تويت
Adjectives
One of the grammatical differences between English and Arabic has to do with the position and order of adjectives.
Adjectives in English precede the nouns they modify when used attributively.
e.g. The young boy likes red apples.
In this example, the adjectives young and red modify the nouns boy and apples that follow them respectively.
In Arabic, however, adjectives follow the nouns they modify. The equivalent of the English example;
The young boy likes red apples would be:
يحب الولد الصغير التفاح الأ حمر.
The adjectives الصغير and الأحمر follow the nouns they modify الولد and التفاح in that order.
Another difference between adjectives in English and Arabic is that adjectives in Arabic agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender and definiteness. But in English, there is no such agreement. Consider the following examples:
بنت صغيرة
A young girl (singular, indefinite, feminine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
ولد صغير
A young boy (singular, indefinite, masculine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
البنت الصغيرة
The young girl (singular, definite, feminine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
الولد الصغير
The young boy (singular, definite, masculine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
البنات الصغيرات
The young girls (plural, definite, feminine noun,
the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
الأولاد الصغار
The young boys (plural, definite, masculine noun,
the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
As we can see from these examples, in Arabic the adjective always agrees with the noun it modifies in number, gender and definiteness.
One of the grammatical differences between English and Arabic has to do with the position and order of adjectives.
Adjectives in English precede the nouns they modify when used attributively.
e.g. The young boy likes red apples.
In this example, the adjectives young and red modify the nouns boy and apples that follow them respectively.
In Arabic, however, adjectives follow the nouns they modify. The equivalent of the English example;
The young boy likes red apples would be:
يحب الولد الصغير التفاح الأ حمر.
The adjectives الصغير and الأحمر follow the nouns they modify الولد and التفاح in that order.
Another difference between adjectives in English and Arabic is that adjectives in Arabic agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender and definiteness. But in English, there is no such agreement. Consider the following examples:
بنت صغيرة
A young girl (singular, indefinite, feminine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
ولد صغير
A young boy (singular, indefinite, masculine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
البنت الصغيرة
The young girl (singular, definite, feminine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English)
الولد الصغير
The young boy (singular, definite, masculine noun, the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
البنات الصغيرات
The young girls (plural, definite, feminine noun,
the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
الأولاد الصغار
The young boys (plural, definite, masculine noun,
the adjective takes the same form in Arabic but not in English).
As we can see from these examples, in Arabic the adjective always agrees with the noun it modifies in number, gender and definiteness.