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 |
|
| I blamed him thoroughly | I blamed him a blaming | /ξātantuhu ξitāban/ |
|
| 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/ |
|
| I talked with self confidence | I talked the as the confider of himself | تَحَدَّثْتُ حَدِيثَ الواثِقَ من نَفْسِهِ. /taħadathtu ħadītha al wāthiqi min nafsihi/ |
- The absolute object in all the examples mentioned above is in the accusative case (عِتَابًا – ثَلاثَ - حَدِيثَ) whatever the type of the absolute object is.
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 | /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 |
| I jumped in the water twice | Two jumps, I jumped in the water | قَفْزَتَيْنِ قَفَزْتُ فِي المَاءِ /qafzatayni qafaztu fī al mā’i/ | |
| I shed two tears | two tears I shed | /damξatayni damaξtu/ | |
| I stopped two times | Two stops I stopped | /waqfatayni waqaftu/ | |
| I rode as cavaliers | The riding of the cavaliers I rode | /rukūb al fārisi rakibtu/ | |
| I ran as racers | The run of the runners I ran | /ĵarya al ξaddā’īna ĵaraytu/ | |
| I cried like children | The cry of children I cried | /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 | How did you sit down? |
| Answer | 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.