Lesson 71 – الدَّرْسُ الحادِي والسَّبْعونَ

The status - الْحَال

The sentence after the /wāw/ of the status – الجُملةُ بَعْدَ وَاوِ الحَالِ

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  • We learnt earlier that the Arabic status can be a single Arabic noun, an Arabic quasi sentence, or a complete Arabic sentence. We also learnt that the status sentence has to contain a pronoun related to the concerned noun (prominent pronoun or latent pronoun). We also learnt that if the status sentence is a nominal sentence, it can be preceded by the particle /wāw/ which is called in Arabic (واو الحالِ) or the /wāw/ of the status.
  • In this part we will study when the existence of the /wāw/ of the status is obligatory, and when it is facultative (optional), and when it is forbidden.
  • We will study these three cases in detail after considering carefully the following examples:

The existence of the /wāw/ of the status

Example

No.

English

Arabic

Obligatory

My father came while we were sleeping

عَادَ أَبِي وَ نَحْنُ نائِمُونَ

/ξāda abī wa naħnu nā’imūna/

 

1

I came while the sun was shining

جِئْتُ والشَّمْسُ ساطعَةٌ

/ĵi’tu wa ash shamsu sāŧiξatu/

2

We wrote the lesson while we were standing

كَتَبْنَا الدَّرْسَ ونَحْنُ واقِفُونَ

/katabnā ad darsa wa naħnu wāqifūna/

3

The students went out while they were happy

خَرَجَ الطُّلابُ وَهُم سُعَدَاءُ

/kharaĵa aŧ ŧullābu wa hum suξadā’u/

4

I saw the moon while it was shining

شاهَدْتُ القَمَرَ وَهُوَ ساطِعٌ

/shāhadtu al qamara wa huwa sāŧiξun/

5

We went to the war while we were not frightened

ذَهَبْنا إلى الْحَرْبِ وَنَحْنُ غَيْرُ خائِفِينَ

/dhahabnā ilā al ħarbi wa naħnu ghayru khâifīna/

6

I came while the sun was rising

جِئْتُ وَقَدْ طَلَعَتِ الشَّمْسُ

/ĵi’tu wa qad ŧalaξat ash shamsu/

7

Forbidden

The teacher hit the students while there were standing or sitting

ضَرَبَ الأُسْتاذُ الطُّلابَ وَاقِفِينَ أو هُم جالِسونَ

/đaraba al ustādhu aŧ ŧullāba waqifīna aw hum ĵālisūna/

8

Any news come to me make me happy

ما جاءَنِي خَبَرٌ إلا كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا بِهِ

/mā ĵā’anī khabarun illa kuntu saξīdan bihi/

9

The students came making a noise

حَضَرَ الطُّلابُ يَصْخَبُونَ

/ħađara aŧ ŧullābu yaŝkhabūna/

10

The friend passed his life without betraying his friend

عاشَ الصَّدِيقُ لا يَخُونُ صَدِيقَهُ

/ξāsha aŝ ŝadīqu lā yakhūnu ŝadīqahu/

11

Facultative (optional)

Ali came with bright face

جَاءَ عَلِيٌّ وَجْهُهُ مُتَهَلِّلٌ

/ĵā’a ξaliyyun waĵhuhu mutahalilun/

12

Khalid went to the battle as if he is a lion

دَخَلَ خالِدٌ المَعْرَكَةَ كَأَنَّهُ أَسَدٌ

/dakhala khâlidun al maξrakata ka’annahu asadun/

13

The soldier shouted to the enemies as the thunder

فَزِعَ الْجُنْدِيُّ فِي الأَعْداءِ كأنَّهُ الرَّعْدُ

/faziξa al Gundiyyu fī al aξdā’I ka’annahu ar raξdu/

14

We went out of the match without winning

خَرَجْنا مِنَ المُبَارَاةِ لَمْ نُحَقِّقْ فَوْزًا

/kharaĵnā min al mubārâti lam nuħaqqiq fawzan/

15

My brother travelled without marriage

سافَرَ أَخِي وَلَمْ يَتَزَوَّجْ

/sāfara akhī wa lam yatazawwag/

16

  • From the above mentioned examples we notice that there are three cases of the /wāw/ of the status as follows:

1-        The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is obligatory in the following situations:

a-    Whenever the sentence is a nominal sentence which does not contain a prominent pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in the examples no. 1 and 2 mentioned above.

b-     When the status sentence is a nominal sentence which starts with a detached nominative pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in the examples no. 3, 4, 5, and 6 mentioned above.

c-    When the status sentence is a verbal sentence whose verb is in the past tense, and does not contain a prominent pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in example no. 7 above.

2-        The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is forbidden in the following situations:

a-    If the status sentence falls after a coordinating particle as (أَوْ - ثُمَّ etc.), as in the example no. 8 above.

b-    If the status sentence is a verbal sentence in the past tense, preceded by the exclusion particle (إلا) as in the example no. 9.

c-    If the status sentence is a verbal sentence in the present tense, as in the examples no. 10 and 11 above.

3-        The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is facultative in the situations that differ from the two above mentioned cases, as in the examples no. 12 to 16 mentioned above.