In Arabic, the noun governed by a preposition will always come after it and be in genitive form. The actual prepositions in Arabic حُروف الجَرّ are particles that are not subject to noun cases.
List of prepositions /قائِمة حُروف الجرّ
| Prepositions (الضَمائِر) | |
|---|---|
| Particles to express the exception (see the dedicated page on that) | بِـ (بالمُعَلِّمِ) |
| for/to (for the teacher) | لِـ (لِلمُعَلِّمِ) |
| as / like (like the teacher) | كَـ (كَالمُعَلِّمِ) |
| about | عَنْ |
| to/towards/until | إِلى |
| from/of/than | مِنْ |
| in/inside/within/at | في |
| up to/until/till | حَتّى |
| since/from | مُذْ \ مُنْذُ |
| on/over | عَلى |
| wāw to swear in the name of | وَ + اِسْم 🢠 واو القَسَم |
| tāʾ to swear in the name of | تَـ + اِسْم 🢠 تاء القَسَم |
| Particles to express the exception (see dedicated page on that) | عَدا / خَلا / حاشا |
Note: prepositions consisting of only one letter are attached to the words following them.
Prepositions: contexts of use
Particle بِـ
- With/by (instrument):
| He came by car | جاءَ بِسَيّارةٍ |
| He is boxing with his gloves | يُلاكِمُ بِقُفازاتِهِ |
- At, in, during (temporal or spatial continuity):
| At the university | بِالجامعةِ |
| During the evening | بِالمَساءِ |
- To take an oath:
| By God! | بِاللّهِ |
| On my honor! | بِشَرَفِي |
- Preceded by إِذا (= and suddenly):
| إِذا بِهِ… |
| and suddenly he… |
- In combination with other words:
- 🢡 Prepositional groups: بِدونِ / بِغَيْرِ / بِلا = without
- 🢡 Interrogatives: بِمَ؟ = with what ?
- 🢡 Adverbs: بِسُرْعة = quickly (with speed) / بِالضَبْط = exactly
Particle لِـ
- For, to, because (purpose and cause):
| I studied for the exam | دَرَسْتُ لِلاِمْتِحان |
| That’s because | لِذَلِكَ… |
- Express possession:
| لَهُم كِتابٌ |
| They have a book (litt. => to them a book) |
Note: Takes the fatḥa instead of the kasra when used with a pronoun (except for the 1st person singular pronoun ي )
لَهُ (for him)
Note 2: Before a noun is preceded by the definite article (ال – أَداة التَعْرِيف), the ا of the article disappears:
لِلْمُعَلِّمِ = for the teacher
- Express possibility/permission, with أَنْ:
| لَكُم أَنْ تَأْخُذوا ذَلِكَ |
| You can take that / You have the right to take that |
- Express dependency or relationship (when annexation is difficult):
| مُنَظَّمةُ الأُمَمِ المُتَّحِدةِ لِلطُفُولةِ |
| The United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF) |
- In combination with other words:
- 🢡 Prepositional group: لِأَجْلِ = in order to
- 🢡 Interrogatives: لِماذا؟ = why?
- 🢡 Conjunction: لأَنَّ = because
Particle كَـ
- Like, as:
| He is speaking to us as a politician | يُخاطِبُنا كَرَجُلٍ سِياسيٍّ |
| The girl is beautiful like the full moon | الفتاة جميلةٌ كَالبَدْرِ |
- In combination with other words:
- 🢡 Relative clause: كَمَن/ كَالذي = like the one…
- 🢡 Adverbial expression: كَذَلِكَ = also / as well / likewise
- 🢡 Conjunction: كَأَنّ = as if / كَما = like (followed by a relative clause)
Note: Particle كـ can’t be followed by a pronoun (as opposed to مِثْل which can be followed by one)
Particle عَنْ
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