminine) are studying. هنّ يدرسنَ
They (dual) are studying. هما يدرسان ِ
They (dual feminine) are studying. هما تدرسان ِ

Some questions with simple answers:
Did you study anything? هَلْ دَرَسْتَِ شَيْء؟
Yes - نعم
No - لا

What are you drinking? ماذا تشرب؟
Where will we sit? أين نجلس؟

Then - ثم
So - ف
We will study then we will drink coffee. ندرس ثم نشرب قهوى.

Practice tip: make present tense sentences using present tense verbs appropriate for dual and plural nouns/pronouns.

Note: sentences that begin with a verb ( جملة الفعلية) are simpler than sentences that begin with a noun ( جملة الإسمية ) because in sentences beginning with a verb, the verb (preceding the noun) only takes the masculine and feminine forms but not singular and plural forms. While in sentences that begin with a noun, the verb which follows the noun must agree with the noun both in gender and in number.
For example:
The boy went. يذهب الولد / الولد يذهب
The girl went. تذهب البنت /البنت تذهب
The two boys went. يذهب الولدان /الولدان يذهبان
The two girls went. تذهب البنتان /البنتان تذهبان
The boys went. يذهب الأولاد /الأولاد يذهبون
The girls went. تذهب البنات /البنات يذهبْنَ

Week 10: Words that make the present tense verb mansoob منصوب .
This Week’s Vocabulary:
Market – سوق
Will – سوف
Will not - لَنْ
Work - يعمل
Will work - سيعمل
Will not work - لن يعمل
Trip - رِحْلَة

Normally, the present tense verb contains a damma on the last letter if it is used with a singular noun. This is known as the marfoo case.

For example, to go - يذْهبُ

And if it is used with a dual noun or a plural masculine noun, the present tense verb contains a ن at the end (in the marfoo case).

For example, (two persons) go - يذهبان or (many) go - يذهبون

If it is used with the second person feminine pronoun (you - أنْتِ ) the present tense verb ends in a ya and nun ين.

The above are examples of the present tense verb in the marfoo مرفوع case. The present tense verb is normally in the marfoo case except when it is conjugated with the feminine plural pronoun نَ .

When used with a feminine plural noun, the present tense verb always ends in a sukun on the last letter of the verb + the feminine plural pronoun نَ . that is, it is mabny مبني , constructed that way and unchanging.
For example, (many women) go - يذهبْنَ
In this example, the last letter of the verb is ب which ends in sukun ْ. The نَ at the end is the feminine plural pronoun.



The mansoob منصوب case:

When the present tense verb is preceded by one of the huroof nasb حروف النصب , the present tense verb’s ending changes. If it has a damma on the last letter, then the damma is changed to a fathha. And if it ends in a ان or ون or ين (when used with أنتِ ) then the ending ن is omitted.

For example,
I will study. سَأدْرُسُ --> I will not study. لَنْ أدْرُسَ
The two boys will go to the market. الوَلَدانِ سَوْفَ يَذْهَبان إلى السوق. --> The two boys will not go to the market. الولدان لَنْ يَذْهَبا إلى السوق.
The men will work. الرِّجالُ سَيَعْمَلُون --> the men will not work. الرجال لن يعملوا
You (feminine) will go on the trip. أنْتِ سَتَذْهَبِين على الرحلة --> you will not go on the trip. أنتِ لنْ تذهَبِيْ على الرحلةِ

If the present tense verb used with a feminine plural noun then its form doesn’t change. Its form remains the same, ending in a sukun on the last letter + the feminine plural pronoun نَ .

The حروف النصب are:
أن , لنْ , كي , لِ (لام التعليل) , حتى , إذن
( كَي can be used alone or as لِكيْ .)


So if the present tense verb comes after one of these words, then the ending changes.

