Lesson 86 – الدَّرْسُ السَّادِسُ والثَّمانون
The style of preference (comparison) - أُسْلُـوبُ التَّفْضِيلِ
The forms of (أفْعَل) of preference–صُور أَفْعَلِ التَّفْضِيلِ
- We are still in lesson eighty six of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
- We learnt in the introduction that the pattern of preference in Arabic is (أفْعَل). This pattern has many morphologic cases (structures) in the Arabic sentence as follows:
1- To be non-annexing and deprived of the definition article (al):
- In this case the pattern (أفْعَل) falls without (al) and without being followed by an annexed noun (مُضاف إليه), as in the following examples:
Picture | Example | |
English | Arabic | |
| Khalid is brighter than Tariq in science | |
| Fatima is older than Aisha | |
| Fathers are more patient than sons | |
| Sometimes silence may be better than talking |
- Explain Structure
Structure | |||
Preference noun | The preferred to | The common quality | Preferred |
- You may notice that the preference noun (أفْعَل) in the structure mentioned above is always in the singular masculine form, whatever the preferred gender or number is. E.g. in example no.2 the preferred is feminine, and in example no.3 it is plural, while the preference noun is still singular masculine.
- You may also notice that the preposition (مِن) is used to link the preference sentence (i.e. it means “than”).
2- The preference noun when connected with the definition article (al):
- In this case the pattern (أفْعَل) begins with the definition article being (الأفْعَل) as in the following examples:
Example | |
English | Arabic |
Tariq is the best teacher | |
Shaima is the best student | |
These are the best two students | |
These are the best students | |
These are the best female students |
- We notice from the above mentioned examples that the preference noun which is connected with (al) matches the preferred in gender and number as detailed in the following table:
5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Example no. |
The preferred | |||||
Plural feminine | Plural masculine | Dual masculine | Singular feminine | Singular masculine | Gender and number |
Preference noun |
3- The preference noun when annexing to an indefinite noun:
The preference noun can be an annexing noun, i.e. followed by an annexed noun (مُضاف إليه).
- The annexed noun can be either definite or indefinite noun. In this point no.3 we study the case when the annexed noun is an indefinite noun, while in the point no.4 we will learn the case when the annexed noun is a definite noun.
- Consider the following examples:
Picture | Example | |
English | Arabic | |
| Muhammad is the best sincere friend to me | |
| Fatima is the best honest wife to her husband | |
| You are the best friends in cooperation | |
| You are the two tallest sisters | |
| You are the best inhabitants in the area | |
| You are the best female students |
- Explain Structure
Structure | ||
Annexed noun | Preference noun | Preferred |
- From the above mentioned table you may notice that the preference noun is followed by an indefinite annexed noun (صديق – زَوْجَة - صَدِيقَيْن – أُخْتين – سكان - طالبات). These nouns are all considered (muđâf ilaihi), so that they are in the genitive case (i.e. signed originally with kasrah on their last letters). The preference noun on the pattern of (أفْعَل) in the above mentioned structures is always an annexing noun (muđâf).
- In this case (the iđâfah to an indefinite noun) the preference noun is always in the singular masculine form, whatever the gender and number of the preferred noun is, as in the above mentioned examples (أَخْلَص – أَوْفَى – أَكْثَر – أَطْوَل – أَفْضَل - أَحْسَن).
- While the preference noun is always in the singular masculine form, you may notice that the annexed noun in the above mentioned structures matches always the preferred noun in gender and number.
4- The preference noun when annexing to a definite noun:
- In this case the preference noun is followed by a definite (muđâf ilaihi).
- Before studying the examples let’s compare between this case (no.4) and the previous case (no.3) in the following table:
Case no.4 (when the preference noun is annexing to a definite noun) | Case no.3 (when the preference noun is annexing to an indefinite noun) | Aspect of comparison | |
Arabic | Example
| ||
English | |||
You are the best men | |||
Can be (optionally) either in the singular masculine form or matching the preferred noun in gender and number | Always (obligatorily) in the singular masculine form | The form of the preference noun | |
The number is always plural, while the gender matches the preferred noun | Matches the preferred noun in gender and number | The form of the annexed noun |
- You may notice that in the fourth case it is the first time to conjugate (optionally) the preference noun in gender and number. Consider the following examples:
Example | |
English | Arabic |
You are the best player | |
Khadijah is the best female announcer (reporter) | |
Bassam and majed are the best two players | |
Alia and Shaima are the best female teachers | |
They are the strongest men | |
They are the most delicate women | |
- Explain Structure
Structure | ||
Annexed noun | Preference noun | The preferred |