Maharashtra HSC Arabic (MSBSHSE) flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Verbal clause order

An Arabic verbal sentence opens with the verb, then the subject (فاعل) in the nominative, then the object in the accusative: كتبَ الطالبُ الدرسَ. English and Marathi reorder this to subject-first.

Nominal sentence copula

A present-tense Arabic nominal sentence has no verb between مبتدأ and خبر: الجوُّ جميلٌ. English supplies 'is' and Marathi supplies आहे when translating.

Pronoun reference rule

An attached or detached Arabic pronoun refers to the nearest preceding noun matching it in gender and number. When two nouns match, the closer one is the antecedent.

Contrast connectors

Words like لكنْ، بل، غير أنّ، ومع ذلك introduce an opposing idea. Comprehension answers about what the writer rejects are usually located immediately after these markers.

صدر and عجز

Each line of classical Arabic poetry splits into two hemistichs. The first is the صدر and the second the عجز; the rhyme sits at the end of the عجز.

قافية and روي

القافية is the rhyming unit at the end of the second hemistich. الروي is the specific consonant on which the whole poem rhymes.

تشبيه versus استعارة

تشبيه states the comparison explicitly with كـ, مثل or كأنّ. استعارة deletes the comparison word and transfers the image directly, e.g. رأيتُ أسدًا يخطب.

كناية (allusion)

A كناية states a literal image but intends a quality of the person. كثير الرماد literally means 'much ash' but idiomatically means generous.

أغراض الشعر (poetic purposes)

The named genres of classical poetry: الغزل (love opening), الفخر (boasting), الرثاء (elegy), الحكمة (wisdom), الوصف (description). Appreciation answers must name the غرض.

البحر الطويل pattern

The metre الطويل repeats فعولن مفاعيلن فعولن مفاعيلن across the two hemistichs. Scanning syllables against this pattern identifies the metre.

كان and sisters

كان، أصبح، صار، ظلّ، ليس، ما زال make the subject (اسمها) nominative and the predicate (خبرها) accusative: كان الطالبُ مجتهدًا.

إنّ and sisters

إنّ، أنّ، كأنّ، لكنّ، ليتَ، لعلّ make the following noun accusative (اسمها) while the predicate stays nominative: إنّ العلمَ نورٌ.

Form X استفعل

The tenth verb form adds the prefix استـ and usually expresses requesting or considering: استخرج (extract), استفهم (ask for understanding), استخدم (use).

اسم الفاعل pattern

The active participle of form I follows فاعِل (كاتب، جالس). Derived forms use مُـ prefixes: مُعَلِّم from form II, مُخْرِج from form IV, مُسْتَخْدِم from form X.

Hollow verb (أجوف)

A verb whose middle radical is و or ي. In the past tense the weak radical contracts with the vowel: قال from قَوَلَ, باع from بَيَعَ.

إضافة reversal in translation

Arabic puts the possessed noun first and the possessor second in the genitive: كتابُ الطالبِ. English reverses to 'the student's book'; Marathi uses विद्यार्थ्याचे पुस्तक.

Generic ال in translation

When ال marks a whole class rather than a known individual, English uses no article: العلمُ نورٌ renders as 'Knowledge is light', not 'The knowledge is light'.

Idiom translation rule

Multi-word Arabic expressions are rendered by their sense, not word by word. ضربَ موعدًا means 'made an appointment', not 'struck a promise'.

Eastern Arabic numerals

Digits ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩ correspond to 0–9. Convert them when translating dates, and keep هـ (Hijri) distinct from م (Gregorian).

Three-letter root system

Most Arabic vocabulary derives from a three-consonant root. From ج-ل-س come جلس، جالس، مجلس، جلوس, so an unseen word can often be decoded from its root.

Broken plural

A plural formed by internal vowel change rather than a suffix: كتاب/كتب، بيت/بيوت، رجل/رجال. These must be memorised individually, not predicted by rule.

Preposition changes meaning

The same verb takes different senses with different prepositions: نظر إلى means 'looked at', نظر في means 'examined'; رغب في means 'desired', رغب عن means 'turned away from'.

Arabic collocations

Fixed verb-noun pairs tested in vocabulary items: أخذ قرارًا (make a decision), ألقى محاضرة (give a lecture), قدّم اقتراحًا (submit a proposal), أقام حفلًا (hold a party).

Feminine without ة

Some nouns are feminine despite lacking the ة ending, notably paired body parts (عين، يد، رجل) and certain natural nouns (شمس، نار، حرب، أرض).

Formal letter frame

A formal Arabic letter opens with the addressee and السلام عليكم, states its purpose, develops the body, and closes with وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام followed by the signature.

Essay structure (مقالة)

Three parts: مقدمة stating the topic in two or three sentences, عرض of three paragraphs each carrying one idea with evidence, and خاتمة summarising and giving an opinion.

Cohesion connectors

Sequencing words for composition: أولًا، ثانيًا، بالإضافة إلى ذلك، من ناحية أخرى، لذلك، في الختام. Use one per new idea rather than one per sentence.

Agreement audit

Before submitting written work, check verb-subject gender and number, adjective-noun agreement in definiteness, gender, number and case, and pronoun-antecedent match.

لا النافية للجنس

This لا negates an entire class and is followed by an accusative noun without tanwīn: لا طالبَ في الصف. It differs from plain لا, which leaves the noun nominative.

Dual in إضافة

When a dual or sound masculine plural is the first term of an إضافة, its final ن is dropped: كتابا الطالبِ (not كتابان), معلمو المدرسةِ (not معلمون).

Passive form I

Form I passive past vowels as فُعِلَ (كُتِبَ، قُرِئَ); passive present as يُفْعَلُ (يُكْتَبُ). Derived forms change only the pre-final vowel: أُرسِلَ، استُخْدِمَ.

إنْ versus إنّ

إنْ is a conditional particle governing two jussive verbs: إنْ تدرسْ تنجحْ. إنّ is emphatic and makes the following noun accusative: إنّ العلمَ نورٌ.

Textbook answer triad

For poetry short answers, supply three items: the metre (البحر), the rhyme letter (الروي) and the poetic purpose (الغرض). Each is separately marked in the HSC paper.