Lesson 73 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّالِثُ والسَّبْعونَ
The exclusion (1of3) - الاِسْـتِـثْـنَـاء (١مِن٣)
The excluded with /illā/ - الْمُسْتَثْنَى بِـ "إِلَّا"
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- We studied the different types of Arabic exclusion in the second part of this lesson. The excluded after /illā/ has different declension cases according to the type of the exclusion, as follows:
1- The linked exclusion (الاستثناء الْمُتَّصِل):
a- The linked complete affirmative exclusion (الاسْتِثْناءُ الْمُتَّصِل التَّام الْمُثْبَتُ): the excluded in this type is obligatorily accusative by the exclusion. Consider the following examples:
| Picture | Excluded | Example | |
| English | Arabic | ||
|
| I wrote the lessons except one lesson | كَتَبْتُ الدُّرُوسَ إِلَّا دَرْسًا وَاحِدًا /katabtu ad durūsa illā darsan wāħidan/ | |
|
| I hit the students except one student | ضَرَبْتُ الطُّلاَّبَ إِلَّا طالِبًا /đarabtu aŧ ŧullāba illā ŧâliban/ | |
|
| The armies were defeated except for our army | هُزِمَتِ الْجُيُوشُ إِلَّا جَيْشَنَا. /huzimat al ĵuyūshu illā ĵayshana/ | |
b- The linked completed negative exclusion (الاسْتِثْناءُ المُتَّصِلُ التَّامُّ الْمَنْفِيُّ): the excluded in this category has two ways of declension:
- Either to be in the accusative case because of the declension.
- Or to follow the declension case of the included (as a substitute of it). Consider the following examples:
| Excluded | Example | |
| English | Arabic | |
| None of the students ate except one student | لَمْ يأْكُلِ الطُّلاَّبُ إِلَّا طالِبًا / إِلَّا طَالِبٌ /lam ya’kul aŧ ŧullābu illā ŧâliban, ŧâlibun/ | |
| None of the people stood up except Khalid | ما قام النَّاسُ إلا خالِدًا / إِلَّا خالِدٌ /mā qâma an nāsu illā khâlidan , khâlidun | |
| I did not go to any friends except for Ali | لَمْ أذْهَبْ إلى أيِّ أصدِقاءٍ إلا عليًّا / إِلَّا عَليٍّ /lam adhhab ilā aŝdiqâ’in illā ξaliyyan, ξaliyyin/ | |
- As we notice in the above mentioned examples, there are two ways of declension for the excluded of this type (completed negative); to be accusative by the exclusion, or to be substitute (to follow the declension of the included).
2- The detached complete exclusion (الاستثناء الْمُنْقَطِع أو الْمُنْفَصِل): in this type the included and the excluded are not of the same genus. The concept of this structure is that the excluded is mostly occur with the included, as in the following examples:
| English meaning | Example |
| The farmers came except their animals | جَاءَ الْفَلاحُونَ إلا دَوابَّهُمْ /ĵā’a al fallaħuna illā dawābbuhum/ |
| The passengers arrived except their luggage | جاءَ المُسافِرُونَ إِلَّا حَقَائِبَهُم /ĵā’a al musāfirfirūna illā ħaqâibahum/ |
- This type of exclusion is always complete, i.e. the included has to be mentioned, and otherwise we cannot say that it is a detached exclusion.
- The excluded in this type is obligatorily accusative by the exclusion, whether it is in an affirmative exclusion or in a negative exclusion. Consider the following examples:
| Excluded | Example | |
| English | Arabic | |
| The players came except the trainer | حَضَرَ اللاَّعِبُونَ إِلَّا المُدَرِّبَ /ħađara al lāξibūna illā al mudarriba/ | |
| The players did not come except the trainer | ما حَضَرَ اللاَّعِبُونَ إِلَّا المُدَرِّبَ /mā ħađara al lāξibūna illā al mudarriba/ | |
More examples of this type:
| Excluded | Example | |
| English | Arabic | |
| They have no knowledge about it, but following the conjecture | "ما لَهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اِتِّباعَ الظَّنِّ"
| |
| The war destroyed the country except the willpower | حَطَّمَتِ الْحَرْبُ البَلَدَ إِلَّا العَزِيمةَ /ħaŧŧamat al ħarbu al balada illā al ξazīmata/ | |
| The people died except their donkey | /māta al qawmu illā ħimārahum/ | |
3- The emptied exclusion (الاستثناء الناقص): In this exclusion the included is eliminated, and it is always negated by any of the negation articles.
The excluded in this type is declined according its normal position in the sentence before the exclusion (i.e. as if there is no exclusion article), as in the following examples:
| The sentence before the excluding | The declension of the excluded | Example | |
| English | Arabic | ||
| Direct object, accusative, with /fatħah/ | We have nothing but a small factory | ما نَمْلِكُ إِلَّا مَصْنَعًا صَغِيرًا /mā namliku illā maŝnaξan ŝaghīran/ | |
| An agent, nominative, with /đammah/ | Nobody wrote the homework except Muhammad | ما كَتَبَ الْوَاجِبَ إِلَّا مُحَمَّدٌ /mā kataba al wāĵiba illā muħammadun/ | |
| A predicate, nominative, with /đammah/ | Muhammad is just a prophet | /mā muħammadun illā rasūlun/ | |
| A subject, nominative, with /đammah/ | I have nothing but one bag | ما عِنْدِي إلا حَقِيبة ٌ وَاحِدَةٌ /mā ξindī illā ħaqībatun wāħidatun/ | |
| A predicate, nominative, with /fatħah/ | Khalid is just a student in the school | ما خالِدٌ إِلَّا طالِبٌ فِي المدرسة /mā khâlidun illā ŧâlibun fī al madrasati/ | |