Noun/Equational Sentences (الجمل الأسمية)
In Arabic, there are sentences that have nouns but no verbs, so they are called Noun Sentences or Equational Sentences. They are equivalent to sentences in English containing the verb "to be," except in Arabic, the structure of the sentence infers the "to be" verb instead of using it. You have already seen an example of this:
At this point, you should be able to identify all of the parts of this sentence.
(Note: The أ نا in this sentence is in parenthesis because it is not necessary. As you can see, it is somewhat redundant, but it is included because it is the most formal way to state this sentence.)
Altogether, this sentence means "My name is Maha." but it lacks any verbs. There is nothing in the Arabic sentence that corresponds to where the English "is" should be. Thats because the structure of this sentence infers the "to be" verb instead of using it explicitly. These sentences are called Noun Sentences because they consist mostly of nouns, and do not contain a verb. But why are they also called Equational Sentences?
This is because sentences of this kind all have two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the person/object/thing being talked about, and the predicate is the "talk" that is being done about it. In English, these parts are separated by the verb "to be".
Since these sentences do not contain a verb in Arabic, imagine that there is an equals sign where the "to be" verb would go, separating the subject and the predicate.
In which case, you can now treat the sentence as an equation, which will help you construct your own noun sentences.
Arabic Noun/Equational Sentences follow the structure of:
<<<<<<<-----------------
| Arabic | Transcription | Literal Meaning | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| أنا) إسمي) .ماها | ana ismii Maha. | I my name Maha. | My name is Maha. |
At this point, you should be able to identify all of the parts of this sentence.
| ماها | ي | إسم | (أنا) |
| the girl's name, Maha. | "my" the first person singular possessive pronoun ي attached to the noun being possessed | "name" | "I" the first person, singular subject pronoun |
(Note: The أ نا in this sentence is in parenthesis because it is not necessary. As you can see, it is somewhat redundant, but it is included because it is the most formal way to state this sentence.)
Altogether, this sentence means "My name is Maha." but it lacks any verbs. There is nothing in the Arabic sentence that corresponds to where the English "is" should be. Thats because the structure of this sentence infers the "to be" verb instead of using it explicitly. These sentences are called Noun Sentences because they consist mostly of nouns, and do not contain a verb. But why are they also called Equational Sentences?
This is because sentences of this kind all have two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is the person/object/thing being talked about, and the predicate is the "talk" that is being done about it. In English, these parts are separated by the verb "to be".
| Predicate | Subject |
| ماها | إسمي | (أنا) | |
| Maha | is | my name | I |
Since these sentences do not contain a verb in Arabic, imagine that there is an equals sign where the "to be" verb would go, separating the subject and the predicate.
In which case, you can now treat the sentence as an equation, which will help you construct your own noun sentences.
| Predicate | Subject |
| ماها | = | إسمي | أنا |
| Maha | is | my name | I |
Arabic Noun/Equational Sentences follow the structure of:
<<<<<<<-----------------
| Predicate | = | Subject |
|
Related Links: Arabic How Much is this?(ب مك هذا؟) Hundreds and Thousands(مائِة و أَلاف) |