Arabic Grammar Dictionary

The nominative case in Arabic. A noun is marfoo' when it is the subject (mubtada/fa'il) or predicate (khabar) of a sentence. Indicated by damma (فُ) or its equivalent.

The accusative case in Arabic. A noun is mansoob when it is the direct object (maf'ool bihi) or in certain adverbial positions. Indicated by fatha (فَ) or its equivalent.

The genitive case in Arabic. A noun is majroor when it follows a preposition (harf jarr) or is the second part of an idafa construction. Indicated by kasra (فِ) or its equivalent.

The jussive case, applicable only to verbs in the present tense. Used after certain particles like لَمْ (lam - did not). Indicated by sukoon (فْ) or deletion of the weak letter.

The short 'u' vowel mark (فُ). Appears above a letter. When at the end of a word, it indicates the nominative case (marfoo').

The short 'a' vowel mark (فَ). Appears above a letter. When at the end of a word, it indicates the accusative case (mansoob).

The short 'i' vowel mark (فِ). Appears below a letter. When at the end of a word, it indicates the genitive case (majroor).

The absence of a vowel mark (فْ). Appears above a letter to indicate no vowel follows. Also used in the jussive case (majzoom).

The 'n' sound added to indefinite nouns, represented by doubling the final vowel mark (فٌ فًا فٍ). Only appears on indefinite nouns.

The system of case endings in Arabic that shows the grammatical function of words in a sentence. The vowel at the end of a word changes based on its role.

The subject of a nominal sentence (jumla ismiyya). It is always marfoo' (nominative case). Usually definite and comes at the beginning of the sentence.

The predicate of a nominal sentence that provides information about the mubtada. It is also marfoo' (nominative case).

The doer of the action in a verbal sentence (jumla fi'liyya). It is marfoo' (nominative case) and comes after the verb.

The direct object of a verb - the thing or person that receives the action. It is mansoob (accusative case).

A construction where two nouns are placed together to show possession or relationship. The first noun (mudaf) loses its tanween, and the second (mudaf ilayhi) becomes majroor.

The first noun in an idafa construction. It cannot have tanween or the definite article (ال). Its case depends on its role in the sentence.

The second noun in an idafa construction. It is always majroor (genitive case).

Prepositions in Arabic that cause the following noun to take the genitive case (majroor). Examples include: مِنْ، إِلَى، عَنْ، عَلَى، فِي، بِ، لِ، كَ

A definite noun - one that refers to something specific. Made definite by: the article ال, being a proper noun, having a pronoun suffix, or being the first part of an idafa.

An indefinite noun - one that refers to something general or unspecified. Identified by having tanween and no definite article (ال).

A masculine noun. In Arabic, nouns are either masculine or feminine. Masculine is the default - nouns without the feminine marker (ة) are usually masculine.

A feminine noun. Often marked with ta marbuta (ة) at the end. Some nouns are feminine by meaning (like أُمّ - mother) even without the marker.

A sentence that begins with a noun (the mubtada). It consists of mubtada (subject) and khabar (predicate). There is no verb 'to be' in the present tense.

A sentence that begins with a verb. The typical order is: verb + fa'il (doer) + maf'ool bihi (object).

The tied 'ta' (ة). A letter that appears at the end of feminine nouns. Pronounced as 'a' when pausing, but as 't' when continuing to the next word in idafa.

The definite article 'the' in Arabic. Attached to the beginning of nouns to make them definite. The 'l' assimilates to sun letters.

Letters that cause the 'l' of ال to assimilate (not pronounced). They are: ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن. Called 'sun' because الشَّمْس (the sun) demonstrates this.

Letters where the 'l' of ال is pronounced clearly. They are: أ ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ك م ه و ي. Called 'moon' because القَمَر (the moon) demonstrates this.