Learn how to recognize an implied pronoun in Arabic
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Intro |
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| Michael: Is it common to omit the personal pronoun in Arabic sentences? |
| Nora: And why? |
| Michael: At ArabicPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Yomna, a teenager, is in a bookstore with her friend, Sasha. She points at a book and asks, |
| "Did [you] see this book?" |
| هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Dialogue |
| Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Michael: "Did [you] see this book?" |
| Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| Michael: "Is it interesting?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In Arabic, it is important to utilize nominal sentences and verbal sentences to your advantage. Each type of sentence is used to give a different nuance to your sentence. Nominal sentences, or |
| Nora: الجُملَة الاِسمِيَّة (al-ǧumlah al-ismiyyah), |
| Michael: are sentences that start with a noun or a pronoun. These are used to stress that the noun is the topic of the sentence. Then, we have verbal sentences, or |
| Nora: الجُملَة الفِعلِيَّة (al-ǧumlah al-fiʿliyyah). |
| Michael: These are sentences that start with a verb. Verbal sentences stress that action, rather than the subject that carried out that action. According to what you want to bring attention to in your sentence, you can strategically use each type of sentence to get as close as you can to the nuance you intend. Seeing as verbal sentences focus on the action rather than the subject, it is common to omit personal pronouns when they act as subjects, or |
| Nora: الفاعِل (al-fāʿil) |
| Michael: in a verbal sentence. Another thing that makes that possible in Arabic is that the conjugated form of the verb according to the subject gives away who the subject is. Whether it is a “I”, “you”, “he”, or “she”. This makes adding the personal pronoun rather redundant, unless a certain degree of disambiguation is required. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Yomna asks "Did [you] see this book?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Michael: Here, the sentence starts with |
| Nora: هَل (hal) |
| Michael: which is a question marker, then |
| Nora: رَأَيْتِ (raʾayti) |
| Michael: which is a verb meaning “(you) saw”, with “you” implied, which makes this a verbal sentence. Then, we have the object |
| Nora:هَذا الكِتاب (haḏā al-kitāb) |
| Michael: meaning “this book.” Note how there was no independent personal pronoun in this sentence, due to the fact that it is obvious from the verb conjugation. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Sasha says "Is it interesting?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| Michael: Again, here we have the question marker |
| Nora:هَل (hal). |
| Michael: Then, we have the personal pronoun |
| Nora:هُوَ (huwa), |
| Michael: meaning “it” or “it is.” Because this sentence started with a noun, it is a nominal sentence, where the stress is on the subject. Lastly, we have |
| Nora:ظَريف (ẓarīf) |
| Michael: meaning “interesting.” |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at another sentence before and after omitting the subject. |
| Nora: .أنا ذَهَبتُ إلى العَمَل (ʾanā ḏahabtu ʾilā al-ʿamal.) |
| Michael: meaning “I went to work.” Here, it is a nominal sentence with the subject in the beginning. Removing the subject in the beginning changes this sentence to the verbal sentence |
| Nora: .ذَهَبتُ إلى العَمَل (ḏahabtu ʾilā al-ʿamal.) |
| Michael: also meaning “I went to work,” but with more focus on the action rather than the subject. |
| Review |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to say "Did [you] see this book?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Yomna Yaseen: هَل رَأَيْتِ هَذا الكِتاب؟ (hal raʾayti haḏā al-kitāb?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how to say "Is it interesting?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Sasha Lee: هَل هُوَ ظَريف؟ (hal huwa ẓarīf?) |
| Expansion |
| Michael: In Egyptian Arabic, nominal sentences are much more commonly used, while in Modern Standard Arabic, verbal sentences are considered to be more proper and poetic. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Nora: !سلام (Salam!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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