English and Arabic/Contrastive grammar
Contents
Nouns
Gender
In Arabic, a noun is either masculine or feminine, as there is no neuter, while in English, all nouns are neuter gender. However, there are some words which could be considered either masculine or feminine.
The usual feminine form is the addition of the feminine ending "تاء مَرْبُوطَة", which transliterates to "taa' marbooTa" (tied or attached 't') to masculine nouns and adjectives to make them feminine. For example:
- سيارة → "sayyāra" (car)
- حقيبة → "haqība" (bag)
- خالة → "khāla" (maternal aunt)
All nouns are considered masculine unless they have a feminine ending. There are very few feminine nouns without a feminine ending, which include geographical names and parts of the body that come in pairs as well as a few others.
- عَيْن → "eayan" (eye)
- مصر → "misr" (Egypt)
- شَمْس → "shams" (sun)
Dual nouns
Plural nouns in Arabic are represented specially when in groups of two, while in English the number "two" is just mentioned before the regular plural noun.
- كتابين → "kitaban" (two books) , كرة → "kutub" (books)
- قطتان → "quttan" (two cats) , القطط→ "alqatat" (cats)
- غرفتين → "gharfatayn" (two rooms) , الغرف→ "alghuraf" (rooms)
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Subject pronouns In Arabic, the subject pronouns are usually ignored, but they are required in spnominal sentences (sentences without verbs). In English, however, pronouns, when replacing nouns, are always required. In addition, there are gendered versions of the second person pronoun "you" in Arabic, as opposed to English.
- هي العربية→ She is Arab
In this example, the pronoun "heyya (هي )" is required due to this type of sentence usually not having a verb.
- أنت فتاة → You are a girl.
In this example, the female version of "you" is used.
- هو متعب → He is tired
Another example where "he" is required.
Object pronouns While in English, object pronouns are words that stand alone as recipients of an action, in Arabic, they are suffixes added to the verb.
- ضربته → I hit him (suffix: ـه (-u))
- يشكروني → They thank me (suffix: ني (-ni))
- قلت لها → I told her (suffix: ـها (-ha))
Relative Pronouns
In English, these consist of pronouns such as "that", "which", "whom", "who", and act like adjectives by describing the noun they follow. In Arabic, when these refer to a direct object or an object affected by a preposition, a pronoun suffix is added.
- المرأة التي التقيت هنا→ The woman that I met is here (direct translation: The woman that I met her here)
- البنت التي كتبت لها→ The girl whom I wrote to (direct translation: The girl whom I wrote to her)
- القط الذي رأيته→ The cat that I saw (direct translation: The cat that I saw it)
Sentence Structure
Verb-Subject-Object Structure
Sentences in Arabic are arranged with the verb first, followed by the subject, and then the object, as opposed to English, where the subject comes first, followed by the verb, and lastly the object. For instance:
- كرةَ تاسىٌ رسانحً قصيرجً → "kataba basimun resalatan qa-sēratan"
(direct: wrote Baseem a letter short)
(correct translation: Baseem wrote a short letter)
- خرجت منال مبكرا → "xarajat Manaal mubakkiran"
(direct: early came Manaal)
(correct translation: Manaal came out early)
- أكل الولد تفاحة→ "akala l-waladu tuffaaHatan"
(direct: ate the boy an apple)
(correct translation: The boy ate an apple)
Nominal Sentences
There is no equivalent of "to be" verbs in English in the present form in Arabic. Thus, sentences can be made in Arabic without the use of these verbs. The subject can be followed directly by the predicate without the verb:
- القط في المنزل→ "al-qat fī l-manzil"
(direct translation: The cat in the house)
(correct translation: The cat is in the house)
- حَسَنٌ هُنَاَْ → "hasan hunaa"
(direct translation: Hassan here)
(correct translation: Hassan is here)
- ثَمَّةَ أَحَدٌ مَاْ → "thammat ahad maa"
(direct translation: There one-some)
(correct translation: There is someone)
Passive Structure
When a sentence is changed into passive form, then the agent/subject is ignored. Sometimes particles (groups of letters) can be added to these agents to re-introduce them, but this is not usually done. However, in English, this effect is not created. For example:
- كُرثد انزسانحُ → The letter was written (direct translation: was written the letter)
- تم شراء الكتاب → The book was bought (direct translation: was bought the book)
- سرقت قطة → A cat was stolen (direct translation: was stolen a cat)
Subject-Verb Agreement
In Arabic, verbs are gendered.
As stated before, sentences in Arabic usually start with verbs. In the sentences below, the subject agrees with the verb both in number and gender.
Adjectives
In English, the adjective is placed before the noun to describe it. However, in Arabic, the adjective comes after the noun, for example:
- صبي هادئ → a quiet boy (direct translation: boy quiet)
- سيارة قديمة → an old car (direct translation: car old)
- الرجال الغاضبين→ angry men (direct translation: men angry)
Adjectives are also gendered, as well as nouns. The suffix "ـة " is added to make the adjectives feminine. Here are situations which require specific applications of either feminine or masculine adjectives:
Adjectives for human plural nouns
Whether masculine or feminine, these are modified with masculine plural adjectives:
- المرأة الجميلة → beautiful women
- الرجال لطيفة → nice men
- الفتيان الذكية → smart boys
Adjectives for non-human plural nouns
These are modified with feminine singular adjectives:
- سيارات صغيرة → little cars
- الكلاب الكبيرة → large dogs
- أوراق جديدة → new papers
Articles
English does not use definite articles to refer to common nouns or general concepts, however in Arabic, the definite article "الـ" (-il) is used in these cases.
- بحب الأفلام الأجنبية → I like foreign films (direct translation: I like the foreign films)
- أشاهد عروض مثيرة للاهتمام → I watch interesting shows (direct translation: I watch the interesting shows)
- رأيت السيارات القديمة → I saw old cars (direct translation: I saw the interesting cars)
Case Endings
Arabic is a language that uses case endings, while English does not. Case endings are markings attached to the end of a word to show whether it is the subject, an object, or another grammar function. However, these are usually not written, but pronounced.
Here are the three case markers:
- ـُ → "dammah" : this represents words in the nominative case
- ـَ → "fathah" : this marks words in the genitive case
- ـِ → "kasrah" : this marks words in the accusative case
"Dammah" examples: 1. subject of a verbal sentence
- ذهبَ الولدُ إلى المدرسةِ→ The boy went to school
2. subject and predicate of nominal sentences
- الولدُ طويلٌ→ The boy is tall
3. vocative (addressing someone)
- أيها السيداتُ والسادةُ → Ladies and gentlemen
There are also other examples, including the nominative case and certain adverbs.
"Fathah" examples:
1. object of a transitive verb
- لا تشعل نار→ Don't light a fire
2. adverbial expressions
- تستمرُ يوما واحدا → It lasts one day
3. showing the purpose of an action
- خلالَ حفلةِ استقبالٍ أقاموها تكريما له→ during a reception they gave in his honor
There are other examples, including internal objects, the circumstantial accusative, and specific accusative.
"Kasra" examples:
1. object of a preposition
- في المكتبةِ → in the library
2. object of a locative adverb
- تحتَ نورِ الشمسِ → under the sunlight
3. the second term of an iDafa (a way to express possession)
- غرفة التجارةِ → the chamber of commerce