Some more examples:

I want to buy some clothes for Eid. أريدُ أنْ أشتريَ ملابساً للعيد
(note that the verb that comes after أنْ has a fathha on the last letter.)
I will not travel. لنْ أسافرَ
The two boys want to study. الولدان يريدان أنْ يدرسا
The teachers want to teach. المعلمون يريدون أن يدَرِّسوا
He came to visit his friends. جاء لكَيْ يزورَ أصدقاءه
You will study until you learn everything. أنْتَ ستدرسُ حتى تَتَعَلمَ كُلَ شَيء
You (feminine) will study until you learn everything.أنْتِ ستدرسين حتى تتعلمِيْ كل شيء

However, when the feminine plural present tense verb is used with one of the حروف النصب , the feminine plural verb remains the same, that is it is mabny مبني (unchanging).
The female teachers want to teach. المعلمات يردْنَ أنْ يدَرِّسْنَ

Note: the word أنْ is used between two verbs. Use it when you want to use two verbs in one sentence.
Practice tip: learn to use huroof nasb in sentences.

Supplement - Using the Arabic to English dictionary

There are many types of Arabic to English dictionaries available.

Some are simple and concise. They contain fewer words than the more complex ones, but they are equally useful for the beginner student.
Some examples are:

Al-Mawrid Al Qareeb المورد القريب Arabic – English Pocket Dictionary

In this and similar dictionaries you can search for verbs and nouns. To search for verbs, you need to look for the root form of the verb, which is the past tense of the verb. Most verbs in Arabic contain three-letter root forms while some verbs contain 4 letters in the root form. There are also verbs that contain 5 and 6 letters in the past tense but these verbs are derived from the 3 or 4 letter verbs. For example, the 5 letter past tense verb انكسر is derived from the 3 letter verb كَسَرَ which means broke.
In concise dictionaries such as المورد القريب , you can search for verbs using their past tense, whether the verb contains 3, 4, 5, or 6 letters in the past tense. You can also search for nouns just as you would in any dictionary.
For example, to search for the noun اِسْتِفْهام which means inquiry, you need to simply look up استَفْهَمَ which means to inquire . In simple dictionaries, you can also search for the noun of a verb, such as إستفهام . however, if you don’t find it, then look up the verb.

There are also more complex Arabic – English dictionaries containing more entries than the concise dictionaries, such as the Hans Wehr Arabic – English Dictionary. In this dictionary, you can search for 3 and 4 letter root verbs easily, simply by looking up the past tense of the verb. However, to search for 4 letter past tense verbs derived from 3 letter verbs or 5 and 6 letter past tense verbs derived from 3 or 4 letter root verbs, you need to look up the 3 or 4 letter past tense root word. You cannot find these 4, 5 or 6 letter verbs just by looking up their past tense. Additionally, to look up nouns derived from verbs, even if the noun contains 6 letters or is apparently the noun of a 5 or 6 letter verb, you need to look up the main root of the verb, whether it is a 3 letter verb or a 4 letter verb.

For example, the noun اِسْتِفْهام (meaning inquiry) comes from the 6 letter verb استَفْهَمَ . however, the main root of the verb is the 3 letter verb فَهِمَ , meaning “understood”. So to look up استفهام you need to look up فهم and then search for اِسْتِفْهام in the list of words derived from فهم .

This sort of dictionary is more complex and more difficult to use. So beginner students should stick to the concise dictionary. However, having this dictionary is a good thing and should be used if you can’t find a word in the concise dictionary.

Note: sometimes the concise dictionary will have one or a few common meanings of a word. In that case, you should look up the word in the larger complex dictionary because a word may have many meanings and to properly understand the text you are reading, you will need to know the appropriate definition which may not be the concise dictionary.

Practice – get a concise Arabic – to – English dictionary and practice using it. Also, if possible, get a more complex dictionary for your reference library.

Dec. 31, 2010
Week 11
This Week’s Vocabulary:
To return (or to revise) يَرْجٍِعُ
House مَنْزِل
Roomغُرْفَة
My daughter اِبْنَتِي
(daughter اِبنة )
My sonاِبْنِي
(son اِبن )
Oh يا
Cleaned نَظَفَ
To clean يُنَظِف

Imperative Verb:
To make the imperative form of the verb, replace the present tense letters ( أ , ن , ت , ي) (at the beginning of the verb present tense verb) with ُ ا or ِ ا . (in other words, just add the hamza to the beginning of the past tense verb and place a sukun on the next letter (the first letter of the past tense verb).
يذهبُ -> اِذْهَبْ
يدرسُ -> ا ُدْرُسْ

To find out whether to use ا ُ (Alif with a damma on top) or ا ِ (Alif with a kasra), look at the third letter of the present tense verb. If it contains a fathha or a kasra, use ا ِ in the imperative form. If it contains a damma, use ا ُ in the imperative form.

