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- "سَمَك جَديد"
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Does anyone else hear an extra syllable between سَمَك and جَديد? It sounds like "un" or something.
There is an extra syllable, and you're correct – it's -un.
Copying my answer from a similar question on a different sentence:
Yes, it's the nominative indefinite ending. In formal MSA (and Qurani Arabic), you have three cases and six endings:
Nominative: -u (definite) / -un (indefinite)
Accusative: -a (definite) / -an (indefinite)
Genitive: -i (definite) / -in (indefinite)
The nominative is used as you'd expect – for the subject of the sentence.
تَكَلَّمَ رَجُلٌ لَطيفٌ مَعِي أَمسِ
takallama rajulun latifun ma3i amsi
"A nice man spoke to me yesterday"
يُعجِبنا البَيتُ الجَديدُ
yu3jibna l-baytu l-jadidu
"We like the new house" ("The new house pleases us")
The accusative is also used as you'd expect – for the direct object of the verb. Note that a final alif will always be added for the accusative indefinite ending (except after a ta' marbuta).
هَل اِشتَرَيتَ هاتِفاً غاليّاً؟
hal ištarayta hatifan ghaliyan?
"Did you buy an expensive phone?"
أُحِبّ القِراءَةَ
u7ibb al-qira'ata
"I love reading"
The genitive is used both on the possessor in an idafah construct (idafah being the genitive construct in Arabic), and on nouns following prepositions.
عاصِمةِ مِصر
3aSimati miSr
"The capital of Egypt"
(Note that the definite genitive ending is used, not the indefinite, even though there is no definite article on the noun. This is due to idafah, but I won't go into detail on that here)
رَأَيتُهُ في كِتابٍ قَديمٍ
ra'aytuhu fi kitabin qadimin
"I saw it in an old book"
المَفاتِحُ عَلى الطاوِلةِ
al-mafati7u 3ala T-Tawilati
"The keys are on the table"
Note that in more casual MSA, the endings aren't used as much. For example, the last sentence, "المفاتح على الطاولة", would be more commonly pronounced "al-mafati7 3ala T-Tawila". Also in casual MSA, at the end of the sentence, the ending isn't used; this can be seen in the Duolingo exercise; "baytun kabir", not "baytun kabirun" (which would be the official formal pronunciation). Furthermore, the cases disappear completely in the dialects.
It's inferred. And, of course, in everyday Arabic, no vowel markers are used at all, except to clear up ambiguity.
In MSA the nunation case ending specifically should be put in writing as opposed to other casings, but the nunation at the end of a sentence is not pronounced.
Im sorry, this may sound stupid, but what is the difference between definite and indefinite?
So, are we learning MSA then? I was thinking that with the logo we would be learning Egyptian dialect.
This course is very heavily based on MSA. While there are some words from dialect (Egyptian mainly) like شانطة (which is حقيبة in MSA) and دكتور (which is طبيب in MSA), the grammar is all MSA.
Thanks for the explanation.
A small correction: the genitive is used on the possessor, not necessarily its possession.
كتابُ النحوِ
مربطُ الفرسِ
in case of your example it would be ِعاصمة ُمصر (only the possessor in this particular case may be considered a proper noun so its gentive ending is optional)
MSA by definition is a formal language, lacking a casual element. The casual aspect differs from dialect to dialect, so this is a tricky suggestion. It is preferred to treat MSA as a formal language always.
So in the last example, the only correct way in MSA to write it would be بيتٌ كبيرٌ.
But the only correct way to pronounce it would be: baytun kabiir. The nunation is written but not pronounced, as it is the end of the sentence. And this is correct MSA.
And have a lingot :)
Do I underatand that these ending to mark the cases (e.g. "-un" for the accusitive) are only used in spoken arabic, and not in written arabic??? Is this correct? Thanks
The other way around, actually. Spoken Arabic (the dialects) are very different to MSA, lacking the cases (and thus the endings). Spoken MSA may have the endings, but not always (depends on the formality, I believe). When reading the Quran, however, all endings are read.
554
ok here is what i think is confusing you in arabic there is something that is called تشكيل او اعراب which is written either above or under the letter like the accent in french and it indicate the position of the word which means either if the word is subject or a verb or ...etc example يلعب عمر في الحديقة yal3ab omar fi el hadeka with تشكيل you will read it yal3abo omaro fi elhadekatii يلعبُ عمرُ في الحديقةِ
اعتقد أن هذة الأشياء سقطت منك بغير قصد :
–ان التنوين لا يوضع علي الألف ولا يُشَكَل "ا" بل توضع علي همزته والشدة ليست في موضعها، الصحيح: غاليًا أو غاليً، (كلاهما صحيح).
والأفضل (باهظ الثَمنُ أَو مرتفع ).
– في (أُحبّ): الشده ليست في موضعها ، الصحيح أُحِبُ القراءةُ.
والحرف المُشَدَدُ أَصلهُ حرفان الأول ساكن والثاني متحرك، أُدغِمَ الأول في الثاني فصاروا حرفًا واحدًا مشددًا (والإدغام هو الإدخال)
– عاصمةُ مصر.(حتي لاتكون الكسرة في عاصمةِ عائدة علي المتحدث ولو كان المقصد ذلك لأصبحت عاصمتِي مصر)
– جزاكم الله كل خير علي مجهوداتكم العظيمة والمتميزة وبالطبع لولاكم لما نشرت العربيه، وإن كانت من أخطاء بسيطه جدًا لا تكاد أن تذكر كالتشكيل فإننا أيضًا لا يجب أن نتركها حتي لا يخطئ المتعلم وكان يجب علينا أن نوضحها لتتفادي في المستقبل إن شاء الله، لأن بتغيير التشكيل لحرف واحد يتغير المعني كليًا وذلك لأن اللغة العربيه ليست بصغيرة.
وفي الأخير شكرًا علي إهتمامكم بالعربيه أيًا ماكنتم، والأجر والثواب عند الله (فربما يُقْرْأُ بها القرآن بسببكم وربما الكثير) ....
فجزاكم الله عنا خير الجزاء ونفعنا بكم.
I think fresh fish is more like سمكٌ طازجٌ
tbh this Duo sentence doesnt make much sense - the writer seems to be thinking in English, not Arabic.
the English translation should be "a new fish" not "an new fish". Doesn't allow to choose "a", only "an" is available.
