Durus al-Lughah Book 1 Lesson 1: hadha, ism istifham maa, and man

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Start from today, we are going to learn one of the recommended book to learn Arabic, Durus al-lughah al-Arabiyyah.

The complete name of the book is durusul lughah al-arabiyyah lighayri an-natiqiina biha (دروس اللغة العربيّة لغير الناطقين بها), by Dr. V. Abdur Rahim.

This book has four volumes, and we start from durus al-lughah volume one or book 1.

Our method to learn this book: First of all, we see and read carefully the text in the picture, then we can learn the basic Arabic concept from the text (the things that we learn are marked), and finally we learn Arabic vocabularies (the Arabic words that are mentioned in the lesson).

durusul lughah volume 1 chapter 1

Now, we start from lesson one. In this lesson, we are going to learn:

  1. Singular masculine noun (اسم مفرد مذكّر).
  2. Demonstrative pronoun to singular masculine noun (هذا).
  3. Question word “what” in Arabic (ما).
  4. Question word “who” in Arabic (من).
  5. Arabic vocabulary in lesson one.

Ok, let's start learning from step one.

This (هَذَا)

hadha (هَذَا) means this

From this picture, we learn the following things:

  1. hadha (هذا) is ism isharah lilmufrad al-mudhakkar al-qarib, al-'aqil waghayr 'aqil
    (اسم إشارة للمفرد المذكّر القريب العاقل وغير العاقل)
    Hadha is demonstrative pronoun for mufrad (singular), mudhakkar (masculine), qarib (near), 'aqil (human) and ghayru 'aqil (non-human), hadha means “this”.

Examples

  • a. non-human (ghayru 'aqil) ⇒ هَذَا كِتَابٌ (This is a book).
  • b. human ('aqil) ⇒ هَذَا مُحَمَّدٌ (This is Muhammad).
  1. In the picture, we can see the examples of singular and masculine noun. They are:
    • a. a house (بَيْتٌ)
    • b. a mosque (مسْجِدٌ)
    • c. a door (بَابٌ)
    • d. a book (كِتَابٌ)
    • e. a pen (قَلَمٌ)
    • f. a key (مِفْتَاحٌ)
    • g. a table (مَكْتَبٌ)
    • h. a bed (سَرِيْرٌ)
    • i. a chair (كُرْسِيٌّ)
  2. We can notice that there is the n-sound (tanwiin) at the end of the nouns above.
    In Arabic, the tanwiin at the end of the word indicates that the word is an indefinite noun. Therefore, we translate it with indefinite article “a or an”, such as This is a book, etc.

What is this? (مَا هَذَا؟)

maa hadza (ما هذا) means what is this

From this picture, we learn the following things:

  1. Maa (ما) is ism istifham lighayri al-'aqil
    Maa is the question word for non-human.
    The meaning in English is “what”.
  2. Particle hamzah (أ) or hamzah istifham is placed at the beginning of a sentence, this particle turns the sentence into a question.
    We use “أ” for yes/no question. Therefore, the answer is yes (نَعَمْ) or no (لاَ).

Recap:

— What is Arabic yes and no?

Answer:
yes = نَعَمْ (na'am)
no = لاَ (la)

  1. The examples of interrogative sentence:
    • a. Question = مَا هَذَا؟ (What is this?)
      Answer = هَذَا بَيْتٌ (This is a house)
    • b. Question = أَهَذَا مِفْتَاحٌ؟ (Is this a key?)
      Answer = نَعَمْ, هَذَا مِفْتَاحٌ (Yes, this is a key) or لاَ, هَذَا قَلَمٌ (No, this is a pen).
  2. The example of ism mufrad mudhakkar (singular masculine noun) within the picture:
    • a. a shirt (قَمِيْصٌ)
    • b. a star (نَجْمٌ)

Who is this? (مَنْ هَذَا؟)

man hadha (من هذا) means who is this

From this picture, we learn the following things:

  1. From the previous lesson, we've already known that مَا (maa) is ism istifham for non-human whereas مَنْ (man) is ism istifham for human.
  2. Hamzah istifham (أ) is placed at the beginning of a sentence, and is used for both human and non-human.
    Hamzah istifham is used for yes/no question.
  3. hadha (هَذَا) is a demonstrative pronoun which is used for both human and non-human.
  4. Question word maa and man.
    Examples question and answer:
    What is this? = مَا هَذَا؟
    This is a pen = هَذَا قَلَمٌ

    Who is this? = مَنْ هَذَا؟
    This is a boy = هَذَا وَلَدٌ

Arabic vocabularies (mufradat) that are mentioned in this chapter

English Meaning Arabic Word
a doctor طَبِيْبٌ
a boy وَلَدٌ
a student طَالِبٌ
a man رَجُلٌ
a merchant تَاجِرٌ
a dog كَلْبٌ
a cat قِطٌّ
a donkey حِمَارٌ
a horse حِصَانٌ
a camel جَمَلٌ
a rooster دِيْكٌ
a teacher مُدَرِّسٌ
a handkerchief مِنْدِيْلٌ

Interactive Arabic Concept Flashcards

Tap or click on any card below to flip it over and instantly test your knowledge of basic Arabic structures.

Grammar Concept
What does the demonstrative pronoun mean, and when is it used?
Answer
It means "this". Used for singular (mufrad), masculine (mudhakkar), and near (qarib) targets. It applies to both human ('aqil) and non-human (ghayru 'aqil) subjects.
Noun Structure
What does the ending "n-sound" or Tanwiin (e.g., ) indicate?
Answer
It indicates that the word is an indefinite noun. In English translation, it corresponds to using the indefinite articles "a" or "an".
Interrogative Particle
What does mean, and when is it exclusively deployed?
Answer
It means "what". It is exclusively utilized when questioning non-human or inanimate objects (lighayri al-'aqil), such as in:
Yes/No Questions
How do you create a yes/no question using , and what are the responses?
Answer
Placing this prefix conversion particle at the beginning creates a yes/no question. Answer using yes () or no ().
Interrogative Particle
What does translate to, and how does it differ from Maa?
Answer
It translates to "who". Unlike Maa, it is strictly reserved for questioning human or intelligent beings (al-'aqil), such as:

Quiz: Durusul Lughah 1 Lesson 1

Test your understanding of Hadha, Maa, Man, and basic vocabularies. Read the questions carefully and select the best answer!

That's all for today lesson. I hope this lesson benefits you.

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Continue on lesson 2 : dhalika