Examples:
يدرُس -> ا ُدرس
يذهَب -> اذهب
يرجٍع -> ارجع
اِشْرَحْ -> يَشْرَحُ(Explain)


Note: the imperative form of the three-letter verb doesn’t contain a hamza on the alif. That is, the alif is hamza-tul-wasl (which is only pronounced at the start of a statement.)
Note. The above verbs (used with the singular pronoun, you) contain a sukun on the last letter in the imperative form.

(أنتَ) اذهب masculine singular
(أنت ِ) اذهبي feminine singular
(أنتما) اذهبا masculine and feminine dual
(أنتم) اذهبوا masculine plural
(أنتنّ) اذهبنَ feminine plural
Note: the pronouns (in parentheses) are not necessary. Using just the imperative form of verb is enough.
Note that the imperative form of the verb ends in a sukun on the last letter in the singular form (for example, اذهب ). In the dual and masculine plural forms as well as the feminine singular, the ن from the end is omitted. (for example, اذهبا , اذهبوا , اذهبي ). In the feminine plural, the verb also has a sukun on the last letter of the verb. The نَ at the end is a feminine plural pronoun. (for example in اذهبنَ the sukun in on the بْ and the نَ after the بْ is the feminine plural pronoun.

To make it easy for you to learn the imperative forms, memorize the above verbs with pronouns and use them to help you when using any imperative form.

Some examples in sentences:
Study the book. اُدرسْ الكتاب
Read (feminine) the newspaper. اِقْرئي الجَرِيْدَة
Explain the lesson. اِشْرح الدرسَ

Note: some words don’t start with hamza in the imperative form (for example ( نظف .
O my daughter, clean the house. يا ابنتي , نظفي المنزل .
O my son, clean your room. يا ابني , نظف غرفتك.

Some other examples:
Talk to him. كَلمْ بِهِ or تَحَدَّث مَعَهُ
(hadith Be in this world like a stranger or wayfarer (traveler). كُنْ في الدُنْيا كأنَّكَ غَريب أو عابِر السَبِيل



Practice tip: make sentences using imperative verbs.

Imperatives of verbs containing the letters ا, ي , و .
The letters ا , ي , و are known as sick letters, that is الحروف العلة . This is because sometimes these letters are omitted.
If a verb has one of these letters, in the imperative form it is omitted.
Some examples:
He said - قال
Say - قُلْ
He slept - نام
Sleep - نِمْ



If the حروف العلّة come at the end of the verb, it is removed in the imperative form and the letter preceding it has the letter appropriate for حرف العلة letter that is removed (from the present tense verb). (damma ُ for wow و , kasra ِ for yahي , and fathha َ for alif ا .)

Some examples:
past tense - Feared and adored - اتقى
present tense - To fear يَتَّقِي
imperative - Fear - اتقِ

Past tense - Walked – مَشَى
present tense - To walk - يَمْشِي
Imperative - Walk - اِمْشِ

past tense - Judged – قضى
present tense - To judge - يقضِي
imperative - Judge - اِقضِ

Past tense - Prayed or called someone – دعا
present tense) - To pray or to call - يدعو
past tense - Pray or call – اُدْعُ

Note, while alif ( ا , ى ) is one of the حروف العلّة , hamza ( أ,إ ) isn’t. This is because the alif is a حرف مدة which elongates the vowel on the letter before it but it isn’t pronounced in itself while the hamza is pronounced. Consider the difference between the sound of alif and hamza in the following two words:
He slept - نامَ
نَأخذ

