Assam ASSEB HSLC Elective Arabic cheat sheet

Arabic words divide into three classes: ism (noun), fi'l (verb), harf (particle); only the first two carry meaning on their own.

Noun cases: raf' (nominative, ـُ), nasb (accusative, ـَ), jarr (genitive, ـِ); the jarr case follows prepositions and is never used after a verb.

Verb tense markers: al-madi (perfect) is indeclinable (mabni) on fatha; al-mudari' (imperfect) is mu'rab and takes raf' unless preceded by a nasib (an, lan, kay, li) or jazim (lam, la, in).

Sarf root extraction: strip all affixes and vowels to recover the three (or four) root consonants, e.g. istakhraja → خ ر ج, Form X.

Ten verb forms (awzan): I fa'ala, II fa''ala, III fa'ala, IV af'ala, V tafa''ala, VI tafa'ala, VII infa'ala, VIII ifta'ala, IX if'alla, X istaf'ala.

Sound masculine plural: ـونَ in raf', ـينَ in nasb/jarr; sound feminine plural: ـاتٌ in raf', ـاتٍ in nasb/jarr.

Diptotes (mamnu' min al-sarf) take fatha instead of kasra in jarr; caused by a feminine ending, alif of extension, or a foreign pattern.

Idafa: first term takes no al- and no tanwin; second term is always majrur (genitive).

Arabic is VSO by default: verb first, then subject (raf'), then object (nasb); English requires SVO, so reorder when translating.

The Arabic definite article al- is often rendered 'the' but is omitted in English generic statements (al-'ilmu nur → 'knowledge is light').

Assamese word order is SOV; place the verb last, and render Arabic prepositions as postpositions (fi al-bayt → ঘৰত).

Idafa chains translate right-to-left: kitabu al-talibi → 'the student's book' → ছাত্ৰজনৰ কিতাপ.

Arabic has no copula in the present; supply 'is/are' in English and হয়/আছে in Assamese (al-taqsu harrun → 'the weather is hot').

Translate numbers with the reverse gender polarity rule: 3–10 take the opposite gender of the counted noun.

Kana and its sisters shift the nominal sentence to nasb; inna and its sisters shift it to nasb for the subject and raf' for the predicate - reflect this in tense and emphasis.

Do not translate the particle fa- literally every time; it marks sequence or result and often maps to 'then', 'so', or nothing.

Identify the lesson's central theme first, then support it with one quoted phrase from the passage.

Character analysis: note name, role, and one action or speech that reveals character.

Word explanation questions require the meaning in Arabic or Assamese plus the root where asked.

Distinguish haqiqa (literal) from majaz (figurative) usage when explaining a prose expression.

Prose comprehension answers should be in complete sentences, not single words, unless the question specifies otherwise.

Watch for dialogue markers: قال (he said) and its variants introduce direct speech; attribute the quote to the correct speaker.

Moral or lesson questions: state the lesson in one sentence, then cite the passage detail that supports it.

Arabic qasida structure: matla' (opening couplet with internal rhyme), then bayts sharing a unified qafiya (end rhyme).

Theme identification: ghazal (love), madh (praise), hija' (satire), ritha' (elegy), fakhr (boast), hikma (wisdom).

Tashbih (simile) uses ka-, ka-anna, or mithl; isti'ara (metaphor) drops the comparison particle.

Metre (wazn) follows the 'arud system: tawil, basit, kamil, ramal are the most common; scanning requires the taf'ila pattern.

Explain a verse by paraphrasing it in prose first, then naming the device and its effect.

Poetic diction: note archaic words such as ghada, raha, and sawfa for tense and mood in translation.

The poet's purpose question: link the theme to the occasion (praise of a patron, lament for a loss, exhortation to the community).

Formal letter frame: al-mursil (sender) and al-mursal ilayhi (addressee) at the top, then al-tahiyya (greeting), body, and al-khatima with al-mukhlis (sincerely).

