The nominal sentence / الجُمْلة الاِسْمِيّة

There are two types of sentences in the Arabic language:

• The nominal sentence in Arabic (الجُمْلة الاِسْميّة)
• The verbal sentence in Arabic (الجُمْلة الفِعْليّة)

In this part, we’ll get to familiarize ourselves with the nominal sentence only before taking a look at the verbal sentence construction. 

The nominal sentence is a sentence that can be constructed without the need for a verb. Its two essential components are the subject (المُبْتَدأ) and the predicate (الخَبَر), literally named ‘the information’ in Arabic. For a better understanding of the Arabic logic, we’ll move on always referring to الخَبَر as the ‘information’ from now.

• The subject (المُبْتَدَأ) usually consists of a noun, a pronoun, a demonstrative or an interrogative in the nominative case (مَرْفُوع).

• The information (الخَبَر) may be a noun (phrase), indefinite adjective, or adverb denoting place/time in the nominative case (مَرْفُوع) as well.

Note: the information (الخَبَر) can also consist of another nominal sentence, a verbal sentence or a group of prepositions. 

The crucial difference with the English language is that this type of sentence doesn’t require the copula ‘to be’ which differentiates it from the English sentence construction (Subject → Verb → Complement), as the verb isn’t needed here. 

In Arabic, the word order of nominal sentences is commonly Subject-Information (S-I), and both parts must agree in gender and number. Nominal sentences are widely used in Arabic for expressing simple statements, descriptions, and identifications, making them an essential part of mastering beginner Arabic grammar.

To dive deeper into this topic, go here to learn Arabic and explore more lessons that cover verbal sentence and other grammatical notions in detail.

Nominal sentence rules /  أحْكام الجُمْلة الاِسْمِيّة

Examples:

⤷ Subject (السَيّارَةُ   :(المُبْتَدأ

⤷ Information (سَرِيعَةٌ :(الخَبَر 

Both nouns are in the nominative case and bear the ḍamma.

⤷ Subject (المَدْرَسَةُ  :(المُبْتَدأ

⤷ Information (صَغِيرَةٌ :(الخَبَر 

Both nouns are in the nominative case and bear the ḍamma.

⤷ Subject (هُمْ :(المُبْتَدأ

⤷ Information (طُلّابٌ :(الخَبَر 

Both nouns are considered in the nominative case, طُلّابٌ bears the ḍamma but هُمْ (they) doesn’t as it is a pronoun and pronouns are indeclinable in Arabic.

⤷ Subject (هَذا  :(المُبْتَدأ

⤷ Information (كِتابٌ :(الخَبَر 

Both nouns are considered in the nominative case, كِتابٌ bears the ḍamma but هَذا (this) doesn’t as it is a demonstrative singular which means it is indeclinable.