Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Nominal vs verbal sentences

Today I am going deeper into nominal and verbal sentences hoping that I can really understand them. Look at the sentences below:

  1. Nominal: أَحْمَدُ ذَهَبَ إِلَى الْجَامِعَةِ Ahmad went to the university.
  2. Verbal: ذَهَبَ أَحْمَدُ إِلَى الْجَامِعَةِ Went Ahmad to the university.
Notice the difference between nominal and verbal sentences? A nominal sentence begins with a noun or pronoun while a verbal sentence begins with a verb. Although they literally read differently as shown in the English sentences, both sentences effectively have the same meaning? Here's another example:
  1. Nominal: الْمُدَرِّسُ خَرَجَ مِنْ فَصْلٍ The teacher went out of a class.
  2. Verbal: خَرَجَ الْمُدَرِّسُ مِنْ فَصْلٍ Went out the teacher of a class.
Note: Whenever I read the Quran, I notice that the Quran only uses verbal sentences (if I am correct).

Theحَبَر (predicate) of a nominal sentence
A nominal sentence consists of the مُبْتَدَا (subject) andحَبَر (predicate). The مُبْتَدَا is always a noun or pronoun. The حَبَر can be any one of the following (in green):
  1. Noun: مُحَمَّدٌ طَالِبٌ Muhammad is a student.
  2. Nominal sentence: أَحْمَدُ, وَالِدُهُ ذَكِيٌّ Ahmad, his father is intelligent.
  3. Verbal sentence: جَالِدٌ ذَهَبَ إِلَى الْمُسْتَشْفَى Khalid went to the hospital.
  4. Prepositional phrase: فَاطِمَةُ فِي الْمَطْبَخِ Fatimah is in the kitchen.

The مَفْعُوْلٌ (object) of a verbal sentence
A verbal sentence is made up of the فِعْلٌ (verb), فَاعِلٌ (subject) and مَفْعُوْلٌ (object). The فَاعِلٌ can be a person or thing, which is basically a noun. The مَفْعُوْلٌ can be any one of the following (in blue):
  1. Noun: أَكَلَ أَحْمَدُ تُفَّاحًا Ahmad ate an apple.
  2. Prepositional phrase: ذَهَبَ الْرَجُلُ إِلَى الْبَيْتِ The man went to the house (or the man went home).