Week 11 supplement 2
Conjugation of the imperative verb with pronouns

As you learned, the singular normal verb’s imperative form is made by replacing the present tense letters (أ – ن – ت - ي) with ا and placing a sukun on the last letter. And the imperative of the singular verb containing (sick letters – ا – و - ي) حروف العلة is formed by replacing the present tense letters with ا and omitting the حرف العلة .
In addition to the second person (you) masculine singular pronoun, the imperative verb can be conjugated with the following pronouns: second person feminine singular, you dual, you plural, and you feminine plural. The imperative forms of these verbs are formed simply by replacing the present tense letter with ا and omitting the ending ن (from the first three types of verbs). As for the feminine plural second person verb, its imperative is formed by just replacing the present tense letter (ي) with ا . There is no other change in the verb.
Consider the past tense verb ذهَبَ he went. The present tense is يذهبُ
Present tense verb --> imperative form
You (masculine) go تذهبُ أنتَ --> اِذهَبْ
You )feminine( go تذهبينَ أنتِ --> اذهبي
You dual go تذهبانِ أنتما --> اذهبا
You masculine plural go تذهبون أنتم --> اذهبوا
You feminine plural go تذهبْنَ أنتُنَّ --> اذهبْنَ

More examples:
Present tense verb --> imperative form
You (masculine): go تدرسُ --> اُدرُسْ
You feminine go تدْرُسينَ --> اُدْرُسي
You dual go تدرسانِِ --> ادرسا
You masculine plural go تدرسون --> ادرسوا
You feminine plural go تدرسْنَ --> ادرسْنَ

Practice tip: make the imperative forms of any 5 verbs that you know for the pronouns: أنتَ – أنتِ – أنتما – أنتم - أنتنَّ

Week 12 – Singular and plural nouns

This Week’s Vocabulary
Engineer (professional) مهندس
Car سيارة
Man رجل
Woman أنثة
student طالِب
female student طالِبَة

To make the plural of regular masculine nouns, add a ون to the end of the word, in the subject position.
مُدَرِّس -> مُدَرِّسُون
مُهَنْدِس -> مُهَنْدِسُوْن

To make the plural of a regular feminine noun, add an ات to the end of the word.
مُدَرِّسَة -> مُدَرِّسَات
سَيَّارَة -> سَيَّارَات
طلابة --> طالبات

Some words are irregular nouns. Their plural isn’t made in the normal manner. The plural of such words have to be memorized.
For example:
كِتاب -> كُتُب
رَجُل -> رِجَال
أُنْثَة -> نِسَاء
طالب --> طُلاب

Note: feminine singular nouns usually end in ة .

Practice tip: find singular nouns in your English – Arabic dictionary and make their plural forms. Post to practice / conversation thread.

Supplement 12: Understanding what you read

The vowels on the last letter of the Arabic noun change depending on the noun’s position in the sentence, whether it is the subject or the object or follows a preposition.

Commonly, if a noun is the subject of the sentence, it will have a damma ( ُ , ٌ ) on it. (This is known as the marfoo مرفوع case.) But if it is the object, then it will have a fathha ( َ , ً ) on it. (This is known as the mansoobمنصوب case.)
ضربَ الولدُ الكلبَ The boy hit the dog.
شربَتْ القطة ُ الحليب َ the cat drank the milk.

In the above sentences, the first noun is the subject of the sentence and so contains a damma on the last letter; the second noun is the object and so contains a fathha on the last letter.

If a noun is preceded by a preposition (known as حرف الجر ) then the word will have a kasra ( ِ , ٍ ) on the last letter. (This is known as the majroor مجرور case.)
جلس الطلاب ُ في السف ِ The students sat in the class.
وضعَتُ حقيبَتِي في الغرفة ِ I put my bag in the room.
In each of the above sentences, the last noun follows a preposition and so is in the majroor case; it contains a kasra under the last letter.
(Singular noun ending: marfoo case: damma. Mansoob case: fathha. Majroor case: kasra)

Note: The above is the case if the noun is singular or irregular (singular or plural). But if the noun is a plural regular noun, then its ending will be different, as follows.

