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What Is a “Causative Description” (نعت سببي) in Arabic?
The Arabic نَعْت سَبَبِيّ (causative description) can be tricky, often leading to misinterpretation. This article explains its unique rules, differentiating it from true descriptions, and clarifies how the adjective agrees with the described item and its subsequent noun, with clear examples.
This article analyzes the Arabic sentence السّيارةُ الْجميلُ لونُها to introduce the topic of نَعْت سَبَبِيّ (na’t sababī), or causative description.
If you check the endings of the words, do you spot any mistake? Short answer: No, there isn’t a mistake! If you thought that the word الْجَمِيل should be written with a ة as adjectives in Arabic have to match the noun, you might have misunderstood the meaning of the sentence.
The second part of the sentence is a so-called causative description (نَعْت سَبَبِيّ), differing from a “true description” (نَعْت حَقِيقِيّ). The sentence …السيارةُ الجميلُ لونُها means: The car whose color is beautiful. Or: The car with the beautiful color.
Watch out! The sentence doesn’t mean: The color of the nice car…
Let us make the difference clear:
| نَعْت حَقِيقِيّ | The successful student. | الطَّالِبُ النَّاجِحُ |
| نَعْت سَبَبِيّ | The student whose sister is successful. | الطَّالِبُ النَّاجِحةُ أُخْتُهُ |
Let us check the different parts of the النَّعْت السَّبَبِيّ.
| نَعْت مُؤَنَّث | Although it is a نَعْت, it doesn’t describe what precedes, but what comes after it. The word sister (أُخْت) is the thing being described (مَوْصُوف) because it is not the (male) student, who is successful. | النَّاجِحةُ |
| فاعِل | Subject; the thing which is being described. | أُخْتُهُ |
| To understand the exact meaning of the نَعْت سَّبَبِيّ you could rewrite the sentence with a relative clause اِسمْ إشارة –> | الطَّالِبُ الذي نَجَحَتْ أُخْتُهُ |
The rules for the النَّعْت السَّبَبِيّ
Let’s check the most important features of a نعت سببي:
- The النَّعْت السَّبَبِيّ is always singular and comes before the subject of the sentence (فاعِل) which is a اِسْم مَرْفُوع
- It agrees with the preceding اِسْم in: * definite/indefinite form (تَعْريف/تَنْكِير) AND * إِعْراب
- It agrees with the following اِسْم – which is the فاعِل – in: * gender (masculine/feminine) (تَنْكِير/ تَأْنِيث)
- The noun after it (فاعِل) takes the pronoun which refers to the first subject in the sentence! Notice: the فاعِل is always مَرْفُوع
Let us take a look at some examples to understand the rules:
| The man whose brother is honorable came. | جاءَ الرَّجُلُ الْفاضِلُ أَخُوهُ |
| The man whose two brothers are honorable came. | جاءَ الرَّجُلُ الْفاضِلُ أَخَواهُ |
| Two men whose two brothers are honorable came. | جاءَ رَجُلانِ فاضِلٌ أَخَواهُما |
| The two men whose sisters are honorable came. | جاءَ الرَّجُلانِ الْفاضِلةُ أَخَواتُهُما |
| Ladies whose sisters are honorable came. | جاءَتْ سَيِّداتٌ فاضِلةٌ أَخَواتُهُنَّ |
A summary:
- The النَّعْت الْحَقِيقِيّ always comes after the noun which it describes. It follows the noun in gender, negated/not negated, case and singular/dual/plural.
- The النَّعْت السَّبَبِيّ always comes before the thing which it describes. It is always singular!
Interesting stuff:
- What Sixteen Words Can Hide: The Grammar of Qur’an 41:11
- Sentence Autopsy: The Invisible Predicate of Praise in Sura 1:2
- Omar al-Mukhtar and the Airplanes Under the Throne
- Sentence Autopsy: What the Grammar of Surah 2:95 Reveals
- Lexicalization in Arabic: The Secret Life of Broken Plurals
Wanna cite this article?
Drißner, G. (2016, January 16). What Is a “Causative Description” (نعت سببي) in Arabic?. Arabic for Nerds. https://arabic-for-nerds.com/grammar/naat-sababi-arabic/
Published: January 16, 2016
Please check the citation before use, especially if your style guide has local requirements.
Publication ISSN: 3055-1730
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