In Arabic, there are three grammatical cases: مَـرْفـوع (marfū‘) ‘nominative,’ مَـنْـصوب (manṣūb) ‘accusative,’ and مَـجْـرور (majrūr) ‘genitive.’ The default grammatical case for nouns in Arabic is مَـرْفـوع (marfū‘) ‘nominative.’
The default sentence structure in Arabic is verb-subject-object (VSO) as opposed to English in which the sentence structure is normally subject-verb-object (SVO). However, this is not a strict rule, and the noun or object can be placed at the beginning in some contexts for emphasis. In Arabic, the verb “to be” is typically omitted in the present tense.
Consider the following sentences:
| .هــذا كِـتـابٌ مُـفـيـد hādhā kitābun mufīd. This is a useful book. | .أُريــدُ كِـتـابًـا ’urīdu kitāban. I want a book. | .سَــمِـعْــتُ عَــنْ كِـتـابٍ sami‘tu ‘an kitābin. I heard about a book. |
In the first sentence, the indefinite noun كِـتابٌ (kitābun)is مَـرْفـوع (marfū‘) ‘nominative,’ because it is the predicate of the sentence. We will learn more about this in Level III, Lesson 1. Nominative indefinite nouns are typically marked with تَـنْـويـن ضَـمّ (tanwīnḍamm), whereas definite nouns are typically marked with ضَـمَّـة (ḍammah) ‘short u.’
In the second sentence, كِـتابًـا (kitāban) is مَـنْـصوب (manṣūb) ‘accusative,’ because it is the object of the sentence. Indefinite nouns in the accusative are typically marked with تَـنْـويـن فَـتْـح (tanwīn fatḥ), whereas definite nouns are typically marked with فَـتْـحَـة (fatḥah) ‘short a.’
In the third sentence, كِـتابٍ (kitābin) is مَـجْـرور (majrūr) ‘genitive,’ because it is preceded by a preposition عَـنْ (‘an) ‘about.’ Genitive indefinite nouns are typically marked with تَـنْـويـن كَـسْـر (tanwīnkasr), whereas definite nouns are typically marked with كَـسْـرَة (kasrah) ‘short i.’
Here is a summary of grammatical case markers for definite and indefinite nouns:
| Indefinite Nouns | Definite Nouns | |
| Nominative | تَـنْـويـن ضَـمّ (tanwīnḍamm) e.g., كِـتابٌ (kitābun) | ضَـمَّـة (ḍammah) e.g., الـكِـتـابُ (al-kitābu) |
| Accusative | تَـنْـويـن فَـتْـح (tanwīn fatḥ) e.g., كِـتابًـا (kitāban) | فَـتْـحَـة (fatḥah) e.g., الـكِـتـابَ (al-kitāba) |
| Genitive | تَـنْـويـن كَـسْـر (tanwīn kasr) e.g., كِـتابٍ (kitābin) | كَـسْـرَة (kasrah) e.g., الـكِـتـابِ (al-kitābi) |
The process of determining the grammatical case in Arabic is called إِعْـراب (’i‘rāb) and is often neglected in everyday language. Many native Arabic speakers find it difficult to determine the grammatical case. Do not worry if you find it challenging to apply these rules while speaking. You can return to this topic as you master Arabic at more advanced levels.
Back to: Word Patterns in Arabic
Other lessons in Level II: