The Prepositional Phrase
صرف Practice
تَصْرِيْفُ فَعَلَ
0 / 36Prepositional phrases are among the most common in any language. A preposition is usually a small word that connects to nouns in order to convey information about aspects such as location, time, place, and direction.
'I sat in the mosque.' Here, 'in' is a preposition connecting to 'the mosque' to convey the meaning of place. 'I sat until sunset'. The word 'until' is a preposition that conveys the concept of time. 'I went under the bridge', the word 'under' connects to 'the bridge' to convey the meaning of direction.
The Arabic Prepositions
فِيْ مِنْ عَنْ علٰى حتٰى إلىٰ
A preposition is called حَرْفُ الْجَرِّ, which means a Harf of Jarr. The plural for prepositions is حُرُوْفُ الْجَرِّ. Memorise the above set of prepositions. Nine of these are the most commonly used prepositions. There are another 6 which we will not consider for now.
The meanings of these prepositions are as follows:
- ب - by, with, at
Example Translation كَتَبْتُ بِالْقَلَمِ I wrote with the pen هُوَ بِالشَّجَرَةِ He is at the tree مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ I passed by Zaid - ت - this is used for swearing an oath by Allah (تاللّٰهِ). It is not as popular compared to the rest of the prepositions we listed, but we added it to facilitate the memorisation of the prepositions through the rhyme
- ك - like, as
Example Translation هِيَ كَالرَّجُلِ She is like a man هُوَ بِالشَّجَرَةِ He is at the tree أَنَا كَمُسْلِمٍ كَرِهْتُهُ I, as a Muslim, hate it - ل - for, to
Example Translation قَالَ لَهُ He said to him لَكُمْ دِيْنُكُمْ وَ لِيَ دِيْنِ For you is your religion and for me is my religion - و - used for swearing (it also is far more commonly used as a conjuction meaning 'and', but that waw is not a Harf Jarr) oaths
Example Translation وَالتِّينِ وَالزَّيْتُونِ By the fig and the olive وَاللّٰهِ سَأَفْعَلُهُ By Allah, I will do it - فِيْ - in, within
Example Translation فِيْ الْبَيْتِ In the house الْحَقُّ فِيْ الْقَلْبِ Truth is in the heart - مِن - from, some of
Example Translation مِنَ الْمَدِيْنَةِ From the city بَعْضُهُمْ مِنْهُمْ Some of them from them - عَن - from, about
Example Translation عَنِ الْيَمِيْنِ From the right سَمِعْتُ عَنْهُ I heard about him - عَلٰى - on, upon
Example Translation الطَيْرُ عَلٰى الشَّجَرَةِ The bird is on the tree العَمَلُ عَلَيْكُمْ The work is upon you - حَتّٰى - until, up to
Example Translation أَنْتَظِرُ حَتّٰى اللَّيْلِ I will wait until night حَتّٰى تَرْجِعَ Until you return - إِلٰى - to, until
Example Translation ذَهَبْتُ إِلٰى المَسْجِدِ I went to the mosque إِلٰى مَتَى؟ Until when?
Take a look at all of the examples. Do you notice they all have something in common in terms of the effect they have on other words?