GoalPut two nouns together to say “the … of …”, for example كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم.
New words
كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم (kitāb al-muʿallim) · the teacher's bookبَاب الْغُرْفَة (bāb al-ghurfa) · the door of the roomاِسْم الْوَلَد (ism al-walad) · the boy's nameسَيَّارَة أَحْمَد (sayyārat ʾAḥmad) · Ahmad's carحَقِيبَة أُمِّي (ḥaqībat ʾummī) · my mother's bagوَلَد (walad) · boyبِنْت (bint) · girlمُدِير (mudīr) · manager, head of a school (m)
Explanation
Two nouns can stand side by side to say “the … of …”. This is the construct (إِضَافَة). The first noun has no الْ and no tanween. The second noun has الْ, or it is a name, or it has an ending such as ـِي. So “the teacher's book” is كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم, literally “book of the teacher”. The whole phrase is definite, which is why the first noun needs no الْ. A ة on the first noun is read at: سَيَّارَة أَحْمَد is sayyārat ʾAḥmad.
First noun
Second noun
Together
Meaning
كِتَاب
الْمُعَلِّم
كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم
the teacher's book
بَاب
الْغُرْفَة
بَاب الْغُرْفَة
the door of the room
سَيَّارَة
أَحْمَد
سَيَّارَة أَحْمَد
Ahmad's car
حَقِيبَة
أُمِّي
حَقِيبَة أُمِّي
my mother's bag
Worked examples
Constructs with a house and a room. Listen and repeat.
Yusuf
مَا هَذَا؟
Karim
هَذَا هَاتِف الْمُعَلِّمَة.
Yusuf
وَأَيْن كِتَابُهَا؟
Karim
كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّمَة عَلَى الْمَكْتَب.
Yusuf and Karim see a phone. Press each line.
A name or an ending can be the second noun.
Class activity
Make constructs. Look around you and name six things with their owners, for example the book of your brother or the phone of your friend. Write each one in Arabic: first the thing without الْ, then the owner. Draw an arrow from the first noun to the second one and check that only the second noun has الْ (or is a name).
Practice
1
Press Listen. Which of the two nouns has الْ?
The second one: الطَّبِيب. The first noun, هَاتِف, has no الْ: هَاتِف الطَّبِيب (hātif aṭ-ṭabīb), “the doctor's phone”.
2
Write in Arabic: “the girl's bag”.
حَقِيبَة الْبِنْت (ḥaqībat al-bint)
3
The picture shows a car. It belongs to Karim. Write “Karim's car”.
سَيَّارَة كَرِيم (sayyārat Karīm)
4
The picture shows a house. It belongs to the teacher (m). Write “the teacher's house”.
بَيْت الْمُعَلِّم (bayt al-muʿallim)
5
Which is right for “the teacher's book”: كِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم or الْكِتَاب الْمُعَلِّم?
