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The Definite Article
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أداة التعريف
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In English we have definite nouns which are usually preceded by 'the' (i.e. the student, the tables) as well as indefinite nouns (i.e. a student, tables). Arabic also has definite and indefinite nouns. The arabic definite article joins with the word that it precedes.
Nouns preceded by the definite article are definite as well as the names of cities, countries, regions, and people. Nouns without an article are usually indefinite.
How to pronounce the definite article depends on the letter that comes after it. In the case of the word below, it is pronounced as it is written- 'al'.
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the moon
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الـقـمر
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moon
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قـمر
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The letters that follow this pattern are know as moon letters(
الحروف القمرية
).
When
الـ
is attached to words that begin with certain letters, the l isn't pronounced at all. Instead the first letter of the word is either pronounced twice or stressed. This is the case in the example below.
Notice the symbol that resembles a slanted w that is appears immediately after the first letter. This is a called a shadda. Whenever two identical consonants appear right next to each other, only one consonant is written, and the shadda is written after it, indicating that it is doubled. Remember that short vowels that come within a sentence are never written.
The letters that follow this pattern are know as sun letters (
الحروف الشمسية
).
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the sun
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الـشّمس
|
sun
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شّمس
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ش
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the man
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الـرّجـل
|
man
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رّجـل
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ر
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the fire
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الـنّــار
|
fire
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نّــار
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ن
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the magic
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الـسّحـر
|
magic
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سّحـر
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س
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the weather
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الـطّـقس
|
weather
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طّـقس
|
ل
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the night
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الـلّـيـل
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night
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لّـيـل
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لّ
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the date (fruit)
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الـتّـمـر
|
date (fruit)
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تّـمـر
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ت
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the snow
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الثّلج
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snow
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ثّلج
|
ث
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the hens
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الدّجاج
|
hen
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دّجاج
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د
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the gold
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الذّهب
|
gold
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ذّهب
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ذ
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the giraffe
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الزّرافة
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giraffe
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زّرافة
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ز
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the picture
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الصّورة
|
picture
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صّورة
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ص
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the frog
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الضّفدع
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frog
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ضّفدع
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ض
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the mud
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الطّين
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mud
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طّين
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ط
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the back
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الظّهر
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back
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ظّهر
|
ظ
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Of the 28 consonants in the Arabic alphabet, one half are sun-letters and one half are moon-letters. The remaining consonants are all moon letters.
On the previous page we saw
هذا
and
هذه
being used as a pronoun. Whenever a definite article appears between it and a noun,
هذا
and
هذه
act as adjectives as opposed to pronouns.
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This friend.
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هذا الـصَديق.
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This (female) colleague.
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هذه الـزميلة.
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If that is the case, is there anyway to say something like "this is the friend"? Yes there is. You have to place
هي
, known as a pronoun of separation, between the subject and noun?
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This - is the girl.
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هذه هي الفتاة.
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