.: Anna :.
20-06-05, 01:13 AM
Firstly, it is important to understand in English what the "subject" and "object" of the sentence mean.
When there is an active doing word (verb) in the sentence, there will always be a subject*. The subject is the thing or person that does the action. EG:
Nasrullah bought the food.
Here the subject is Nasrullah.
The object is the thing that has the action done to it. EG:
Nasrullah bought the food.
Here the object is the food.
How is this shown in Arabic
In English, it is ok to know about the subject and object, but since we don't have any case endings, you could say that it doesn't really matter. However in Arabic grammar it does matter and you have to learn and understand how it works.
The rule is very simple.
The subject and object of any sentence should be a noun (or a pronoun)
Words that are the subject of a sentence will have damma written on the end letter.
Words that are the object of the sentence will have fatha written on the end letter.
As we learned in lesson 3, if a noun is indefinate then the vowel symbol on the last letter is written twice (this is called tanween). If it is definate then only one is written
*Note that when two fathas are written on the end of a word, they are carried on an alif (unless the letter is a ta marbuta)
Examples from last lesson with explanation
The following two sentences were given in last lesson's exercises for translation :لبس محمدٌ قميصاً جميلاً
(labasa Mohammedun qameesan jameelan)
Mohammed wore a nice shirt
The subject is Mohammed as he did the action, therefore he has dammas at the end of his name
The object is the shirt. It has fathas because of this. Note that it is indefinate and the 2 fathas are carried on an alif
The adjective describing the object also has fathas because adjectives always match the thing that they are describing.
وجدَت نورةُ الكلبَ
wajadat Noura alkalba
Noura found the dog
The subject of the sentence is Noura because she did the action
The object of the sentence is the dog, so that word takes a fatha.
More examples
ضرب الرجلُ الولدَ
Daraba ar rajulu al walada
The man hit the boy
The verb is ضرب
It is in the "he" form because the subject is masculine. It means "hit".
The man (ar rajulu) is the subject as he did the action.
It takes one damma as it is a definite subject (ie it has AL on the beginning of the word)
The boy (al walada) is the object, as he was the one who had the action done to him
It takes one fatha as it is a definate object (ie it has AL on the beginning of the word)
استعملَت المدرّسةُ الحاسوبَ
ista3malat almudarrisatu alhaasooba
The lady teacher used the computer
The verb is استعملَت it has the "at" ending because it was done by a female. It means "used"
The female teacher (almudarrisatu) is the subject as she did this action.
That word takes one damma as it is a definate subject
The object is the computer (al Haasooba) as it had the action done to it.
It takes one fatha as it is a definate object.
أكلَ الطعامَ كلبٌ
akala aT-Ta3aama kalbun
A dog ate the food
Note that the normal order of subject and object has been reversed. This may happen due to emphasis, or style. (If the object is definate and subject is indefinate, this order may sound better)
the verb is أكلَ
it is in the "he" form as dog is a masculine noun.It means "ate".
dog is the subject as it did the action.
It is an indefinate subject because it is a dog, and not the dog. Because of this it has two dammas.
The object is the food (at-ta3aam) because it had the action done to it. It has an AL so it is a definate object and has only one fatha.
شربتُ الماءَ
sharibtu almaa'a
I drank the water
Here the subject is "I" because I did the action, however we did not need to say "ana sharibtu almaa'a" because it is shown clearly in the verb who did the action. It is not wrong to include the pronoun aswell, but it is not a good style. You would usually see it written as in the example above.
(See this thread (http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57167) for more about this rule.)
The object is the water because it had the action done to it. There fore it takes one fatha (it is a definate object)
* The subject may not be explicitely written in the sentence, (see the last example) but in that case it is shown in the verb. Just because you cannot immediately see it, does not mean it is not there.
When there is an active doing word (verb) in the sentence, there will always be a subject*. The subject is the thing or person that does the action. EG:
Nasrullah bought the food.
Here the subject is Nasrullah.
The object is the thing that has the action done to it. EG:
Nasrullah bought the food.
Here the object is the food.
How is this shown in Arabic
In English, it is ok to know about the subject and object, but since we don't have any case endings, you could say that it doesn't really matter. However in Arabic grammar it does matter and you have to learn and understand how it works.
The rule is very simple.
The subject and object of any sentence should be a noun (or a pronoun)
Words that are the subject of a sentence will have damma written on the end letter.
Words that are the object of the sentence will have fatha written on the end letter.
As we learned in lesson 3, if a noun is indefinate then the vowel symbol on the last letter is written twice (this is called tanween). If it is definate then only one is written
*Note that when two fathas are written on the end of a word, they are carried on an alif (unless the letter is a ta marbuta)
Examples from last lesson with explanation
The following two sentences were given in last lesson's exercises for translation :لبس محمدٌ قميصاً جميلاً
(labasa Mohammedun qameesan jameelan)
Mohammed wore a nice shirt
The subject is Mohammed as he did the action, therefore he has dammas at the end of his name
The object is the shirt. It has fathas because of this. Note that it is indefinate and the 2 fathas are carried on an alif
The adjective describing the object also has fathas because adjectives always match the thing that they are describing.
وجدَت نورةُ الكلبَ
wajadat Noura alkalba
Noura found the dog
The subject of the sentence is Noura because she did the action
The object of the sentence is the dog, so that word takes a fatha.
More examples
ضرب الرجلُ الولدَ
Daraba ar rajulu al walada
The man hit the boy
The verb is ضرب
It is in the "he" form because the subject is masculine. It means "hit".
The man (ar rajulu) is the subject as he did the action.
It takes one damma as it is a definite subject (ie it has AL on the beginning of the word)
The boy (al walada) is the object, as he was the one who had the action done to him
It takes one fatha as it is a definate object (ie it has AL on the beginning of the word)
استعملَت المدرّسةُ الحاسوبَ
ista3malat almudarrisatu alhaasooba
The lady teacher used the computer
The verb is استعملَت it has the "at" ending because it was done by a female. It means "used"
The female teacher (almudarrisatu) is the subject as she did this action.
That word takes one damma as it is a definate subject
The object is the computer (al Haasooba) as it had the action done to it.
It takes one fatha as it is a definate object.
أكلَ الطعامَ كلبٌ
akala aT-Ta3aama kalbun
A dog ate the food
Note that the normal order of subject and object has been reversed. This may happen due to emphasis, or style. (If the object is definate and subject is indefinate, this order may sound better)
the verb is أكلَ
it is in the "he" form as dog is a masculine noun.It means "ate".
dog is the subject as it did the action.
It is an indefinate subject because it is a dog, and not the dog. Because of this it has two dammas.
The object is the food (at-ta3aam) because it had the action done to it. It has an AL so it is a definate object and has only one fatha.
شربتُ الماءَ
sharibtu almaa'a
I drank the water
Here the subject is "I" because I did the action, however we did not need to say "ana sharibtu almaa'a" because it is shown clearly in the verb who did the action. It is not wrong to include the pronoun aswell, but it is not a good style. You would usually see it written as in the example above.
(See this thread (http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57167) for more about this rule.)
The object is the water because it had the action done to it. There fore it takes one fatha (it is a definate object)
* The subject may not be explicitely written in the sentence, (see the last example) but in that case it is shown in the verb. Just because you cannot immediately see it, does not mean it is not there.