2.7: Grammar (2) الإضافة، ضمائر الملكية
In this section, you will be able to:
- Express relation and possession using Idhafa الإضافة
- Learn possessive pronouns
Expressing Relation and Possessing using Idafa الإضافة
- الإضافة Idafa is a construction that allows linking two nouns or more by possession, and you have used the Idafa الإضافة before like (صباح الخير), (بيْتُ الطّلاب), (مساء النّور), (ولاية فلوريدا), (مدينة بيروت).
- الإضافة means addition in Arabic, and it is formed by two or more nouns that are placed together in a relationship of possession or belonging. We can more easily conceptualize الإضافة the way the word "of" is used in English (the book of the student, كتاب الطالب).
- There is an apostrophe "s" construction in Arabic to indicate possession. There is no way that you can say (the student's book) in Arabic, and you need to restructure the phrase to say (the book of the student).
- In Arabic, you say (كتاب الطالب), so the last word of the Idafa الإضافة phrase will take the definite article (الـ), even the word of the book is definite because you are talking about a specific book. For example: (بيْتُ الطّلابِ) the phrase is the students' house, and it means the students' dormitory.
- The meaning of the Idafa الإضافة phrase is definite, but only the last term of the Idafa الإضافة will indicate its definiteness by the definite article (الـ) or a possessive suffix. For example: (باب البيت), (باب بَيْتي).
- Another way that nouns can be definite is if they are proper nouns, like the University of Damascus (جامعة دمشق). You know دمشق is a proper noun.
- Also, when you have a noun that ends with Taa Marbouta (ة) in an Idafa الإضافة, you should pronounce the Taa Marbouta (ة) as Taa (ت) sound on all the words in the Idafa الإضافة phrase except the last word of the Idafa الإضافة. For example: (مدينة لوس أنجلوس), (كلية العلوم), (جامِعة القاهِرة).
- These simple Idafa الإضافة compose of two nouns. However, there is a complex Idafa الإضافة that contains more than two nouns. All the nouns in complex Idafa الإضافة behave like the first noun in the phrase and never take the definite article (الـ). For example: (جامعة مدينة دمشق) (صورة ابن عمي) (كتاب صديق ابن أخي)
Check the table using the chapter vocabulary in the context of Idafa الإضافة.
| Audio الصوت | Meaning In English المعنى بالانجليزي | Idafa Phrase الإضافة |
|---|---|---|
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Students' dormitory | بَيْتُ الطّلابِ |
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California State | ولاية كاليفورنيا |
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Science Department or Department of science | قسم العلوم |
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Department of Language Sciences | قسم علوم اللغة |
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Department of Psychology | ِقسمُ علمُ النَّفس |
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Business Management Program or Program of Business Management | ِبرنامجُ إدارةُ الأعمال |
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The lecture of today | ِمُحاضرَةُ اليوم |
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My nephew (the son of my brother) | ابنُ أخي |
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The friend of my nephew | صاحبُ ابنُ أخي |
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The classmate of my niece | زميلةُ ابنةُ أخي |
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My family friend or the friend of my family | صديقُ أسرتي |
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My aunt's family photo | صورة أسرة عَمَّتي |
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Week days/ days of the week | أيام الأسبوع |
Activities تدريبات الإضافة
Possessive Pronouns ضمائر الملكية
Check the table of possessive pronouns and their counterpart of subject pronouns.
