Interjection or Exclamation Sentence in Arabic and English

We are going to learn Arabic interjection (صِيغَة تَعَجُّب), the sentence structure with sentence examples, and the English meaning.

Interjection/Exclamation in Arabic and English

Sighah ta'ajjub (صِيغَةُ تَعَجُّبٍ) or uslub ta'ajjub (أسلوب تعجّب) is used for expressing exclamation such as strong emotion, amazement, wonder, or surprise.

The example expressions in English:

— What a beautiful woman she is!

— What an expensive car it is!

— What a big city this is!

etc.

How do we express these sentences in Arabic?

There are two types of style to express the exclamation sentence in Arabic.

In this lesson, we only focus on one type of expression, especially exclamation with the verb, which contains three letters (fi'l thulathi).

Keep reading to learn how to make interjection or exclamation sentence in Arabic.

The structure of exclamation sentence in Arabic

Sighah or uslub ta'ajjub (exclamation form) in Arabic contains some fundamental components, they are:

1. مَا (particle ma of ta'ajjub).

2. Wazan أَفْعَلَ (af'ala) of fi'l madi thulathi.

3. Maf'ul bih (مفعول به) ⇒ noun (اسم) that is in accusative case.

Arabic exclamation sentence examples

1. Fi'l جَمُلَ (be beautiful).

سَيَّارَة = a car

How to say "What a beautiful car!" in Arabic?

Step to make this interjection sentence into Arabic:

a. Change the جَمُلَ to follow the wazan (scale) أَفْعَلَ => It becomes أَجْمَلَ 

b. Change the case to accusative => It becomes سَيَّارَةَ 

c. Finally the complete sentence in Arabic => مَا أَجْمَلَ السَّيَّارَةَ

So, "What a beautiful car!" in Arabic is "مَا أَجْمَلَ السَّيَّارَةَ"

2. بَرَدَ (be cool).

مَاءٌ = water

How to say "What a cold water it is!" in Arabic?

With the same steps as point 1, we can say "مَا أَبْرَدَ هَذَا المَاءَ"

Questions and Answers

Translate below sentences into Arabic.

1. He is a tall man.
2. What a tall man he is!
3. The shirt is cheap.
4. What a cheap shirt it is!
5. The house is big.
6. How big this house is!

Answers

1. He is a tall man = هُوَ رَجُلٌ طَوِيْلٌ
2. What a tall man he is! = مَا أَطْوَلَ هَذَا الرَّجُلَ
3. The shirt is cheap. = القَمِيْصُ رَخِيْصٌ
4. What a cheap shirt it is! = مَا أَرْخَصَ هَذَا القَمِيْصُ
5. The house is big. = البَيْتُ كَبِيْرٌ
6. How big this house is! = مَا أَكْبَرَ هَذَا البَيْتَ

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