Maharashtra SSC Arabic (MSBSHSE) key terms

The noun phrase that opens a nominal sentence and names what the sentence is about; it normally takes the nominative case and is followed by a predicate that comments on it.

The predicate of a nominal sentence, giving information about the subject; it is usually nominative and may be a single word, a phrase, or a whole clause.

A sentence beginning with a noun rather than a verb, built from a subject and predicate; it carries no tense of its own, so a present-tense meaning is understood unless context says otherwise.

A sentence that opens with a verb, followed by the doer of the action and optionally an object; word order here differs from the noun-first sentence pattern.

A word expressing an action or state tied to time; Arabic verbs fall into past, present, and imperative forms, and agree with their doer in person and gender.

The doer of a verb, the person or thing performing the action; it is always in the nominative case and the verb agrees with it in gender and number.

The direct object, the thing affected by a transitive verb's action; it stands in the accusative case, usually marked by a fatḥah on the final letter.

The past-tense verb form, describing an action already completed; it changes ending only for gender and person, not for a separate present or future meaning.

The present or future tense verb form, usually beginning with one of the prefix letters that mark person; it shows tense through its pattern and prefix.

The imperative verb form used to give a command to a person being addressed; it is built from the present stem and carries no separate tense marker.

The negative command form, made by putting the particle لا before a present-tense verb; it tells the listener not to do something.

The system of case endings on Arabic nouns and mood endings on verbs, showing each word's grammatical role; final vowels change with position in the sentence.

The nominative state of a noun or verb, normally marked by ḍammah on the last letter; subjects, predicates, and doers of verbs take this case.

The accusative state, normally marked by fatḥah; direct objects and several adverbial or specifying complements appear in this case.

The genitive state, normally marked by kasrah; it follows prepositions and also marks the second noun of an possessive construction.

The possessive construction joining two nouns, where the first is indefinite in form and the second is genitive; it expresses ownership, belonging, or a close relationship.

The second noun in a possessive construction, always genitive in case; it specifies the owner or the related thing named by the first noun.

A preposition such as فِي, مِنْ, or عَلَى that links a noun to the rest of the sentence and puts that noun in the genitive case.

A personal pronoun, either attached to a word or standing separately, showing who speaks, is spoken to, or is spoken about; it carries person, gender, and number.

Describes a pronoun written joined to the end of a verb, noun, or particle, such as the ـهُ in كِتَابُهُ; it cannot stand alone as a word.

Describes a pronoun written as an independent word, such as هُوَ or أَنْتَ; it is used for emphasis or when no attached form is possible.

The masculine gender class for nouns, adjectives, and verb forms; it is the default class, and agreement rules require matching gender across related words.

The feminine gender class, often signalled by a final tāʾ marbūṭah; adjectives and verbs referring to a feminine noun must also take feminine form.

The singular number form of a noun or adjective, referring to one person or thing; it contrasts with dual and plural forms in agreement.

The dual form, used for exactly two of something; it is built by adding a special ending and changes shape with case, as in كِتَابَانِ and كِتَابَيْنِ.

The plural form, referring to three or more; Arabic has sound plurals made by adding endings and broken plurals made by changing the word's internal pattern.

A broken plural formed by reshaping the singular's internal vowels rather than adding a suffix, as in كِتَاب becoming كُتُب; it must be learned word by word.

An adjective that describes a preceding noun and agrees with it in gender, number, case, and definiteness; in Arabic it normally follows the noun it describes.

The noun being described by an adjective; it governs the adjective's agreement in gender, number, case, and definiteness.

A particle or function word with a grammatical job but no independent lexical meaning, such as a question marker, a negation word, or a preposition.

A relative pronoun such as الَّذِي or الَّتِي that introduces a describing clause and links it to a preceding noun; it must match that noun in gender and number.

The clause that follows a relative pronoun and explains which person or thing is meant; it usually contains a pronoun referring back to the noun described.

A noun of time or place used adverbially to say when or where something happened, such as صَبَاحًا or أَمَامَ; it is usually accusative in form.

The glottal-stop letter written as ء or carried on a seat such as أ, إ, ؤ, or ئ; its correct spelling and pronunciation are tested in reading and writing.

A connecting hamzah pronounced only when it begins an utterance and dropped in connected speech; it appears in words like اِسْم and in the definite article.

A hamzah that is always pronounced, whether or not it starts an utterance; it is written with a seat and never elided in connected speech.

The doubling mark written above a consonant, showing that the letter is pronounced twice, once closing the previous syllable and once opening the next.

A short-vowel mark placed above or below a letter; the three basic ones are fatḥah, ḍammah, and kasrah, and they guide accurate reading aloud.

A small circle above a consonant showing it has no vowel after it; the letter is pronounced as a closed consonant sound.