Learn how to use nominal sentences by hearing a formal conversation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 2 - Applying for an Internship in the Arab World. I’m Becky. |
| Hany: مرحبا I'm Hany. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use nominal or noun sentences to make clear sentences about yourself. The conversation takes place in the interview room. |
| Hany: It's between Tim and an official. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| مسئولة: أيمكنك أن تعرف نفسك ببساطة؟ |
| تيم: نعم. إسمي تيم ماهوني و عمري عشرون عاماً. درست اللغة العربية لمدة سنتين. |
| مسئولة: لماذا تقدمت لهذا البرنامج التدريبي؟ |
| تيم: أنا مهتم جداً بالثقافة العربية و المصرية بالأخص, و لذلك أريد أن أرى الوطن العربي بنفسي. |
| مسئولة: كم لغة تتحدث؟ |
| تيم: أتحدث الإنجليزية و الأسبانية بطلاقة, و لا زلت أتعلم العربية. |
| مسئولة: مستواك في اللغة العربية ممتاز يا تيم. أتمنى لك التوفيق. تفضل. |
| تيم: شكراًً جزيلاً! بعد إذنك. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Official: Can you introduce yourself simply? |
| Tim: Yes. My name is Tim Mahoney and I am 20 years old. I have studied Arabic for two years. |
| Official: Why did you apply for this internship? |
| Tim: I'm very interested in Middle Eastern cultures and especially Egypt, so I want to see the Arab world myself. |
| Official: How many languages do you speak? |
| Tim: I speak English and Spanish fluently, and I'm still learning Arabic. |
| Official: Your level in Arabic language is excellent, Tim. I wish you the best of luck. You may be excused. |
| Tim: Thank you very much! Excuse me. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Hany, what can you tell us about job opportunities in the Middle East for people who are studying Arabic? |
| Hany: Internship opportunities in the Middle East are increasing, especially after the Arab Spring or الرَبيع العَرَبي. |
| Becky: Do you have any advice for someone who wants to do this? |
| Hany: The best way to make an Arab express himself or herself to the fullest is to speak their language, so if you are thinking of doing an internship in the Middle East, I definitely recommend learning Arabic. |
| Becky: People can often only express their innermost fears and hopes in their mother tongue, so knowing it will be a big help! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hany: عرف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to introduce |
| Hany: عرف[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: عرف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: ببساطة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: simply |
| Hany: ببساطة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: ببساطة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: تقدم ل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to apply for |
| Hany: تقدم ل[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: تقدم ل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: التدريبي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: training, internship |
| Hany: التدريبي[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: التدريبي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: مهتم [natural native speed] |
| Becky: interested |
| Hany: مهتم[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: مهتم [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: الثقافة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: culture |
| Hany: الثقافة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: الثقافة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: بطلاقة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: fluently |
| Hany: بطلاقة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: بطلاقة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: بنفسي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: myself |
| Hany: بنفسي[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: بنفسي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly.. |
| Hany: مستوى [natural native speed] |
| Becky: level |
| Hany: مستوى[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: مستوى [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Hany: بعد إذنك |
| Becky: meaning "Excuse me (formal)" |
| Hany: This expression consists of two words – ba'd meaning "after", and idnak, which can translate to "your permission". It implies that you will do something only after you get permission from the person. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. بعد إذنك, سأجري مكالمة. |
| Becky: ..which means "Excuse me, I will make a phone call." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Hany: و لذلك.. |
| Becky: meaning "and that's why.." |
| Hany: In this expression, wa means "and", and lidaalik means "because of that". It is followed by the reason explained in the sentence before this expression. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example? |
| Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. أنا متعب, ولذلك لن أذهب إلى الحفل. |
| Becky: .. which means "I'm tired, and that's why I won't go to the party." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use nominal sentences to form clear sentences about yourself, which can be useful in an interview. Hany, is there any difference between interviews in English and interviews in Arabic? |
