This document is the first part of Lesson 1 from an Arabic language course. It introduces the demonstrative pronoun "hādhā" which means "this" in Arabic. Some example sentences are given to demonstrate how "hādhā" is used followed by the noun, without an equivalent of the verb "to be". The lesson explains there is no word for "a" or "an" in Arabic, and the nunation (tanwin) on nouns serves this purpose. It encourages the reader to proceed to Part 2 to practice further.

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Lesson 1 – ‫ﺪ ﺱ ﻭﻝ‬
‫ ﹸ‬ ‫ ﺍ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺍﻟ‬
This is… - ...‫ـٰﺫﹶﺍ‬‫ﻫ‬
Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Introduction - ‫ﻣﺪﺔ‬
‫ ﹲ‬‫ﻣ‬ ‫ﻘﹶ‬
Please read the sentences below. After completing the sentences we shall go over the rules for this
lesson.
In Part 1 of Lesson 1 we learn how to use the pronoun ‫ ﻩَـٰﺬﹶﺍ‬which means 'This' (called the
demonstrative pronoun in grammar). /Hādhā/ is pronounced ‫ﺎ ﹶﺍ‬ but is written without the first
‫ﻫﺫ‬
/alif/. The second word is the noun (object) being referred to, e.g.:    means house.
‫ﺑﻴ ﺖ‬
Please click on the words to hear speech, i.e. how the words should be pronounced.
. ‫ﺎ‬‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ ﻛِﺘ‬‫ﻫ‬
‫ﺏ‬ . ِ‫ﺠ‬‫ﺴ‬‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ ﻣ‬‫ﻫ‬
‫ﺪ‬ . ‫ﺎ‬‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ ﺑ‬‫ﻫ‬
‫ﺏ‬ . ‫ﻴ‬‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ ﺑ‬‫ﻫ‬
‫ﺖ‬
This is a book This is a mosque This is a door This is a house
Arabic has no word which is equal to the English word "is" which is referred to as a “copula” in
grammar. We can see this rule demonstrated above where we see the words for ‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ‬‫ ﻫ‬and the
noun/predicate ‫ﺪ‬
 ِ‫ﺠ‬‫ﺴ‬‫ ﻣ‬being referred to without any copula. i.e.  ِ‫ﺠ‬‫ﺴ‬‫ـٰﺬﹶﺍ ﻣ‬‫ﻫ‬
‫ﺪ‬ If read literally
this sentence would read "This a mosque", however, the word "is" can be implied in this sentence so
that it reads "This is a mosque".
There is no word in Arabic corresponding to "a" in English as in: "This is a book". The n-sound, i.e. the
/tanwīn/ (doubled vowel sign) at the end of the Arabic noun (kitābu-n, baitu-n, mas idu-n) is the
Arabic indefinite article corresponding to the English "a/an".
Please click on the button for part 2 below to move onto the next section where we will practice this
principle further In-Shā’-Allâh (God-willing).
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principle further In-Sh ’-Allâh (God-willing).
Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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