LinguaThe adjective comes after its noun
In Arabic the adjective follows the noun and copies it: gender, and also the article. بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ (baytun kabīrun) is “a big house”, both words with tanwin; الْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ (al-baytu l-kabīru) is “the big house”, both with الـ. For a feminine noun the adjective adds ة: سَاعَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ.
| Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|
| بَيْتٌ كَبِيرٌ | a big house (phrase) |
| الْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ | the big house (phrase) |
| الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ | the house is big (sentence) |
| هٰذَا كِتَابٌ | this is a book (sentence) |
| هٰذَا الْكِتَابُ | this book (phrase) |
So the article decides whether you have a phrase or a sentence. If the second word has الـ like the first, it is a phrase: الْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ. If the first is definite and the second has tanwin, it is a sentence: الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ. New adjectives: قَدِيم (old), سَهْل (easy), صَعْب (difficult), مُفِيد (useful), رَخِيص (cheap), غَالٍ (expensive; with the article الْغَالِي, feminine غَالِيَة).
هٰذَا الْكِتَابُ مُفِيدٌ.This book is useful.
الدَّرْسُ السَّهْلُ قَصِيرٌ.The easy lesson is short.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| كَبِير | big; old (of a person) | الْكِتَابُ كَبِيرٌ. The book is big. |
| صَغِير | small; young | الْقَلَمُ صَغِيرٌ. The pen is small. |
| جَدِيد | new | ثَوْب جَدِيد a new robe |
| قَدِيم | old (not new) | بَيْتٌ قَدِيمٌ an old house |
| جَمِيل | beautiful, nice | الْقَمَرُ جَمِيلٌ. The moon is beautiful. |
| طَوِيل | tall; long | سَمِيرٌ طَوِيلٌ. Samir is tall. |
| قَصِير | short | الدَّرْسُ قَصِيرٌ. The lesson is short. |
| سَهْل | easy | الدَّرْسُ سَهْلٌ. The lesson is easy. |
| صَعْب | difficult, hard | سُؤَالٌ صَعْبٌ a difficult question |
| مُفِيد | useful | الْعَمَلُ مُفِيدٌ. Work is useful. |
| رَخِيص | cheap | الْخُبْزُ رَخِيصٌ. Bread is cheap. |
| غَالٍ | expensive, dear | هٰذَا الْكِتَابُ غَالٍ. This book is expensive. |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 4
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which phrase means “a new car”?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.