.: Anna :.
31-07-05, 09:33 PM
LESSON FIFTEEN
So far we covered how to conguage verbs for the following : I, you, he and she.
These are all singular subjects (ie they refer to one person only). But what about if you wanted to talk about more than one person?
In that case we have to deal with the following : We, you lot, and they (for both male and female groups).
The pronouns to describe these sets of people are as follows:
نَحْنُ
we
(nahnu)
أنْتُمْ
you lot
(antum)
(refers to a group of mixed gender, or a group of all males)
أنْتُنَّ
you lot
(antunna)
(refers only to an all female group)
هُمْ
They
(hum)
(refers to a group of mixed gender, or a group of all males)
هُنَّ
They
(hunna)
(refers only to an all female group)
Just like with the singular pronouns, each of these have their own special form of the verb. For the past tense these are...
ذهبنا
(dhahabnaa)
we went
ذهبْتُمْ
(dhahabtum)
you lot went
ذهبْتنّ
(dhahabtunna)
you lot went (all girls)
ذهبُوا
(dhahaboo)
they went
ذهبْنَ
(dhahabna)
they went (all girls)
In the present tense the verb forms are as follows :
نَذهَبُ
(nadhhabu)
we go
تَذهبونَ
(tadhhaboona)
you lot go
تذهبْنَ
(tadhhabna)
you lot go (all girls)
يَذهبونَ
(yadhhaboona)
they go
يَذهبْنَ
(yadhhabna)
they go (all girls)
The all girl forms are quite rare, so if the info in this lesson is alot for you, then concentrate on learning the verb forms for nahnu, antum and hum insha allah.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE :
1.) In Arabic these plural "they" and "you lot" are only used for THREE or more people, not two. [there is a dual form for two people which will be learnt later]
2.) If the verb comes before the subject then the verb stays in the singular form... to understand please look at the following examples :
يذهب الأولاد
(yadhhab ul awlaad)
the boys are going
The subject (the boys) comes after the verb therefore it stays in singular, but note that the gender still matches the subject.
الأولاد يذهبونَ
(al awlaadu yadhhaboona)
the boys are going
The subject (the boys) comes before the verb so it must be condugated for the plural
ذهبت البنات
(dhahabat ul banaat)
the girls went
The subject (the girls) comes after the verb therefore it stays in singular, but note that the gender still matches the subject.
البنات ذهبن
(al banaat dhahabna)
the girls went
The subject (the girls) comes before the verb so it must be condugated for the plural
ذهب الأولاد ثمّ أكلوا
(dhahab al awlaadu thumma akaloo)
the boys went and then they ate
The subject at first comes after the verb so it did not have to be congugated in plural. For the second verb, the plural subject was already mentioned so it became necessary for it to be congugated for that plural subject.
Word Order
In Fus-ha Arabic sentences it is preferred to follow this order unless you have a reason not to:
1.) Verb
2. )Subject
3.) Object
This means that as above when talking about a plural subject you may not need to congugate the verb into the plural. Always think carefully whether you need to congugate it or not. The rule is:
IF THE PLURAL SUBJECT IS MENTIONED BEFORE THIS VERB, THEN CONGUGATE IN THE PLURAL - IF NOT THEN CONGUGATE IN THE SINGULAR, BUT MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT GENDER REGARDLESS OF POSITION OF THE SUBJECT.
So far we covered how to conguage verbs for the following : I, you, he and she.
These are all singular subjects (ie they refer to one person only). But what about if you wanted to talk about more than one person?
In that case we have to deal with the following : We, you lot, and they (for both male and female groups).
The pronouns to describe these sets of people are as follows:
نَحْنُ
we
(nahnu)
أنْتُمْ
you lot
(antum)
(refers to a group of mixed gender, or a group of all males)
أنْتُنَّ
you lot
(antunna)
(refers only to an all female group)
هُمْ
They
(hum)
(refers to a group of mixed gender, or a group of all males)
هُنَّ
They
(hunna)
(refers only to an all female group)
Just like with the singular pronouns, each of these have their own special form of the verb. For the past tense these are...
ذهبنا
(dhahabnaa)
we went
ذهبْتُمْ
(dhahabtum)
you lot went
ذهبْتنّ
(dhahabtunna)
you lot went (all girls)
ذهبُوا
(dhahaboo)
they went
ذهبْنَ
(dhahabna)
they went (all girls)
In the present tense the verb forms are as follows :
نَذهَبُ
(nadhhabu)
we go
تَذهبونَ
(tadhhaboona)
you lot go
تذهبْنَ
(tadhhabna)
you lot go (all girls)
يَذهبونَ
(yadhhaboona)
they go
يَذهبْنَ
(yadhhabna)
they go (all girls)
The all girl forms are quite rare, so if the info in this lesson is alot for you, then concentrate on learning the verb forms for nahnu, antum and hum insha allah.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE :
1.) In Arabic these plural "they" and "you lot" are only used for THREE or more people, not two. [there is a dual form for two people which will be learnt later]
2.) If the verb comes before the subject then the verb stays in the singular form... to understand please look at the following examples :
يذهب الأولاد
(yadhhab ul awlaad)
the boys are going
The subject (the boys) comes after the verb therefore it stays in singular, but note that the gender still matches the subject.
الأولاد يذهبونَ
(al awlaadu yadhhaboona)
the boys are going
The subject (the boys) comes before the verb so it must be condugated for the plural
ذهبت البنات
(dhahabat ul banaat)
the girls went
The subject (the girls) comes after the verb therefore it stays in singular, but note that the gender still matches the subject.
البنات ذهبن
(al banaat dhahabna)
the girls went
The subject (the girls) comes before the verb so it must be condugated for the plural
ذهب الأولاد ثمّ أكلوا
(dhahab al awlaadu thumma akaloo)
the boys went and then they ate
The subject at first comes after the verb so it did not have to be congugated in plural. For the second verb, the plural subject was already mentioned so it became necessary for it to be congugated for that plural subject.
Word Order
In Fus-ha Arabic sentences it is preferred to follow this order unless you have a reason not to:
1.) Verb
2. )Subject
3.) Object
This means that as above when talking about a plural subject you may not need to congugate the verb into the plural. Always think carefully whether you need to congugate it or not. The rule is:
IF THE PLURAL SUBJECT IS MENTIONED BEFORE THIS VERB, THEN CONGUGATE IN THE PLURAL - IF NOT THEN CONGUGATE IN THE SINGULAR, BUT MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT GENDER REGARDLESS OF POSITION OF THE SUBJECT.