The Definite and Indefinite Articles

The Definite article

The definite article is prefixed to a noun to make it definite. In Arabic, this definite article is اَلْ, and it is the same for both masculine and feminine. Furthermore, it does not change with dual or plural either.

The following are examples of definite nouns:

Definite nouns

Each of the above nouns ends with a single vowel. The vowel may not necessarily be a (ــُـ), but it must be single. This is because of the اَلْ prefixed to the noun. A noun cannot have both ال and double vowels (tanween); either one of the two, or none at all.

Summary

• The definite article is اَلْ; it is attached to the beginning of indefinite nouns to make them definite.
• The same definite article is used with masculine and feminine.
• The same definite article is used with singular, dual and plural.
• A definite noun will have a single vowel at the end. This does not apply to proper nouns without ال, as many of them do take double vowels at the end but are still definite.

Vocabulary

The Indefinite Article in Arabic

In Arabic a noun is indefinite by the mere absence of the definite article; there is no indefinite article in Arabic as in English. So, there is no equivalent for "a". To translate "a boy" for example, we would use only the Arabic equivalent of "boy", leaving out the "a", for which there is no equivalent actually.

The following are examples of indefinite nouns:

Indefinite nouns

Each of the above nouns ends with double vowels (called tanween).

Summary

• There is no indefinite article in Arabic.
• Indefiniteness of a noun is usually indicated by double vowels above/below the last letter.

Vocabulary

Exercise

Make the nouns in the vocabulary section of the previous lesson definite.