There is/are

In the previous lesson you learned about prepositions (+ noun) as the second part of the nominal sentence. In that case the first part is definite (or a pronoun).

Now it may happen that the first part is indefinite and the second is a preposition+noun, in which case the order is reversed and the second part with the preposition+noun comes first. This is due to the fact that a sentence cannot start with an indefinite noun.

Let us take the examples given in the last lesson and modify them to make their first part indefinite.

There is

English	Arabic
there is a child in the house	في البيتِ طفلٌ
there is a book on the desk	على المكتبِ كتابٌ
there is a ball under the chair	تحتَ الكرسيِ كرةٌ
there is a bicycle in front of the car	أمامَ السيارةِ دراجةٌ
there is a broom behind the door	خلفَ البابِ مكنسةٌ

The first part (now placed in the second position) retains its vowelling. It can also be dual or plural, e.g:

There are

English	Arabic
there are two children in the house	في البيت طفلانِ
there are some children in the house	في البيت أَطفَالٌ
there are some engineers in front of the building	أمام العِمارة مهندسونَ

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Related pages

• Preposition

Other topics availabe on this site:

Arabic alphabet — Indefinite nouns — Definite nouns — Nominal sentences
Adjectives — Feminine — Singular pronouns — Dual nouns — Dual pronouns
Basic declension of nouns — Demonstrative: This — Demonstrative: That
Plural — Plural pronouns — Preposition — There is/are — To have
Possessive case — Broken Plural — Possessive Adjectives