ESL Tip Sheet 1: Arabic

The written language

• Arabic is written from right to left.
• Spelling is phonetic. 62.
• No distinction is made between upper and lower case. 59.

Sentence structure and word order

• Under the influence of the Qur'an (Koran), writers aim at rhythmical balance and coordination, with the split between subject and predicate occurring midway in a sentence. 33.
• Arabic favors coordination over subordination; sentences often begin with And or So. 32e; 32f; 32g; 32i.
• Basic word order in Classical Arabic is V-S-O: the verb precedes the subject: *Hoped the committee to solve the problem. 32a. Colloquial Arabic is S-V-O.
• Arabic uses a that clause where English uses infinitive: *I want that you stay. 45b.

Nouns and pronouns

• Verbs forms include pronouns in Arabic: *My father he lives in California. 48g.
• Relative pronoun makes no human/nonhuman distinction, and pronoun object is retained in a restrictive relative clause: *Here is the student which you met her last week. 42.
• Singular noun is used after a numeral above ten: *He has eleven cousin.

Verbs and verbals

• No equivalent of do: *You have a brother? 38d.
• No verb be in present tense: *They going to the movies. 35c.
• No modal verbs. 45a.
• No gerund or infinitive forms. 45.
• Perspective of tense and time is very different from English. 38e.
• Past perfect is formed with be: *They were eat. 38e.
• Reported speech retains tense of original: *She said she is leaving. 38h.
• Simple present tense covers meaning of simple and progressive in English: *She working now. *She working every day. 38f.

Adjectives and adverbs

• Adjectives occur after noun: *a book interesting long. 43L

Articles

• No indefinite article: *He is student. 44.
• Definite article is used for days of the week, some months, some place names, and in many idiomatic expressions: *He went to the Peru. *He is still in the bed. 44.