2.3 - Words and Their Types
Words used in the Arabic language are of two kinds: Single مُفْرَدٌ muf-ra-dun and Compound مُرَكَّبٌ mu-rak-ka-bun. A. Single-word مُفْرَدٌ muf-ra-dun is the word that points to a singular meaning. Another term for a single word is ka-li-ma-tun كَلِمَةٌ . Words are of three types : 1) Noun اِسْمٌ Is-mun The basic definition of a Noun is the same as English in Arabic. 2) Verb فِعْلٌ Fei’lun The definition of a Verb is also the same as in English. An important thing to remember is that Verb always has a time associated with it. Another difference is that Arabic uses two tenses. One for the past, is called مَاضِيْ maa-di. All others, such as the present, present continuous, and future tenses, are called Imperfect Tenses مُضَارِعٌ mu-daa-ri-‘un. 3) Particle حَرْفٌ Harf-un The Arabic language does not have words for joining, such as “of,” “as,” “in,” etc. Instead, it uses Particles that can change their meaning depending on t