|
Meaning |
الضمائر المتصلة / الملكية "Possessive Pronouns" |
الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ Arabic |
الضمائر المنفصلة Subject Pronouns/ English |
Gender & Number of people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My | ي ---------- | أنا | I | 1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine |
| Our | نَا ----------- | نحنُ | We | 1st. Person Masculine/ Feminine plural |
| Your | كَ ----------- | أَنْتَ | You | 2nd. Person Masculine/ Singular |
| Your | كِ ----------- | أَنْتِ | You | 2nd. Person Feminine / Singular |
| Your (dual) | كُما ----------- | أنْـتُـما | You | 2nd. Person Masculine / dual |
| Your (dual) | كُما ----------- | أنْـتُـما | You | 2nd. Person Feminine / dual |
| Your | كُم ------------ | أَنْتُم | You |
2nd. Person Masculine/ Plural |
| Your | كُنَّ ----------- | أنْـتُـنَّ | You | 2nd. Person Feminine/ Plural |
| His | ـهُ ----------- | هو | He | 3rd. Person Masculine/ Singular |
| Her | ـها ----------- | هي | She | 3rd. Person Feminine / Singular |
| Their (dual) | ـهُما ----------- | هُـمَا | They | 3rd. Person Masculine/ Dual |
| Their (dual) | ـهُما ----------- | هُـمَا | They | 3rd. Person Feminine / Dual |
| Their | ـهم ---------- | هم | They | 3rd. Person Masculine/ Plural |
| Their | َّـهُن ----------- | هُـنَّ | They | 3rd. Person Feminine / Plural |
- You have seen the possessive pronouns in the first book, " Introduction to Arabic I ," and you already used them when you said (اسمها ,اسمي, اسمك, اسمه).
- Possessive pronouns are suffixes, and you can check the table and their meaning. They are used to indicate ownership of something.
- If the noun has Taa Marbouta (تاء مربوطة), and you need to add a possessive suffix to the word ends with (ة). You switch the Taa Marbouta (ة) to a regular Taa (ت), or you untied the Taa Marbouta (ة). For example: جامعة + (ي) = جامعتي.
- Possessive Pronouns are different according to gender and number. For example: كتابي- كتابنا- كتابكَ- كتابكِ- كتابكما- كتابكم- كتابكن- كتابهُ- كتابها- كتابهما- كتابهم- كتابهن
- Nouns with possessive pronouns are considered definite, so adjectives describing them have the definite article (الــ) because of the rule of adjective agreement. For example, كتابي الجديد، أخي الصغير
- ِAdding possessive pronoun suffix to a word matches the Idafa concept since nouns with possessive pronouns are a type of Idafa construction. For example, والدة جاد means the mother of Jad, and you do not have to repeat the same phrase every time we talk about his mother, so you can say والدتهُ means his mother.
Watch the video to practice the possessive pronouns.
Possessive Pronouns and Preposition "عِندَ" to Express "To have"ExI
Possessive pronouns can be attached to prepositions at the end of them. In the table below, you will see the preposition (عِندَ) means (to have) in English, but literally means (at). Check the table to learn more.
| Audio | Meaning | بالعربي | Preposition and possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
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I have | عِنْدي | عِنْد + ي |
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We have | عِنْدَنا | عِنْدَ + نا |
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You have (masculine, singular) | عِنْدَكَ | عِنْدَ + كَ |
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You have (feminine, singular) | عِنْدَكِ | عِنْدَ + كِ |
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You have (masculine, dual) | عِنْدَكُما | عِنْدَ + كُما |
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You have (feminine, dual) | عِنْدَكُما | عِنْدَ + كُما |
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You have (masculine, plural) | عِنْدَكُم | عِنْدَ + كُم |
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You have (Feminine, plural) | عِنْدَكُنَّ | عِنْدَ + كُنَّ |
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He has | عِنْدَهُ | عِنْدَ + هُ |
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She have | عِنْدَها | عِنْدَ + ها |
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They have (masculine, dual) | عِنْدَهُما | عِنْدَ + هُما |
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They have (feminine, dual) | عِنْدَهُما | عِنْدَ + هُما |
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They have (masculine, plural) | عِنْدَهُم | عِنْدَ + هُم |
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They have (feminine, plural) | عِنْدَهُنَّ | عِنْدَ + هُنَّ |
Watch the video to learn more about expressing the verb "to have" in Arabic.
Possessive Pronouns تدريبات ضمائر الملكية