Lesson 67 – الدَّرْسُ السَّابِعُ والسِّتُّونَ

The absolute object - الْمَفْعُـولُ الْمُـطْـلَـقُ

The rules of the absolute object – أَحْكام المفعول الْمُطْلَق

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  • In the previous part we learnt what the Arabic absolute object is, and we studied its types. We will learn in this part the rules of the Arabic absolute object. These rules can be summarized in the following three points:

1-           The declension:

  • The absolute object is always in the accusative case. Consider the following examples:

Picture

Meaning

Literal translation

Example

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I blamed him thoroughly

I blamed him a blaming

عَاتَبْتُهُ عِتابًا

/ξātantuhu ξitāban/

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The player turns around the playground three times

The player turns around the playground three turns

دَار اللاعِبُ حَوْلَ الملْعَبِ ثَلاثَ دَوْرَاتٍ.

/dāra al lāξibu ħawla al malξabi thalātha dawrâtin/

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I talked with self confidence

I talked the as the confider of himself

تَحَدَّثْتُ حَدِيثَ الواثِقَ من نَفْسِهِ.

/taħadathtu ħadītha al wāthiqi min nafsihi/

 

2-           The order of the absolute object:

  • In the previous lesson we studied the original order of the verbal sentence which is as follows:

الفِعْل + الفاعِل + المفْعول بِهِ

The verb + the agent + the direct object

  • So the absolute object has to be, originally, after the verb, the doer, and the direct object if exists. See the following examples:

Meaning

Literal translation

Example

The man divorced his wife thoroughly

The man divorced his wife a divorcing

طَلَّقَ الرَّجُلُ زَوْجَتَهُ تَطْلِيقًا

/ŧallaqa ar raĵulu zawĵatahu taŧlīqan/

The player exited from the competition definitely

The player exited from the competition exiting

خَرَجَ اللَّاعِبُ مِنَ المَسابَقَةِ خُرُوجًا

/kharaĵa al lāξibu min al musābaqati khurūĵan/

The sun appeared apparently

The sun appeared appearing

ظَهَرَتِ الشَّمْسُ ظُهُورًا

/đhaharat ash shamsu đhuhūran/

  • We notice that the above mentioned sentences are in the original order as follows:

الفِعْل + الفاعِل + المفْعول به + المَفْعُول المُطلَق

The verb + the agent + the direct object + the absolute object

 

  • This order is the obligatory order of the first type of the absolute object (the confirmative). For the other two types the order is facultative, i.e. it is possible to place the absolute object in the beginning of the sentence as in the following examples:

Type of absolute object

Meaning

Literal translation

Example

مُبين لِلْعَدَدِ

I jumped in the water twice

Two jumps, I jumped in the water

قَفْزَتَيْنِ قَفَزْتُ فِي المَاءِ

/qafzatayni qafaztu fī al mā’i/

مُبين لِلْعَدَدِ

I shed two tears

two tears I shed

دَمْعَتِيْنِ دَمَعْتُ

/damξatayni damaξtu/

مُبين لِلْعَدَدِ

I stopped two times

Two stops I stopped

وَقْفَتَيْنِ وَقَفْتُ

/waqfatayni waqaftu/

مُبين للنَّوعِ

I rode as cavaliers

The riding of  the cavaliers I rode

رُكوبَ الفارِسِ رَكِبْتُ

/rukūb al fārisi rakibtu/

مُبين للنَّوعِ

I ran as racers

The run of the runners I ran

جَرْيَ العَدَّائِينَ جَرَيْتُ

/ĵarya al ξaddā’īna ĵaraytu/

مُبين للنَّوعِ

I cried like children

The cry of children I cried

بُكَاءَ الأَطْفالِ بَكَيْتُ

/bukā’a al aŧfāli bakaytu/

  •  We now clearly understand that the absolute object can be facultatively advanced if it is of the second or the third type (not of the confirmative type).

3-           The omission of the verb:

This rule is also applicable with the absolute object of the second and the third type, i.e. which shows the nature or the number.

  • It is common that we omit the verb and the doer when we answer question like the following:

Question

كَيْفَ جَلَسْتَ؟

How did you sit down?

Answer

جُلُوسَ الأُمَرَاءِ

As princes

  • It is reasonable to use this rule only with the absolute object which shows nature or number, because these two objects add new information that can be an answer of a question.