Lesson 80 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّمانون

The followers (3) The substitute - التَّــوَابِع(٣)الْـبَـدَل

Types of Substitute – البَدَلُ وأَنْوَاعُه

  • We are still in lesson eighty of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • In the structure which contains an Arabic substitute, there are two essential parts:
  • The substituted for (المُبْدَل مِنْهُ), which is the followed noun. The substituted for comes originally first, and it is declined according to its position in the sentence, i.e. it can be a doer, a subject, a genitive noun etc.
  • The substitute, which is originally meant by the followed noun, and comes –originally- after it without any particle. The substitute follows the declension case of the substituted for.   
  • There are four types of substitute as follows:
  • The concordant substitute (البَدَلُ الْمُطابِقُ): (also called whole for the whole (الكُلُّ من الكُلِّ)
  • This type has the whole meaning of the substituted for, i.e. the substitute is identical with the substituted for.
  • Consider the following examples:

Substitution structure

Example

Substitute

Substituted for

English

Arabic

طَارِقٌ

الأُسْتاذُ

Mr. Tariq talked

تَحَدَّثَ الأُسْتاذُ طَارِقٌ

الطَّالِبُ

هَذا

This student is hardworking

هَذا الطَّالِبُ مُجْتَهِدٌ

أَبا بَكْرٍ

الصِّدِيقَ

My Allah have mercy upon the trustworthy Abu Bakr

رَحِمَ اللهُ الصِّدِيقَ أَبا بَكْرٍ

عَلِيٍّ

الإمامِ

Did you read about the Imam Ali

هَلْ قَرَأْتَ عَنِ الإمامِ عَلِيٍّ

1-    The partial substitute البَدَلُ الجُزْئيُّ (also called part of the whole البَعْضُ مِنْ الكُلِّ).

  • The substitute in this type refers to a part of the substituted for. This means that the speaker wants to change the meaning that he mentioned first to a part of it for rhetorical reason. Compare the two following examples; one with this type of substitute, and the other without substitution (please read from right to left):

English

Arabic

 

Half of the students attended

حَضَرَ نِصْفُ الطُّلاَّبِ

Without substitution

The students attended, i.e. half of them

حَضَرَ الطُّلابُ نِصْفُهُم

With partial substitution

  • The speaker in the second sentence gives the same meaning of the first one, and wants to give us the impression that the half of the students makes the function (noise, work etc.) of the whole of them.
  • Therefore this type is not commonly used in spoken standard Arabic, rather it is common in literary texts (Qur’an, poetry, etc.), and it is studied by scholars to understand and analyze literary texts.
  • More examples:

Picture

Substitution structure

Example

Substitution

Substituted for

English

Arabic

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

نِصْفَهُ

الْيَوْمَ

I fasted the day, i.e. half of it.

صُمْتُ الْيَوْمَ نِصْفَهُ

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

ثُلُثَهُ

الرَّغِيفَ

I ate the bread, i.e. a third of it.

أَكَلْتُ الرَّغِيفَ ثُلُثَهُ

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

ثلاثَ ساعاتٍ

اللَّيْلَ

I prayed the night, i.e. three hours of it.

قُمْتُ اللَّيْلَ ثَلاثَ ساعاتٍ

2-            Inclusive substitute (بَـدَلُ الاِشْتِمالِ):

In this type the meaning of the substitute is included in the substituted for. The difference between this type and the previous type is that in this type the part is an indivisible part, and the substituted for cannot be divided into separate parts as in the partial substitution type. Consider the following examples:

Substitution structure

Example

Substitute

Substituted for

English

Arabic

جَمالُها

الْبِنْتُ

I admired the girl, (especially) her beauty

أعَجَبَتْنِي الْبِنْتُ جَمالُها

أَخْلاقَهُ

الْوَلَدَ

I loved the boy, (especially) his manners

أَحْبَبْتُ الْوَلَدَ أخلاقَهُ

كَلماتِها

رَسَائِلَكَ

I liked your messages, (I mean its word)

أَحْبَبْتُ رَسَائِلَكَ كَلماتِها

كَذِبَهُ

كَلامَكَ

I do not like your speech, (I mean the lies)

لا أُحِبُّ كَلامَكَ كَذِبَهُ

أَثَاثَها

الْغُرْفَةَ

I hated the room, especially its furniture

كَرِهْتُ الْغُرْفَةَ أَثَاثَها

  • You may notice in the following examples that the substitute is included in the substituted for; rather it is the main part in it, and the substituted for cannot be divided or separated into different parts as in the partial substitution type.

3-            Different substitute بَدَلُ التَّبَايُنِ:

  • In this type the speaker says something wrong, and then he remembers and says the correct word that he would have to say in the beginning. Therefore the substitute is neither a part of the substituted for, nor a whole of it, rather it is completely different from it. Consider the following example:

English

Arabic

Muhammad came, I mean Ali

حَضَرَ محمدٌ، عَلِيٌّ

  • This type is not found in the written language, because the writer removes the mistake when he notices it.
  • Therefore this type is not commonly used in the normal speech, and some grammarians refuse to make it a part of the lesson tackling the substitution, because the grammar is only to be made for the correct language not for its mistakes.