Lesson 69 – الدَّرْسُ التَّاسِعُ والسِّتُّونَ
The Circumstantial object (Adverbs of Time and Place) - الْمَفْعُولُ فِيهِ
Adverb of Place – ظَرف المَكان
- We are still in lesson sixty nine of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
- We studied in the previous parts the Arabic adverb of time. We learnt that it is the noun which indicates the time of the action of the verb.
- In this part, we will learn the Arabic adverb of place, which indicates the place in which the action of the verb occurs. Look at the following example:
| Meaning | Example |
| Muhammad slept on the bed | نامَ مُحَمَّدٌ عَلَى السَّرِيرِ /nāma Muħammadun ξalā as sarīri/ |
- The word (السرير) in the above mentioned example indicates the place in which Muhammad slept, so it is an adverb of place.
- As we studied earlier in the adverb of time, also the adverb of place can be limited or vague.
- When the adverb of place is limited, it refers to a certain location or place as (بَيْت – مَدْرَسَة - مُسْتَشْفَى). In this case it is mostly in the genitive case after the preposition (في /fī) as in the following examples:
| Meaning | Example |
| Khalid reads Quran in the mosque | يَقْرَأُ خالِدٌ القُرْآنَ فِي المَسْجِدِ /yaqra’u khâlidun al qur’ānu fī al masĵidi/ |
| The doctor works at the hospital | يَعْمَلُ الطَّبِيبُ فِي المُسْتَشْفى /yaξmalu aŧ ŧabību fī al mustashfā/ |
| My friend lives in a flat | /yaskunu ŝadīqī fī shaqqatin |
| The friends sleep at one house | ينامُ الأصْدِقاءُ فِي بَيْتٍ وَاحِدٍ /yanāmu al aŝdiqâ’u fī baytin wāħidin/ |
- Some other adverbs of place are vague (not limited). These adverbs need another annexed noun to complete the meaning of the adverb of place as follows:
| Adverb of place | ||||||
| meaning | Above | Undue | To the right of | To the left of | In front of | behind |
- When the adverb of place is a vague (not limited) it is mostly in the accusative case as in the following examples:
| Picture | English meaning | Example |
|
| Sparrows sing on the tree | العَصَافِيرُ تُغَرِّدُ فَوْقَ الشَّجَرَةِ /al ξaŝâfīru tugharridu fawqa al ashĵāri/ |
|
| And the farmer is sleeping under it | /wal fallāħu nā’imun taħtaha/ |
|
| And the waterwheel is turning at his right | والساقِيَةُ تَدُورُ يَمِينَ الفَلاحِ /was sāqiyatu tadūru yamīna al fallāhħi/ |
|
| The farmer slept between the trees | نامَ الفلاحُ بَيْنَ الأَشْجارِ /nāma al fallāħu bayna al ashGāri/ |
|
| The farmer slept where the fresh air is | نامَ الفَلاحُ حَيْثُ الهَواءُ النَّقِيُّ /nāma al fallāħu ħaythu al hawā’I an naqiyyi/ |
- The adverbs in all the above mentioned examples are in the accusative case, and they all consist of two annexed parts, each of the annexation parts is dispensable, i.e. cannot be dropped or omitted, as (فوْقَ الشَّجَرَةِ).
- Please notice carefully that the adverb in the last example is indeclinable on the /đammah/, and it has to be annexed to a sentence, so the noun after it is a subject and signed with /đammah/ because it is in the nominative case.