Page 7 - madina-book1-notes-abdurrahman-org

Indefinite & Definite

ِ

ة
 Like English, Arabic nouns can be indefinite (ٌركَن) or definite (ٌ ةَفِرعم)
ْ َ
َ
ْ
 An indefinite noun is indicated by ٌنيِوْنَت, which doubles the vowel sign at the end
of the word, e.g.

ِ

 A book –ٌباَتك
ِ
ْ
 A chair - ٌيسر ك

ٌ
 A Definite noun is indicated by ْلَا prefixed to the noun. This also results in

ْ
eliminating the ٌنيِوْنَت at the end of the word, e.g.
ِ ْ
 The book - ٌباَتكلَا

ِ
ْ
ْ
 The chair - ٌ يسر كلَا

ِ ْ
ْ

 ٌ ْلَا and ٌنيِوْنَت cannot coexist. So ٌباَتكلَا will be incorrect
ِ

ْ
َّ َ
 Please note many proper nouns, e.g. ٌدلاَخ ٌ , دمحم end with ٌنيِوْنَت, but they are still
definite

ARIC Arabic Class Notes – Part 1 (ver. 1.1) 7