Nominal sentences with adjectives
You learnt in a previous lesson a kind of nominal sentence made up of two nouns. The first one is definite while the second is indefinite. Now we will study another way of forming a nominal sentence.
In the place of the second noun we will use an adjective (see note below). The adjective must be indefinite. For example,
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You will notice that each sentence above starts with a definite noun followed by an adjective (which is indefinite).
1. In Arabic an adjective is a type of noun, so this type of nominal sentence is actually made up of a definite noun and an indefinite one, like the first kind.
Notice also that, because of the adjective, there is no indefinite article after the verb "to be" in the English translation of the sentences above as in the first type.
Two or more adjectives
If the first noun is qualified by more than one adjective, we separate them by the conjunction وَ meaning "and".
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| The man is nice and generous | الرَجُلُ طَيِّبٌ وَكَرِيْمٌ |
| The house is new and beautiful | البيتُ جديدٌ وَجميلٌ |
The conjunction وَ is NOT separated from what follows it.
Summary
- The second part (noun) of a nominal sentence can be an adjective.
- It should be indefinite, unlike the first noun.
- When translated into English, it is not preceded by an indefinite article.
Vocabulary
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| tired | مُتْعَبٌ |
| heavy | ثَقِيْلٌ |
| light | خَفِيْفٌ |
| far | بَعِيْدٌ |
| near | قَرِيْبٌ |
Exercise
Using the words you already know, make nominal sentences of both kinds. Pay close attention to (in)definiteness of all words.