Browsing Category
Grammar
66 posts
The fun part of Arabic is grammar (nahw): syntax, conjugations, and I’rab.
What is the ism al Masdar in Arabic?
The Ism al-Masdar اسم المصدر and the regular masdar sometimes mean the same, sometimes not. Let's check why.
What is a masdar mu’awwal in Arabic?
In Arabic, you often use an "interpreted infinitive", a masdar muawwal - المصدر المؤول. This is formed by an أن plus verb in منصوب mood.
الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْمِ: “Prayer is better than sleep” – Is it really “better”?
The Islamic call to prayer is a tricky construction. In Sunni Islam, the muezzin uses khayr (خير) which strangely denotes a comparative (better). Why?
Arabic letters without dots – Does it work?
Arabic used to be written without dots in ancient times. At least it did, a long time ago. Could you read such sentences?
Does the negation with ما or لَمْ convey the same meaning?
Both ma ما and lam لَمْ can negate the past tense. How and when should they be used?
What does Dunya mean?
The word الدُّنْيا (al-Dunya) means the world. But that is only the interpretation of the word - but not the literal meaning!