Definite Article
The definite article (English the) is أل in the Arabic language. It starts with a Hamza and does not change regarding gender, case, or numbers. It is always directly connected with the related noun and creates one unit with it.
| indefinite | definite | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| بَيت bayt | house | ألبَيت al-bayt | the house |
| كُراسة kurrAs | notebook | ألكُراسة al-kurrAs | the notebook |
A noun having such a definite article is called determined. Many names of countries and people are undetermined. An indefinite article, like in English a, does not exist in the Arabic language.
Sun & Moon Letters
The Arabic letters knows a few letters, that are called sun letters:
ت, ث, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ن
The reason, why they are called sun letters is because the Arabic word for sun (شمس shams) starts with one of these letters. The other letters are called moon letters, because قمر qamr starts such a letter.
If the noun starts with one of these sun letters, the ل of the article will be assimilated and the letter will be doubled using a shadda on top.
Examples for this assimilation with sun letters are
| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| الصّديق aS-SidIq | the friend |
| الرّجل ar-rajul | the man |
| الشّمس ash-shams | the sun |
Examples with moon letters are
| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| البيت al-bayt | the house |
| الغرفة al-ghurfah | the room |
| القمر al-qamr | the moon |
Hamza Wasl
If the noun with the article does not appear in the beginning of the sentence, the hamza on the alif is replaced with the so-called hamza wasl ٱ
| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| هو ٱلمعلّم huwa l-lmu3allim | here is the teacher |
| أين ٱلوحة ayna l-lauHa | where is the board? |
Exercises
Add the definite article to the following words
a) شنطة
b) قلم
c) كتاب
d) طاولة
e) سقف
a) الشّنطة
b) القلم
c) الكتاب
d) الطّاولة
e) السّقف
Vocabularies
| Arabic | Translation |
|---|---|
| كُراسة | notebook |
| صديق | friend |
| رجل | man |
| شمس | sun |
| قمر | moon |
| غرفة | room |
| بيت | house |
| شنطة | bag |
| قلم | pen |
| كتاب | book |
| طاولة | table |
| سقف | ceiling |