| Hany: Well, in both cases you should be ready to be asked many questions. The different thing about Arabic, though, is that you have to use some honorific expressions to sound polite. |
| Becky: What’s an example? |
| Hany: For example, adding jaziilan to shukran gives a polite impression. Also, ba’d iznik for excusing yourself is a common polite expression. In Egypt, the word hadretak حضرتك is used instead of anta أنت, to mean something like “sir” or “ma’am”. |
| Becky: So listeners, it’s a good idea to study the specific honorific expressions in the dialect spoken of the place you’re having your interview. |
| Hany: Right. Another thing is keeping the tone of your voice unchanging, more on the monotone side, to sound polite. |
| Becky: Those are some good tips. Ok, now let’s move on to the main topic of this lesson, the nominal sentence. |
| Hany: Arabic sentences can start either with a noun or with a verb. Both are used just as frequently. Noun sentences are used when we want to highlight the subject, while verb sentences are used when we want to highlight the action or the verb. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example that makes the difference clearer? |
| Hany: A noun sentence is تيم تَقَدَّمَ لِبَرنامِج تَدريبي., while a verb sentence is تَقَدَّمَ تيم لِبَرنامِج تَدريبي. |
| Becky: They both mean “Tim applied for an internship.” What’s the difference then? |
| Hany: the first one focuses on WHO did the action, while the second one focuses on the ACTION itself. |
| Becky: In some cases there isn’t a verb in the Arabic sentence, so then it’s just a noun sentence, right? |
| Hany: Right. For example, تيم مُستَعِد |
| Becky: meaning “Tim is ready.” |
| Hany: ...doesn’t have a verb, because “to be” doesn’t exist in Arabic. |
| Becky: So basically if the sentence has the verb “to be” in English, then it’s definitely a noun sentence in Arabic. Ok, let’s now take a look at the components of the noun sentence and how they are named in Arabic. |
| Hany: Noun sentences have two main components - مُبتَدَأ (mubtada’) and خَبَر (habar) |
| Becky: the first means “a starter” and the second means “a description”. These Arabic terms don’t actually have an equivalent in other languages. Ok, now let’s see how a noun sentence can be used. |
| Hany: You can use noun sentences to make direct affirmative sentences, which are useful for talking about your state, saying your name, and describing yourself. |
| Becky: Could you give us an example? |
| Hany: Sure, in the dialogue we have أَنا مُهتَمٌّ جِدّاً بِالثَقافَة العَرَبِيَّة. |
| Becky: Meaning “I am very interested in Middle Eastern (Arab) culture.” |
| Hany: in this sentence the mubtada’ or starter is أَنا, meaning “I” and the habar or description is مُهتَمٌّ, which means “interested”. The mubtada’ is ALWAYS the first word in a noun sentence. |
| Becky: We could call it the subject of the noun sentence. |
| Hany: Right. The habar is the word that describes the mubtada’ instead. |
| Becky: Let’s talk about the vowelling. |
| Hany: Both the mubtada’ and the habar have a main vowelling STATE called raf’/رَفع that causes nouns and adjectives to always end in a dammah, which is a u sound, as long as they follow three rules. |
| Becky: These rules are 1. if they are singular nouns or adjectives, with NO suffixes, 2. if they end in a consonant, and 3. if they Are NOT proper nouns |
| Hany: In the example أَنا مُهتَمٌّ جِدّاً بِالثَقافَة العَرَبِيَّة, the mubtada’ ‘ana ends in a vowel, and that’s why it didn’t end in a dammah sign. The habar muhtammun, on the other hand, gained a dammah in the end, plus an n that was added because it’s an indefinite noun. |
| Becky: Let’s see another example from the dialogue... |
| Hany: إسمي تيم. |
| Becky: “My name is Tim.” |
| Hany: Here, we can’t add a dammah to any of the words, because first the mubtada’ has a suffix possessive pronoun in the end, which breaks the first rule and, second, the habar is a proper name, which breaks the 3rd rule. |
| Becky: Does it ever happen that the two main components of the noun sentence are separated? |
| Hany: Yes, like in the example مستواك في اللغة العربية ممتاز. |
| Becky: meaning “Your level in Arabic is excellent.” What can you do then? |
| Hany: the phrase في اللغة العربية , meaning “in Arabic”, is between the mubtada’ and the habar |
| Becky: What can you do to recognize them, then? |
| Hany: mubtada’ and habar must be able to form a full, comprehensible sentence on their own. In this case مستواك ممتاز. meaning “Your level (is) excellent.” is a comprehensible sentence. |
| Becky: Ok, is there anything else we should remember about noun sentences? |
| Hany: Yes, please remember that the habar can also be a verb phrase, as in تيم تقدم لبرنامج تدريبي |
| Becky: meaning “Tim applied for an internship.” |
| Hany: and it can also be a preposition phrase, as in القاموس في الحقيبة. |
| Becky: meaning “The dictionary is in the bag.” |
| Hany: In this case, the habar is a phrase that describes the dictionary’s state, as “inside the bag”. |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Be sure to check the lesson notes for more explanations and examples. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Hany: شكرا |
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