Elementary Arabic Syntax 2

Adjectives

  1. What is an adjective?
    An adjective is a word that describes a characteristic found in the word before it. For example:
    جاءَ التلمیذُ المجتهدُ (The striving student came.)

  2. How many types of adjectives are there?
    There are two types of adjectives: essential and non-essential.

  3. What is an essential adjective?
    An essential adjective indicates a characteristic that is in the described word. For example:
    جاء الرجل العاقلُ (The rational man came.)

  4. What is the ruling regarding an essential adjective?
    An essential adjective follows the described word in:
    • being definite or indefinite: الثوبُ الممزّقُ (torn clothes)

• being masculine or feminine: وَلَدٌ مُهَذَّبٌ (well-behaved child)

• being singular, dual, or plural: عاملانِ ماهرانِ (two skilled workers)

• the state of the word: عاملَین ماهرَین (two stilled workers)

  1. What is a non-essential adjective?
    A non-essential adjective indicates a characteristic of a word that follows the described word. For example: جاء الرجلُ الکثیرُ مالُهُ (The man who has a lot of money came.)

  2. What is the ruling regarding a non-essential adjective?
    A non-essential adjective is
    • always singular: رأیتُ الوَلَدَینِ الممزَّقَ ثَوبُهُما (I saw two children with torn clothes)

• follows the word after it in being masculine or feminine: رَأیتُ الغلامَ المُهَذَّبَةَ أختُهُ (I saw a servant whose sister was well behaved.)

• follows the described word in being definite or indefinite and the state that the described word has: رَأیتُ غلاماً عالمةً أمُّهُ (I saw a servant whose mother was a scholar.)

  1. What state does the word that comes after a non-essential adjective have?
    The word that comes after the non-essential adjective is:
    • an actor in the nominative state if the non-essential adjective is an active participle noun or an adjective that is similar to a verb: رَأیتُ غلاماً عالمةً أمُّهُ (I saw a servant whose mother was a scholar.)

• a subject of the predication if the non-essential adjective is a passive participle:

رأیتُ الوَلَدَینِ الممزَّقَ ثَوبُهُما

  1. When is a sentence or fragment considered an adjective?
    A sentence or fragment can be an adjective only after an indefinite word, for example:
    سمعتُ شاعراً یُنشدُ (I heard a poet reciting poetry.)