Lesson 72 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّاني والسَّبْعونَ

The distinctive - الـتَّـمْيِـيِزُ

The rules of the Distinctive -  التَّمْيِيزُ وأَحْكَامُهُ

  • We are still in lesson seventy two of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • The Arabic distinctive is an indefinite noun which is originally accusative (it can also be genitive), and it is used for removing the ambiguity of a preceding noun or sentence.
  • The preceding ambiguous noun can be a number or a quantity, while the ambiguity in the sentence in the relation between its parts.
  • When we say, for example:

Twenty are attendant and five are absent

حَضَرَ عِشْرونَ وغابَ خَمْسَةٌ

/ħađara ξishrūna wa ghâba khamsatun/

  • We do not know exactly the kind of those who attended or those who are absent. We cannot confirm whether they are students, teachers, or employees, because the absolute number is ambiguous. When we add the distinctive we remove the ambiguity as follows:

Twenty students are attendant and five teachers are absent

حَضَرَ عِشْرونَ طالبًا وغابَ خَمْسَةُ مُعَلِّمِينَ

/ħađara ξishrūna ŧâliban wa ghâba khamsatu muξallimīna/

  • In the above mentioned example the words (طالبًامُعَلِّمِينَ) are distinctive accusative nouns.
  • The following table shows more examples of the distinctive:

Picture

Distinctive

Example

English

Arabic

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مُبارَيَاتٍ

I played five games

لَعِبْتُ خَمْسَ مُبارَيَاتٍ

/laξibtu khamsa mubārayātin/

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يَوْمًا

In less than twenty days

فِي أَقَلَّ مِنْ عِشْرِينَ يَوْمًا

/fī aqalla min ξishrīna yawman/

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عَسَلاً

I bought one bucket of honey

اِشْتَرَيْتُ كيلاً عَسَلاً

/ishtaraytu kaylan ξasalan/

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شَجَرًا

I cultivated the land with threes

زَرَعْتُ الأَرْضَ شَجَرًا

/zaraξtu al arđa shaĵaran/

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عِلْمًا

Muhammad has more knowledge than Khalid

مُحَمَّدٌ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ خَالِدٍ عِلْمًا

/muħammadun aktharu min khâlidin ξilman/

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خِبْرَةً

The father has more experience than the sons

الأَبُ أَكْثَرُ خِبْرَةً مِنْ الأَبْنَاءِ

/al abu aktharu khibratan min al abnā’i/

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خَشَبًا

I bought one meter of wood

اِشْتِرِيْتُ مِتْرًا خَشَبًا

/ishtaraytu mitran khashaban/

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زَيْتٍ

I have one rotl of oil

عِنْدِي رَطْلٌ مِنْ زَيْتٍ

/ξindī raŧlun min zaytin/

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عِطْرٍ

I bought a bottle of perfume

اِشْتَرَيْتُ زُجاجَةً مِن عِطْرٍ

/ishtaraytu zuĵāĵatan min ξiŧrin/

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ذَهَبٍ

I have a big box of gold

لَدَيَّ صُندُوقٌ كَبِيرٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ

/ladayya ŝundūqun kabīrun min dhahabin/

  • In the above mentioned examples we notice that the distinctive is an indefinite noun.
  • When we make a comparison between the status and the distinctive, we notice the following:

a-    Both of them are indefinite nouns, as in the following examples:

Status

Distinctive

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

The student came happy

جاء الطَّالِبُ سَعِيدًا

/ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/

I have fifty pounds

مَعِي خَمْسُونَ جُنَيْهًا

/maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/

b-    The concerned noun (of the status) is definite noun, while the distinguished noun (of the distinctive) is indefinite, as in the following examples:

Status

Distinctive

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

The student came happy

جاء الطَّالِبُ سَعِيدًا

/ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/

I bought one meter of cloth

اشْتَرَيْتُ مِترًا قماشًا

/ishtaraytu mitran qumāshan/

c-    The distinctive is always a single noun, while the status can be a single noun, a sentence, or a quasi sentence (preposition + noun), as in the following examples:

Status

Distinctive

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

I slept frightened

نِمْتُ خائِفًا

/nimtu khâ’fan/

I have fifty pounds

مَعِي خَمْسُونَ جُنَيْهًا

/maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/

I slept crying

نِمْتُ أَبْكِي

/nimtu abkī/

I slept with my sadness

نِمْتُ عَلَى حُزْنِي

/nimtu ξalā ħuznī/

d-    The status is always accusative, while the distinctive can be accusative or genitive, as in the following examples:

Status

Distinctive

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

The student came happy

 

جاء الطَّالِبُ سَعِيدًا

/ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/

I have fifty pounds

مَعِي خَمْسُونَ جُنَيْهًا

/maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/

I bought a bottle of perfume

اِشْتَرَيْتُ زُجاجَةً مِن عِطْرٍ

/ishtaraytu zuĵāĵatan min ξiŧrin/