Simple Sentences: The Noun Sentence and the Verb Sentence

Two kinds of sentence: Arabic has two kinds of sentence. The noun sentence (Jumla Ismiyya) starts with a noun and has no verb. The verb sentence (Jumla Fi'liyya) starts with a verb. If you can tell which kind a sentence is, you are already reading Arabic grammar.

The noun sentence: topic + comment: A noun sentence is two parts: the Mubtada' (the topic — what the sentence is about) and the Khabar (the comment — what is said about it). Both are in Raf' (the Damma state). اللهُ كَرِيمٌ — "Allah IS Generous": اللهُ is the Mubtada', كَرِيمٌ is the Khabar. There is no word for "is" — the two words side by side mean "is".

Three beautiful examples: اللهُ كَرِيمٌ (Allah is Generous). الْعِلْمُ نُورٌ (Knowledge is light). الصَّبْرُ جَمِيلٌ (Patience is beautiful). In each one, the first word is definite (with ال) and the second is indefinite (with Tanwin) — that is the standard pattern of a noun sentence.

The verb sentence: verb first: A verb sentence starts with the verb, then the Fa'il (the doer — always in Raf'), then the Maf'ul (the object — always in Nasb). كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ — "The student wrote the lesson": كَتَبَ is the verb, الطَّالِبُ is the Fa'il, الدَّرْسَ is the Maf'ul.

Small joining words help: Prepositions (Huruf al-Jarr) are small words that pull the next noun into the Jarr state (Kasra). The most useful are: بِ (by/with), فِي (in), مِنْ (from), إِلَى (to), عَلَى (on/upon), لِ (for/to). The Basmalah itself is a preposition phrase: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ — بِ + اسْمِ (in Jarr) + اللَّهِ (in Jarr).

Example

A verse that breaks the rule on purpose: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ — "You ALONE we worship." This is a verb sentence, but the object (إِيَّاكَ — "You") has been moved to the front, before the verb. Moving a word to the front gives it emphasis. The Quran does this to say: worship belongs to Allah alone, and to no one else.

Key Terms

• Jumla Ismiyya (جملة اسمية) — the noun sentence: Mubtada' + Khabar, with no verb
• Jumla Fi'liyya (جملة فعلية) — the verb sentence: verb first, then Fa'il, then Maf'ul
• Mubtada' (مبتدأ) — the topic of a noun sentence
• Khabar (خبر) — the comment of a noun sentence
• Fa'il (فاعل) — the doer of the action, always in Raf'
• Maf'ul (مفعول) — the object receiving the action, always in Nasb

Quran or Hadith

Quran 1:5 — إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ — "You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help." — to be checked. This is a verb sentence with the object moved to the front for emphasis — the grammar itself teaches Tawhid (the oneness of Allah).

Fresh diagram to be drawn: Two sentence diagrams side by side in Project Desk colours — a noun sentence (اللهُ + كَرِيمٌ) and a verb sentence (كَتَبَ + الطَّالِبُ + الدَّرْسَ) — each part labelled with its role and its case ending.