The plural masculine regular nouns normally end in a ن و in the subject position (marfoo case). In the object position (منصوب case) or if it follows a preposition (مجرور case), this ون changes to ين with a kasra ( ِ ) on the letter before the ي .
subject مرفوع position: جاء المُعَلِّمون the instructors came
Objectمنصوب position: رأيْتُ المعلمين I saw the instructors.
Majroor مجرور case:إنتظرت للمعلمين I waited for the instructors.
(Masculine regular plural noun ending: marfoo case:ون . mansoob and majroor case:ين )

The feminine regular plural noun normally ends in a ات with a damma ُ on the ت when it is in the subject position. But in the object position or if it follows a preposition, the damma changes to a kasra ( ِ ).
Subject مرفوع position: ُ جاءتْ المعلمات the female instructors came.
Object منصوب position:ِ رأيتُ المعلمات I saw the female instructors.
Majroor مجرور position:إنْتَظَرْتَ للمعلمات ِ I waited for the female instructors.
(Feminine plural noun ending: marfoo case: damma on last letter. Mansoob and majroor case: kasra on last letter)

The dual noun normally ends in a ان in the subject position. This is the case whether it is the dual of a masculine, feminine or irregular noun. In the object position or if it follows a preposition, the dual noun’s ending is changed to a ين with a fathha ( َ ) on the letter before the ي.
مرفوع position:جاء طالبان ِ , جاءت طالبتان The two students came, the two female students came.
منصوب position:رأيتُ طالبَيْن ِ , رأيت طلبتَيْن ِ I saw the two students, I saw the two female students.
مجرور position: مَررْت بِطالبَيْن ِ , مررت بِطالِبَتَيْن ِ I passed by the two students, I passed by the two female students.
(Dual noun ending: marfoo case:ان . mansoob and majroor case: ين)

The irregular plural noun ends in the same way as the singular noun. In the subject position, it ends with a damma. In the object position, it ends with a fathha. And if it follows a preposition, it ends with a kasra.
مرفوع position: جاء الطلابُ the students came.
منصوب positon: رأيتُ الطلاب َ I saw the students.
مجرور position: نظرتُ إلى الطلاب ِ I looked at the students.
(irregular noun plural ending: marfoo case: damma. Mansoob case: fathha. Majroor case: kasra)

(There are however words that change the normal vowels/word ending. For example, the harf moshabaha bil fail (إنّ etc.)and the afaal naqisa(كان etc.) More about that later, insha-Allah.)

More sentences containing the noun in the marfoo, mansoob, and majroor cases along with brief analysis:
قرأتُ الدرسَ I read the lesson.
الدرسَ : اسم منصوب
Note: اسم here means noun.

نَظَرْتُ إلى الوَرَقَةِ I looked at the paper.
الورقةِ : اسم مجرور
إلى : حرف جر

الولدُ يَلْعَبُ بِالكُرَةِ the boy is playing with the ball.
الولدُ : اسم مرفوع
الباء : حرف جر
الكرة ِ : اسم مجرور

الرَجُلان يسوقان سيارتَينِ the two men are driving the two cars.
الرجلان ِ : اسم مرفوع
سيارتَيْن ِ : اسم منصوب

المدرستان تَدْخُلان المدْرَسَة َ the two female teachers are entering the schoo.
المُدَرِّسَتان ِ : اسم مرفوع
المدرسة َ : اسم منصوب

المُدَرسون يدرسون الطلابَ the teachers are teaching the students.
المدرسون : اسم مرفوع
الطلابَ : اسم منصوب

المُدَرسات يَقرأنَ الكتُبَ the female teachers are reading the books.
المدرسات : اسم مرفوع
الكتب : اسم منصوب

For more practice, see lessons 12 and 13

Practice tip: read a story / article in Arabic and see how much you can understand. Try to get a story appropriate for your learning level.

Try reading my first story written in Arabic. You can find it at Congratulation for the Arabic Writing Contest Winners
Talk about what you read in Arabic on the conversation / practice thread.

i hope the course hasn't become too complicated. any comments, please post to the conversation board.
thanks to all who commented!