Kerala SSLC Arabic Academic key terms

Arabic noun: a word naming a person, place, thing, or idea, such as كتاب (book) or مدرسة (school). It carries no tense and can take case endings, definiteness, and gender marking.

Arabic verb: a word expressing an action or state tied to time, such as كتب (he wrote) or يكتب (he writes). It agrees with its subject in person and gender.

Particle in Arabic grammar: a word that has meaning only with another word and takes no case ending, such as في (in), من (from), or هل (question marker).

The past-tense verb form in Arabic, describing completed action, as in ذهب (he went). It is built on a fixed pattern and changes only for person, gender, and number.

The present or future tense verb form in Arabic, as in يذهب (he goes). It begins with one of the prefix letters أ، ن، ي، ت and shows person and gender through its prefix and suffix.

The imperative verb form in Arabic, used to give a command, as in اذهب (go!). It is built on a fixed pattern and addresses the second person directly.

The system of case endings in Arabic that shows a word's grammatical role in a sentence, such as رفع (nominative), نصب (accusative), and جر (genitive).

The topic noun that opens a nominal sentence in Arabic and normally takes the nominative case, as الطالب in الطالب مجتهد (the student is diligent).

The predicate in an Arabic nominal sentence, giving information about the topic. In الطالب مجتهد, مجتهد is the predicate and agrees with the topic in gender and number.

A nominal sentence in Arabic that begins with a noun rather than a verb, made up of a topic and a predicate, such as الكتاب جديد (the book is new).

A verbal sentence in Arabic that opens with a verb, followed by its subject and optionally an object, such as كتب الطالب الدرس (the student wrote the lesson).

The doer or subject of an Arabic verb, always in the nominative case, as الطالب in كتب الطالب (the student wrote). It follows the verb and agrees with it in gender.

The direct object in Arabic, receiving the action of a transitive verb and normally taking the accusative case, as الدرس in قرأ الطالب الدرس (the student read the lesson).

An adjective in Arabic that describes a preceding noun and matches it in definiteness, gender, number, and case, as مجتهد in الطالب المجتهد (the diligent student).

The noun being described by an adjective in Arabic. It comes before its adjective and determines the agreement features the adjective must follow, as الطالب in الطالب المجتهد.

A definite noun in Arabic, made definite by the article ال, by a proper name, a pronoun, or by being attached to a definite noun, as الكتاب (the book) or محمد.

An indefinite noun in Arabic, carrying no ال and referring to something unspecified, as كتاب (a book). It is the usual form of the predicate in a nominal sentence.

A pronoun in Arabic that stands in for a noun, such as هو (he), هي (she), or هم (they). Attached forms like ـه and ـها are suffixes on verbs, nouns, and prepositions.

A demonstrative noun in Arabic used to point to something, such as هذا (this, masculine), هذه (this, feminine), and ذلك (that). It is always definite.

An Arabic preposition such as في (in), على (on), من (from), or إلى (to). It comes before a noun and puts that noun in the genitive case.

The combination of a preposition and the noun it governs in Arabic, as في البيت (in the house). The noun after the preposition is always genitive.

The glottal-stop letter hamza that is always written and pronounced at the start of a word, as in أحمد and أكل. It is distinguished from the elided hamza of the definite article.

The connective hamza written as ا and pronounced only when it begins speech, as in اسم or the ال of الكتاب. It is dropped in connected pronunciation after another word.

The round taa (ة) written at the end of many Arabic feminine nouns, as in مدرسة. It is pronounced as t when followed by a vowel and as h in pause.

The open taa (ت) written at the end of Arabic words, as in بنت (girl) or كتبت (she wrote). It is always pronounced as t and never changes to h in pause.

The feminine gender in Arabic. Most feminine nouns end in ة, and feminine verbs and adjectives take distinct forms, as in ذهبت (she went) versus ذهب (he went).

The masculine gender in Arabic, applying to nouns, adjectives, and verb forms that are not feminine. It is the default form, as in طالب (male student) and هو (he).

The dual number in Arabic, marking exactly two. It is formed by adding ان in the nominative or ين in the accusative and genitive, as in كتابان (two books).

The plural number in Arabic. It may be a sound masculine plural (ـون/ـين), a sound feminine plural (ـات), or a broken plural formed by changing the word's pattern.

The singular number in Arabic, referring to one item. The term also describes a word that is not part of an idafa construction or a sentence.

An Arabic possessive construction joining two nouns, as كتاب الطالب (the student's book). The first noun takes no ال or tanwin, and the second is genitive.

The Arabic diacritical marks placed above or below letters to show short vowels and doubling, such as fatha, kasra, damma, and shadda. It guides correct reading and pronunciation.

The doubled short-vowel ending written on indefinite Arabic nouns, as in كتابًا or كتابٍ. It marks indefiniteness and is not used on definite or idafa nouns.

The Arabic mark (ّ) placed over a consonant to show it is doubled, as in علّم. It signals that the letter is pronounced twice, once closing and once opening a syllable.

The first letter of the Arabic alphabet (ا), a long vowel carrier that never takes a short vowel of its own. It appears in forms such as مقصورة and ممدودة at word endings.

The verbal noun in Arabic, naming the action without tense, as كتابة (writing) from كتب. It behaves like a noun for case and definiteness and is common in exam vocabulary.

The vocabulary or word list of a language or a lesson. In the SSLC Arabic paper, questions often ask for the meaning of listed words or for a synonym or antonym.

A synonym: a word with a meaning close to another, as كبير and عظيم (both large). Exam items often ask candidates to supply a synonym for a given word.

An antonym: a word with the opposite meaning of another, as طويل (long) and قصير (short). Questions commonly ask for the opposite of a word from the text.