Lesson 72 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّاني والسَّبْعونَ
The distinctive - الـتَّـمْيِـيِزُ
The rules of the Distinctive - التَّمْيِيزُ وأَحْكَامُهُ
- We are still in lesson seventy two of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
- The Arabic distinctive is an indefinite noun which is originally accusative (it can also be genitive), and it is used for removing the ambiguity of a preceding noun or sentence.
- The preceding ambiguous noun can be a number or a quantity, while the ambiguity in the sentence in the relation between its parts.
- When we say, for example:
| Twenty are attendant and five are absent | حَضَرَ عِشْرونَ وغابَ خَمْسَةٌ /ħađara ξishrūna wa ghâba khamsatun/ |
- We do not know exactly the kind of those who attended or those who are absent. We cannot confirm whether they are students, teachers, or employees, because the absolute number is ambiguous. When we add the distinctive we remove the ambiguity as follows:
| Twenty students are attendant and five teachers are absent | حَضَرَ عِشْرونَ طالبًا وغابَ خَمْسَةُ مُعَلِّمِينَ /ħađara ξishrūna ŧâliban wa ghâba khamsatu muξallimīna/ |
- In the above mentioned example the words (طالبًا – مُعَلِّمِينَ) are distinctive accusative nouns.
- The following table shows more examples of the distinctive:
| Picture | Distinctive | Example | |
| English | Arabic | ||
|
| I played five games | /laξibtu khamsa mubārayātin/ | |
|
| In less than twenty days | فِي أَقَلَّ مِنْ عِشْرِينَ يَوْمًا /fī aqalla min ξishrīna yawman/ | |
|
| I bought one bucket of honey | /ishtaraytu kaylan ξasalan/ | |
|
| I cultivated the land with threes | /zaraξtu al arđa shaĵaran/ | |
|
| Muhammad has more knowledge than Khalid | مُحَمَّدٌ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ خَالِدٍ عِلْمًا /muħammadun aktharu min khâlidin ξilman/ | |
|
| The father has more experience than the sons | الأَبُ أَكْثَرُ خِبْرَةً مِنْ الأَبْنَاءِ /al abu aktharu khibratan min al abnā’i/ | |
|
| I bought one meter of wood | /ishtaraytu mitran khashaban/ | |
|
| I have one rotl of oil | /ξindī raŧlun min zaytin/ | |
|
| I bought a bottle of perfume | اِشْتَرَيْتُ زُجاجَةً مِن عِطْرٍ /ishtaraytu zuĵāĵatan min ξiŧrin/ | |
|
| I have a big box of gold | لَدَيَّ صُندُوقٌ كَبِيرٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ /ladayya ŝundūqun kabīrun min dhahabin/ | |
- In the above mentioned examples we notice that the distinctive is an indefinite noun.
- When we make a comparison between the status and the distinctive, we notice the following:
a- Both of them are indefinite nouns, as in the following examples:
| Status | Distinctive | ||
| English | Arabic | English | Arabic |
| The student came happy | /ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/ | I have fifty pounds | /maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/ |
b- The concerned noun (of the status) is definite noun, while the distinguished noun (of the distinctive) is indefinite, as in the following examples:
| Status | Distinctive | ||
| English | Arabic | English | Arabic |
| The student came happy | /ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/ | I bought one meter of cloth | /ishtaraytu mitran qumāshan/ |
c- The distinctive is always a single noun, while the status can be a single noun, a sentence, or a quasi sentence (preposition + noun), as in the following examples:
| Status | Distinctive | ||
| English | Arabic | English | Arabic |
| I slept frightened | /nimtu khâ’fan/ | I have fifty pounds | /maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/ |
| I slept crying | /nimtu abkī/ | ||
| I slept with my sadness | /nimtu ξalā ħuznī/ | ||
d- The status is always accusative, while the distinctive can be accusative or genitive, as in the following examples:
| Status | Distinctive | ||
| English | Arabic | English | Arabic |
| The student came happy
| /ĵā’a aŧ ŧâlibu saξīdan/ | I have fifty pounds | /maξī khamsūna ĵunaihan/ |
| I bought a bottle of perfume | اِشْتَرَيْتُ زُجاجَةً مِن عِطْرٍ /ishtaraytu zuĵāĵatan min ξiŧrin/ | ||