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Arabic verbal noun | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| desert_daisy Newbie Australia Joined 6935 days ago 14 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Arabic (Written) | Message 1 of 4 01 December 2005 at 1:04am | IP Logged |
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Hello, all, I'm new here and I have a few questions for my fellow students of Arabic about the verbal noun (al-maSdar)! Am I correct in thinking that it is used in Arabic - among other situations - for generalisations and as an equivalent for the English infinitive?
That is, the "writing" in the sentence "Writing is good for the brain" would be a verbal noun AND 'to write' in the sentence "I like to write." Furthermore, instead of the verbal noun can I also use 'an (to) + the subjunctive form of the verb for forming the infinitive? Could I say: "tuHibbu 'an taktuba" for "she likes to write"? And this is a more specific question but what is the verbal noun form of the verb "to like/love"? Is it "Hubb"? And is there a difference between the way you would say "I write" and "I am writing"? I'm sorry to bombard you all with questions but any help you could give me would be most appreciated! Edited by desert_daisy on 01 December 2005 at 1:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Al-Malik Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member United Kingdom arabicgenie.com Joined 7136 days ago 221 posts - 294 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, German*, Spanish, Arabic (Written), Dutch, French, Arabic (classical) Studies: Mandarin, Persian | Message 2 of 4 01 December 2005 at 9:33am | IP Logged |
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1. Is the Arabic maSdar used as the equivalent of our infinitive?
Sometimes. In your example "I like to write" one could have a maSdar construction, i.e. uHibbu al-kitaaba. 2.Instead of the verbal noun can I also use 'an (to) + the subjunctive form of the verb for forming the infinitive? Yes, in some cases at least that is possible, i.e. your sentence "hiya tuHibbu an taktuba" is perfectly correct. However, the question would probably follow "maza tuHibb an taktub - risala, riwaya, shi3r?" i.e. what does she like (or want) to write, a letter, a novel, poetry? 3.What is the verbal noun form of the verb "to like/love"? Is it "Hubb"? Yes. The verb is aHabba/yuHibbu, that is it's like af3ala/yuf3ilu. Normally the maSdar would be if3aal, but in this particular case it is not. Not sure why though... 4.Is there a difference between the way you would say "I write" and "I am writing"? Interesting question, I never really thought about this, but I guess the difference could be expressed with ism faa3il in place of using a normal verb: "ana kaatib alan" I am writing now "aktub (riwaayaat)" I write (e.g. novels) Although the first example may also mean "I am a writer now". Maybe things are clearer with another example e.g. "I vote" "kuntu muntakhib (yawm as-sabt)" I was voting (on Saturday) "ana antakhib (fil-intikhaabaat)" I vote (in the elections) again ism faa3il is used in the first example. I guess there is no such clear cut difference in Arabic between writing and write... Hope this helps anyway. Since when have you been learning Arabic and what material are you using? Do you plan to use your Arabic in the future, e.g. in your job? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| souley Senior Member Joined 7243 days ago 178 posts - 177 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: Arabic (Written), French | Message 3 of 4 01 December 2005 at 4:55pm | IP Logged |
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al-Masdar is often defined as 'lafdhun yadulu 'alaa hadathin ghayr moqtarin bi zamanin'. (= The formulation which shows upon an action not linked to any time).
So in al-Arabiyyah you have al-Maadhii, Al-Mudhaari (and al Amr of course), which shows upon a verb and when it took place. Like sa-ja-da (He prostrated), and ya-sju-du (He is prostrating), both refer to some time of action, but Sujood (prostration) is free from that, and just refers to the action. Secondly, the Masdar is also used in sentences with the verb for taqweeyah (strenghtening) the verb. We call this al-Maf'ool al-Mutlaq, like so: ضربني الرجل ضربا شديدا = Litt: The man hit me, a severe hit (beating). يقرأ محمد قرأة جملية = Litt: Mohammed is reading a beautiful reading. ِAnd this maf'ool al-mutlaq is of course in the form of Nasb. ِAs far as ahabba - yuhibbu goes, there are two Masdaaran, namely Hubb and Mahabba محبة And as the speaker before me pointed out, the Masdar should logically be ihbaab, because it is f'il afa'ala and because it is Mudh'af, just like yutmim atmama, which DOES take the itmaam Masdar. و الله اعلم 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| desert_daisy Newbie Australia Joined 6935 days ago 14 posts - 14 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Arabic (Written) | Message 4 of 4 02 December 2005 at 1:41am | IP Logged |
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Thanks, Al-Malik and souley for your excellent replies! A friend and I have been trying to puzzle out al-masdar between us, so this very helpful :-)
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