BSEB Matric Arabic (Optional) key terms

The system of case and mood endings on Arabic words, and the branch of grammar that explains how those endings change with a word's role in the sentence.

A word carrying the nominative ending, marked by ḍammah, wāw, alif, or the fixed nominative form; typical of subjects, predicates, and the subject of a passive verb.

A word carrying the accusative ending, marked by fatḥah, yāʾ, kasrah, or the fixed accusative form; typical of direct objects and complements after particles such as إِنَّ.

A word carrying the genitive ending after a preposition or as the second term of a possessive construction, marked by kasrah, yāʾ, or fatḥah in the diptote.

The noun that opens a nominal sentence and about which the following predicate gives information; it is normally nominative and normally definite.

The part of a nominal sentence that completes the meaning by stating something about the subject, agreeing with it in number and gender.

The past-tense verb form, which describes an action already completed and takes suffixes for person, gender, and number rather than prefixes.

The present or future verb form, recognised by its initial prefix and by endings that show mood; it can be marfūʿ, manṣūb, or majzūm.

The imperative verb form, used to order or request an action, built from the jussive stem and normally addressed to the second person.

The doer of a verb, always nominative, and never placed before its verb in a verbal sentence; the verb agrees with it in gender only.

The direct object: the noun receiving the action of a transitive verb, normally accusative and placed after the verb and its subject.

The grammatical act of joining a predicate or verb to a subject so that a complete statement results; also the chain of narrators in a hadith report.

A sentence beginning with a noun, made of a subject and predicate, and used to state a condition or identity rather than narrate an event.

A sentence beginning with a verb, typically ordered verb, then doer, then object, and used to narrate events and actions.

Particles such as إِنَّ, أَنَّ, كَأَنَّ, لَكِنَّ, and لَيْتَ that enter a nominal sentence, making the subject accusative and keeping the predicate nominative.

Particles such as أَنْ, لَنْ, كَيْ, and لِ that precede a present verb and put it in the accusative (subjunctive) mood.

The jussive mood of a present verb, triggered by particles like لَمْ and لَا النَّاهِيَة, shown by sukūn or by dropping the final vowel letter.

The second noun in an idāfah construction; it is always genitive and never takes the definite article or tanwīn.

A preposition such as فِي, مِنْ, إِلَى, or عَلَى that governs a following noun in the genitive case.

The root: the three (occasionally four) consonants that carry a word's core meaning and from which its derived forms are built by adding vowels and affixes.

The morphological pattern, written with ف ع ل letters, that shows how a root has been shaped into a particular noun or verb form.

Derived words built from a root, such as active and passive participles, verbal nouns, and adjectives of place or instrument.

The active participle, a noun naming the one who performs the action, formed from a verb on set patterns such as فَاعِل or مُفْعِل.

The passive participle, a noun naming the person or thing on which an action has been done, formed on patterns such as مَفْعُول.

The verbal noun, a noun that names the action itself without reference to time or doer, and which governs objects as its verb does.

The connective hamzah, written as ا and pronounced only when speech begins with it, dropped in connected speech and in the definite article.

The hamzah that is always pronounced, whether speech begins with it or continues, and is written as أ or إ depending on its vowel.

The standard rules of Arabic spelling: when to write hamzah, alif, tāʾ marbūṭah or open tāʾ, and how to handle vowels and doubling.

The closed tāʾ written ة, used at the end of most feminine nouns and adjectives; it is read as t in construction and as h in pause.

The final alif written as ى without dots, used in certain roots and words; it is pronounced as a long ā and must not be confused with yāʾ.

The clear, rounded calligraphic hand most used for printing Arabic books and for copying examination answers, valued for legibility and even spacing.

A compact, quick hand with short straight strokes and closed loops, used for everyday handwriting and notes rather than formal copying.

A synonym: a different word carrying the same or nearly the same meaning, useful when choosing vocabulary in composition and paraphrase.

An antonym: a word with the opposite meaning, often tested in matching and vocabulary exercises on the paper.

Vocabulary or individual words treated as items to be learned, glossed, and used correctly in sentences.

Composition: the written expression of ideas in connected Arabic prose, organised in paragraphs and written in response to a set topic.

A letter or address: a piece of writing directed to a named recipient, following conventions of opening salutation, body, and closing.

An essay or article on a chosen subject, built from an introduction, developed body paragraphs, and a conclusion that draws the ideas together.