Modern Standard Arabic 3.4. Grammatical Cases of Nouns & Adjectives in Arabic

In this lesson, we will study the grammatical cases of nouns and adjectives in Arabic. We will also cover noun declination as well as the difference between triptote and diptote declinable nouns in Arabic.

Table of Contents

• Declination of Regular Nouns in Arabic
• Declinable vs. Indeclinable Nouns & Adjectives
• Declinable Nouns: Triptote vs. Diptote
• Diptote Nouns & Adjectives
• Summary
• Grammatical Cases & Tanwīn in Less Formal Arabic Speech
• Level III – Intermediate I (B1)

Declination of Regular Nouns in Arabic

We have learned that nouns and adjectives change the last vowel based on the grammatical case:

Declinable vs. Indeclinable Nouns & Adjectives

In Arabic, most nouns and adjectives change their final vowel depending on the grammatical case. Such nouns and adjectives are called مُـعْــرَب (mu‘rab) ‘grammatically declinable.’

However, a minority of nouns and adjectives in Arabic are considered مَــبْــنِـيّ (mabniyy) ‘grammatically indeclinable.’ These indeclinable nouns and adjectives do not change their final vowel and maintain the same form, regardless of the grammatical case. They include:

1. All types of pronouns (personal, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, possessive, etc.), e.g., أَنـا (’anā) ‘I,’ هـذا (hādhā) ‘this,’ أَيْـنَ (’ayna) ‘where,’ مَـنْ (man) ‘who,’ etc.

2. Cardinal numbers from 11 to 19, e.g., أَحَــدَ عَــشَــرَ (’aḥada ‘ashara) ‘eleven,’ خَـــمْـــسَ عَـــشْـــرَةَ (khamsa ‘ashrata) ‘fifteen,’ سِـــتَّ عَـــشْـــرَةَ (sitta ‘ashrata) ‘sixteen,’ etc.

3. Most nouns and adjectives ending with ى (’alif maqṣūrah), e.g., مــوســى (mūsā) ‘Moses,’ عــيــســى (‘īsā) ‘Jesus,’ كُــبْــرى (kubrā) ‘larger/largest,’ etc.

Remember that nouns and adjectives classified as مَــبْــنِــيّ (mabniyy) ‘grammatically indeclinable’ are written and pronounced the same way in all grammatical cases.

Declinable Nouns: Triptote vs. Diptote

Declinable nouns are classified into two groups: مُـنْـصَـرِف (munṣarif) ‘triptote’ and مَـمْـنـوع مِـنَ الـصَّـرْف (mamnū‘ min aṣ-ṣarf) ‘diptote.’ Most nouns and adjectives in Arabic are triptotes, meaning they have تَـنْـوين (tanwīn) ‘double vowel ending’ when used as indefinite nouns, and take three different vowel endings depending on the grammatical case.

In contrast, diptotes cannot take تَـنْـويـن (tanwīn) ‘double vowel ending’ in any case, and have only two vowel endings as indefinite nouns. In particular, the ضَـمَّـة (ḍammah) ‘short u’ marks the مَـرْفـوع (marfū‘) ‘nominative’ case, whereas the فَـتْـحَـة (fatḥah) ‘short a’ marks both the مَـنْـصوب (manṣūb) ‘accusative’ and مَـجْـرور (majrūr) ‘genitive’ cases.

The only exception occurs when the noun functions as مُـضـاف (muḍāf) ‘annexed,’ in which case the final vowel is كَـسْـرَة (kasrah) ‘short i.’

Here is an example of the diptote noun مَـسـاجِـد (masājid) ‘mosques’:

Here is a summary of the differences between triptotes and diptotes:

Diptote Nouns & Adjectives

Most diptote nouns and adjectives fall under one of the following four categories:

1. Some proper names:

• A majority of feminine names, e.g., خَـدِيـجَـة (khadījah), زَيْـنَـب (zaynab), عـائِـشَـة (‘ā’ishah), etc., as well as masculine names that end with a ة (tā’ marbūṭah) ‘tied-t,’ e.g., أُســامَــة (’usāmah), حَـمْـزَة (ḥamzah), طَـلْـحَـة (ṭalḥah), etc.
• Compound names, e.g., بَـيْـت لَـحْـم (bayt-laḥm) ‘Bethlehem,’ حَـضْـرَمَـوْت (ḥaḍra-mawt) ‘Hadhramaut,’ بَـعَـلْـبَـك (ba‘al-bak) ‘Baalbek,’ بـورْ سَـعـيـد (būr-sa‘īd) ‘Port Said,’ etc.
• Geographical names (of countries, cities, villages, etc.) that do not take the definite article الـ (al) ‘the,’ e.g., مَـكَّـة (makkah) ‘Mecca,’ دِمَـشْـق (dimashq) ‘Damascus,’ بـاريـس (bārīs) ‘Paris,’ etc.
• Masculine proper names that contain more than three consonants, often of non-Arabic origin, e.g., اِبْـراهـيـم (’ibrahīm) ‘Abraham,’ يَـعْـقـوب (ya‘qūb) ‘Jacob,’ قُـسْـطَـنْـطِـيـن (qusṭanṭīn) ‘Constantine,’ etc.
• Masculine proper names ending in ـان (-ān), e.g., عُــثْـمـان (‘uthmān) ‘Othman,’ سَــلْــمــان (salmān) ‘Salman,’ مَـرْوان (marwān) ‘Marwan,’ عِـمْـران (‘imrān) ‘Imran,’ etc.
• Proper names that follow certain word patterns, such as:

2. Some adjectives that follow certain word patterns, such as:

• Masculine adjectives ending in ـان (-ān), whose feminine counterparts end in ى (’alif maqṣūrah), e.g., عَـطْـشـان/عَـطْـشـى (‘aṭshān/‘aṭshā) ‘thirsty,’ كَـسْلان/كَـسْـلى (kaslān/kaslā) ‘lazy,’ etc.
• Masculine adjectives following the pattern أَفْـعَـل (’af ‘al), e.g., أَكْـبَـر (’akbar) ‘larger,’ أَحْـمَـق (’aḥmaq) ‘foolish,’ أَسْـوَد (’aswad) ‘black,’ etc.

3. Some broken plural patterns, such as:

4. Many nouns and adjectives ending in ـاء (-ā’), such as:

Summary

Here is a summary of how nouns and adjectives are classified in Arabic, as covered in this lesson.

Grammatical Cases & Tanwīn in Less Formal Arabic Speech

In everyday spoken Arabic, grammatical cases and تَـنْـويـن (tanwīn) ‘double vowel ending’ are often not adhered to. Following these rules is important in certain situations, such as reading the Quran, giving a speech, or delivering a sermon.

For instance, compare the following two pronunciations of the same sentence. The first follows formal grammatical rules, while the second is less formal and better suited for daily use.

In less-formal speech, the vowel ending is often replaced with سُـكـون (sukūn), as in كِـتـابْ (kitāb) ‘a book.’ The glottal stop represented by the ء (hamza) in يـأْخُـذ (ya’khudh) is often replaced with the ﺍ (ā) long vowel, i.e., يـاخُـذ (yākhudh).

In fact, strictly following the rules of grammatical cases and تَـنْـويـن (tanwīn) might appear out of place, as they are rarely observed in informal situations.

Next: Past Tense in Arabic

Back to: Phrases

Other lessons in Level III: