اإلضافة Lesson 7: Idafa This lesson covers Idafa s what they are and how they are used. What is an idafa? It is a way of denoting the association of one noun to another (most commonly possession although not always so). example: ال مضاف Noun 1 is Known as mudaaf the / a / (noun 1) (noun 2) The of his / her It is the thing which is possessed by noun 2 Does not display ال or tanween. (due to it being the thing which is possessed or dependant in its relationship to the 2 nd part therefore it is always definite in meaning) Case will differ according to its grammatical position in the sentence (subject/object/after preposition etc) ال مضاف إليه Noun 2 is known as Mudaaf ilay That which possesses noun 1 their / your Can be definite or indefinite, therefore will display tanween, ال or be a suffix pronoun accordingly. مجرورbe Must always Important Nothing can come between a mudaaf and mudaf ilay except a demonstrative adjective Ie: The book of that boy There are 2 keys to recognise an idafa sentence: 1. 2 nouns in succession 2. The 1 st noun has no tanween and no def article and the 2 nd noun is majroor case. ك تاب الولد The book of the boy Noun 1 of noun 2 Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 1
Examples Example 1: There are 2 idaafas in this construction above: The book of the mother of the boy 1. The book of the mother 2. The mother of the boy is mudaf ilay to because she possess the book yet also at the same time mudaf to because the boy possess the mother (or the mother belongs to the boy). To show is mudaf ilay she takes kessrah (majroor case) and also to show she is mudaf she has no definite article or tanween. We translate as the mother of the boy because here ilay) and mudaf is always definite in meaning. is mudaf (although at same time is mudaf Example 2: If I want to say the book in example 1 above, is long - If I put at the end of the sentence, how do I know that I am referring to describing the book and not the mother of the boy? We know that the adjective must agree with the noun in 4 things: 1. In/definiteness 2. Gender 3. Number 4. Case Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 2
1. In/definiteness Is definite? Yes because it is Mudaf. Therefore must also be definite 2. Gender Is masculine or feminine? Masculine. 3. Number Is singular, dual or plural? Singular 4. Case What case is? marfu so must be marfu The long book of the mother of the boy Example 3: What if I wanted to describe the mother as being the tall one instead? Again, as with the previous example, can not come in the middle besides because nothing can come between an idaafa accept a demonstrative. So we must place it as the end but we need to show that it refers to and is describing and not the book or the boy. So, we know the adjective must agree with the noun in 4 things: 1. In/definiteness Is definite? Yes because it is Mudaf. Therefore must also be definite 2. Gender Is masculine or feminine? Feminine. So must be also Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 3
3. Number Is singular, dual or plural? Singular 4. Case What case is? majroor so must be majroor Example 4: The book of the tall mother of the boy What if I want to write in the long book of the mother of the boy Write again at the end. is a preposition, so it will change في to majroor case. How do I know that refers to the book or the boy? CONTEXT! Making 1 st noun indefinite What if I don t want the first (possessed) noun to be definite? In this case, you wouldn t actually use an idafa construction. Instead you will write a more literal.ل or م ن translation using For example: ح فرة م ن الن ار A pit from the fire Instead of writing The pit of the fire عد و لي An enemy for me Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 4
Idiomatic uses of the idafa An idiom is a phrase that you should not take literally rather it has a special combined meaning that has evolved that is different to the meaning of the individual words themselves. For example, raining cats and dogs to mean its raining heavily. (see slide 6) When you come across this in the Qur an, look at the Tafseer to understand the correct meaning. Sound masculine plural as an idafa Sound masculine plural, when in the position of a,المضاف then we know it can not display the definite article, but also, it looses its final ن (in the same way that other words loose tanween). For example, if I want to say The Muslims of the city : ن or tanween / final الhave does not المضاف 1. Make sure the م سل مو 2. Make sure the mudaf ilay is correct (definite, majroor) م سل مو المدين ة Example: Majroor with a fatha because it is a Type 2 partially inflected word (as is a proper noun so can not take a tanween- ) It is a proper noun so definite in meaning, however it is not displaying the definite article therefore takes the partially inflected indefinite fatha not the partially inflected definite kesra The Muslims of the city بنون + إسرائيل ب نو إ سرائيل The children of Israel ن Drops the Example: What happens with a preposition? من+ بنون + إسرائيل م ن ب ني إ سرائيل majroor therefore ends بنون makes م ن ب ني leaving it as ن - then because it is mudaf it looses the Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 5
أ ولو Note about The word أ ولو (masculine plural for possessor of acts like a sound masculine plural. However, it will never ever be seen with its ن on the end because it can only ever function in a ن and therefore drops the مضاف sentence as a Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 6
Lesson 7: Quick revision summary Idaafa the / a / The of his / her their / your ال مضاف 1- Noun No ال or tanween Case will alter depending upon grammatical position in sentence (ie object, subject, following a preposition etc) ال مضاف إليه - 2 Noun Definite or indefinite مجرورbe Must always Nothing can come between a mudaaf and mudaf ilay except a demonstrative adjective Ie: The book of that boy There are 2 keys to recognise an idafa sentence: 1. 2 nouns in succession 2. The 1 st noun has no tanween and no def article and the 2 nd noun is majroor case. Making that which is possessed indefinite you would not use an idaafas construction, instead write.ل or م ن a more literal sentence using Ie ح فرة م ن الن ار A pit from the fire ن looses its final المضاف Sound masculine plural as مسل مو المدينة مسل مو ن Arabic Gems Lesson 7 page: 7