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.
| 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:
| 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 |