Paragraph structure: jumlah ra'isiyya (topic sentence) followed by jumlah da'ima (supporting sentences) and a khatima (conclusion).

Use connectors: wa (and), thumma (then), lakin (but), li-dhalika (therefore), min al-jihati al-ukhra (on the other hand).

Application letter (talab) must state the purpose in the first two lines and close with a request for consideration.

Composition openings: yawman min al-ayyam (one day) for narrative; fi ayyamina hadhihi (nowadays) for expository.

Avoid dialect; use fusha forms such as laysa, laysat, and the accusative after inna.

Word count discipline: exam essays typically require 100–150 words; count sentences rather than guessing.

Error correction: check agreement first (verb–subject gender and number), then case endings, then definiteness.

Fill-in-the-blank: match the required case to the governing operator - inna → nasb subject, kana → raf' subject, harf jarr → jarr.

Matching items: pair by grammatical function (mubtada' with khabar, fi'l with fa'il) rather than by meaning alone.

Sentence construction: a nominal sentence needs mubtada' (raf') and khabar (raf'); a verbal sentence needs fi'l and fa'il (raf').

Common error: making the fa'il accusative or the maf'ul nominative; the doer is raf' and the object is nasb.

Dual and plural agreement: a non-human plural takes a feminine singular adjective or verb (al-kutubu jadidatun).

Check hamzat al-wasl vs hamzat al-qat': wasl is dropped in connected speech (wa-istakhraja), qat' is always pronounced (wa-akala).

First pass: read for gist only; identify the topic, the main actors, and the tense (madi vs mudari').

Second pass: underline unknown words and infer meaning from the root and context before checking a dictionary.

Question types: main idea, detail retrieval, vocabulary in context, inference, and author's purpose - answer each in the requested form.

Reference questions (what does huwa/hadhihi refer to?) require locating the nearest preceding matching noun.

Title-selection questions: the correct title covers the whole passage, not just the first sentence.

True/false items: a statement is false if any element (number, gender, tense, negation) contradicts the text.

Numbers and dates in the passage are frequent distractors; verify against the exact digits written in Arabic words.

Antonym pairs to know: kabir/saghir, qadim/jadid, sahl/sa'b, qarib/ba'id, layl/nahar.

Common idioms: 'ala qadami wa-saq (hurriedly), fi lamhi al-basar (in the blink of an eye), yadun wahida la tusaffiq (one hand does not clap).

Synonym clusters: sa'ida / faraha (to be happy); dhahaba / madha (to go); ra'a / shahada (to see).

Derive word families from one root: kataba → kitab, katib, maktab, maktub, kitaba.

Prepositional verbs change meaning: bahatha 'an (search for) vs bahatha fi (discuss); amara bi (order) vs amara 'ala (appoint over).

Idioms are not translatable word-for-word; give the equivalent sense, not a literal gloss.

Plural patterns (jam' taksir): fu'ul, af'al, fi'al, mafa'il, and fa'ala - memorise the pattern, not each word.

Arabic letters connect in the word but never after the six non-connectors: ا د ذ ر ز و.

Final forms: ta' marbuta (ة) is written as ha' (ه) in pause but pronounced t in construct (idafa).

Hamza seats: on alif (أ) for fatha, on waw (ؤ) for damma, on ya' (ئ) for kasra - choose the seat by the strongest neighbouring vowel.

Ta' marbuta vs ha': use ة for feminine endings and ه for pronouns (kitabuhu).

Alif maqsura (ى) appears at word end with fatha (huda, 'ala); write it as ya' only in the medial position.

Shadda (ّ) doubles the consonant; tanwin (ً ٌ ٍ) is written on the final letter and dropped before a following definite noun in idafa.

Sukun (ْ) marks a vowelless consonant; madd (آ) lengthens alif for two counts.

Write the definite article al- with a wasla (ٱ) and assimilate lam before sun letters (al-shams → ash-shams).