الْإِعْرَابُ - Declension in Arabic Grammar - an Introduction

I'm going to introduce you declension in Arabic grammar.  In Arabic, this declension is called al-i'raab (الْإِعْرَبُ)

al-i'raab is : تغييرٌ يَلحق أَواخر الكلماتِ العربية من رفِع ونصبِ وجرّ وجَزْم  (change of the form of a word by which its grammatical case. We can notice the change/declension in the end of the word).





There are four cases ( four variations of the form of a word) in Arabic, they are: رَفْعٌ , نَصْبٌ , جَرٌّ , جَزْمٌ

But, in this introductory lesson, we will discuss only three declension/cases, they are raf'un, naṣbun, and jarrun.

To get more understanding, let's continue reading the material.

An introduction to declension in Arabic Grammar

Let's see these three sentences below.

1. الطَّالِبُ مُجْتَهِدٌ (aṭ-ṭaalibu mujtahidun).

The meaning is The student is diligent.

الطَّالِبُ in this sentence is called mubtada' whereas مُجْتَهِدٌ is khabar.

2. عَلَّمْتُ الطَّالِبَ ('allamtu aṭ-ṭaaliba).

The meaning: I taught the student.

الطَّالِبَ in this sentence is faa'il (doer/the one who is doing an action)

3. نَظَرْتُ إِلَى الطَّالِبِ (naẓartu ilaa aṭ-ṭaalibi).

The meaning : I looked at the student.

الطَّالِبِ in this sentence is majruur.


Have you observed the three sentences above?

The word الطّالب is used in three sentences and we can notice that the final letter (ب) carries a ḍammah in first sentence, a fatḥa in the second sentence, and kasrah in the third sentence.


I repeat

The first sentence:
الطَّالِبُ (aṭ-ṭaalibu) => the final letter (ب) carries dammah.

The second sentence:
الطَّالِبَ  (aṭ-ṭaaliba) => the final letter (ب) carries fatha.

The third sentence:
الطَّالِبِ (aṭ-ṭaalibi) => the final letter (ب) carries kasrah.


Through these sentences, we can conclude that the vowel sign on the final letter of a word changes according to the grammatical function of the word in the sentence.

This changing of the vowel on the final letter of a word in a statement is called declension (الْإِعْرَابُ).

Declension of a noun

There are three case forms of a noun, they are:

1. الرَّفْعُ  (ar-raf'u): nominative. 

The nominative is indicated by a dammah on the final letter of the word.

the word is termed marfuu' (مَرْفُوعٌ)

2. النَّصْبُ (an-naṣbu) : accusative.

The accusative is indicated by fat-hah on the final letter of the word.

The word is termed manṣuub (مَنْصُوبٌ)

3. الجَرُّ (al-jarru) : genitive.

The genitive is indicated by a kasrah on the final letter of the word.

The word is termed majruur (مَجْرُورٌ).




Hence, look at the word الطّالب  in the sentences above. Now you have already known the terms.



الطَّالِبُ  in the first sentences is مَرْفُوعٌ

الطَّالِبَ  in the second sentences is مَنْصُوبٌ

الطَّالِبِ in the third sentences is مَجْرُورٌ

Summary 

1. The case of a word changes with relation to its grammatical function in a sentence.

2. This changing of the case is termed declension.

3. Declension in Arabic is الْإِعْرَابُ (al-i'raabu).

4. There are four cases in Arabic Grammar, they are: raf'un, nasbun, jarrun, jazmun.

5. nominative = الرَّفْعُ , accusative = النَّصْبُ , genitive = الْجَرُّ , jazm = الْجَزْمُ

6. A noun may appear in any of the three cases, they are nominative, accusative, and genitive.

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Read the related material at the following link: noun cases in Arabic grammar.