Arabic Language and Literature (Grammar, Rhetoric, Texts)
This paper joins nahw (syntax), sarf (morphology), balagha (rhetoric) and literary history, with a reading passage. The grammar questions ask for full i'rab analysis, not merely naming the function; the rhetoric questions ask for the name and the effect of a figure; the literature questions ask for period, genre and representative figures.
Core rules and concepts
- Marfu'at: mubtada', khabar, fa'il, na'ib fa'il, ism kana, khabar inna, the follow-on (tabi') of any of these.
- Mansubat: maf'ul bih, maf'ul mutlaq, maf'ul fih, maf'ul li-ajlih, maf'ul ma'ah, hal, tamyiz, mustathna, khabar kana, ism inna.
- Signs of i'rab: damma for the singular and broken plural, alif for the dual and sound masculine plural, waw for the sound masculine plural and the five nouns, dhammah as an estimated sign for the defective noun and the manqus.
- Nasb signs: fatha, ya' for the dual and sound masculine plural, kasra for the sound feminine plural, alif for the five nouns.
- Sarf: the triliteral root, the ten forms (awzan), ism fa'il, ism maf'ul, masdar, and the weak-letter changes.
- Balagha: tashbih and its four pillars; isti'ara tashihiyyah (the borrowed term is the mushabbah bih, as in 'I saw a lion shooting arrows') and makniyyah (the mushabbah bih is implied); kinayah; majaz mursal; khabar versus insha; qasr and iltifat.
- Literature: the Jahili qasida and its mu'allaqat, the Umayyad political poem, the Abbasid renewal, and the modern schools (Diwan, Apollo, Mahjar).
Worked example
Analyse: 'كان الطالبان مجتهدَين'. Kana is a defective verb, mabni on the fatha. Al-taliban is ism kana, marfu' and marked by the alif because it is dual. Mujtahidayn is khabar kana, mansub and marked by the ya' because it is dual. Note the point examiners reward: the dual sign replaces the diacritic; you must state both the position and the sign.
Traps that cost marks
- Giving 'marfu' bi al-dammah' for a dual or plural without naming the alif or waw.
- Confusing maf'ul mutlaq (a verbal noun emphasising or specifying the verb) with maf'ul bih.
- Naming isti'ara makniyyah when the mushabbah bih appears explicitly - that is tashihiyyah, or simply tashbih.
- Confusing tamyiz with hal in sentences of the 'filled with water' type.