Lesson 71 – الدَّرْسُ الحادِي والسَّبْعونَ
The status - الْحَال
The sentence after the /wāw/ of the status – الجُملةُ بَعْدَ وَاوِ الحَالِ
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- We learnt earlier that the Arabic status can be a single Arabic noun, an Arabic quasi sentence, or a complete Arabic sentence. We also learnt that the status sentence has to contain a pronoun related to the concerned noun (prominent pronoun or latent pronoun). We also learnt that if the status sentence is a nominal sentence, it can be preceded by the particle /wāw/ which is called in Arabic (واو الحالِ) or the /wāw/ of the status.
- In this part we will study when the existence of the /wāw/ of the status is obligatory, and when it is facultative (optional), and when it is forbidden.
- We will study these three cases in detail after considering carefully the following examples:
| The existence of the /wāw/ of the status | Example | No. | |
| English | Arabic | ||
| Obligatory | My father came while we were sleeping | عَادَ أَبِي وَ نَحْنُ نائِمُونَ /ξāda abī wa naħnu nā’imūna/ |
1 |
| I came while the sun was shining | /ĵi’tu wa ash shamsu sāŧiξatu/ | 2 | |
| We wrote the lesson while we were standing | كَتَبْنَا الدَّرْسَ ونَحْنُ واقِفُونَ /katabnā ad darsa wa naħnu wāqifūna/ | 3 | |
| The students went out while they were happy | خَرَجَ الطُّلابُ وَهُم سُعَدَاءُ /kharaĵa aŧ ŧullābu wa hum suξadā’u/ | 4 | |
| I saw the moon while it was shining | شاهَدْتُ القَمَرَ وَهُوَ ساطِعٌ /shāhadtu al qamara wa huwa sāŧiξun/ | 5 | |
| We went to the war while we were not frightened | ذَهَبْنا إلى الْحَرْبِ وَنَحْنُ غَيْرُ خائِفِينَ /dhahabnā ilā al ħarbi wa naħnu ghayru khâifīna/ | 6 | |
| I came while the sun was rising | جِئْتُ وَقَدْ طَلَعَتِ الشَّمْسُ /ĵi’tu wa qad ŧalaξat ash shamsu/ | 7 | |
| Forbidden | The teacher hit the students while there were standing or sitting | ضَرَبَ الأُسْتاذُ الطُّلابَ وَاقِفِينَ أو هُم جالِسونَ /đaraba al ustādhu aŧ ŧullāba waqifīna aw hum ĵālisūna/ | 8 |
| Any news come to me make me happy | ما جاءَنِي خَبَرٌ إلا كُنْتُ سَعِيدًا بِهِ /mā ĵā’anī khabarun illa kuntu saξīdan bihi/ | 9 | |
| The students came making a noise | /ħađara aŧ ŧullābu yaŝkhabūna/ | 10 | |
| The friend passed his life without betraying his friend | عاشَ الصَّدِيقُ لا يَخُونُ صَدِيقَهُ /ξāsha aŝ ŝadīqu lā yakhūnu ŝadīqahu/ | 11 | |
| Facultative (optional) | Ali came with bright face | جَاءَ عَلِيٌّ وَجْهُهُ مُتَهَلِّلٌ /ĵā’a ξaliyyun waĵhuhu mutahalilun/ | 12 |
| Khalid went to the battle as if he is a lion | دَخَلَ خالِدٌ المَعْرَكَةَ كَأَنَّهُ أَسَدٌ /dakhala khâlidun al maξrakata ka’annahu asadun/ | 13 | |
| The soldier shouted to the enemies as the thunder | فَزِعَ الْجُنْدِيُّ فِي الأَعْداءِ كأنَّهُ الرَّعْدُ /faziξa al Gundiyyu fī al aξdā’I ka’annahu ar raξdu/ | 14 | |
| We went out of the match without winning | خَرَجْنا مِنَ المُبَارَاةِ لَمْ نُحَقِّقْ فَوْزًا /kharaĵnā min al mubārâti lam nuħaqqiq fawzan/ | 15 | |
| My brother travelled without marriage | سافَرَ أَخِي وَلَمْ يَتَزَوَّجْ /sāfara akhī wa lam yatazawwag/ | 16 | |
- From the above mentioned examples we notice that there are three cases of the /wāw/ of the status as follows:
1- The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is obligatory in the following situations:
a- Whenever the sentence is a nominal sentence which does not contain a prominent pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in the examples no. 1 and 2 mentioned above.
b- When the status sentence is a nominal sentence which starts with a detached nominative pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in the examples no. 3, 4, 5, and 6 mentioned above.
c- When the status sentence is a verbal sentence whose verb is in the past tense, and does not contain a prominent pronoun related to the concerned noun, as in example no. 7 above.
2- The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is forbidden in the following situations:
a- If the status sentence falls after a coordinating particle as (أَوْ - ثُمَّ etc.), as in the example no. 8 above.
b- If the status sentence is a verbal sentence in the past tense, preceded by the exclusion particle (إلا) as in the example no. 9.
c- If the status sentence is a verbal sentence in the present tense, as in the examples no. 10 and 11 above.
3- The placement of the /wāw/ of the status is facultative in the situations that differ from the two above mentioned cases, as in the examples no. 12 to 16 mentioned above.