15 Of The 22 Places Part 1

The Different Uses of the Ism

Isms can be used in a variety of different ways. They can be the subject of a verb, in which case they will be in the state of رفع, or they can be objects of verbs, in which case the Isms will be in the state of نصب.

These grammatical states are reflected in different ways, the most common of which is the Dammah, Fathah, Kasrah method for Raf', Nasb, and Jarr. By knowing in what state an Ism is, we can narrow down its role in a sentence and translate accordingly.

For example, if we have a sentence containing a verb and two nouns, we can be reasonably sure that one of those nouns will be the subject and the other the object. If one of those nouns ends in a Dammah, which is a sign of رفع, and the other noun ends in a Fathah, which is a sign of نصب, then again we can be reasonably sure that the first one is the subject of the verb and the latter is the object.

As an example, let's take كَتَبَ زَيْدٌ الْكِتَابَ. Here we see a verb, كَتَبَ, and two nouns, زَيْدٌ and الْكِتَابَ, so we know we are dealing with a جملة فعلية (a verbal sentence). We can see that زَيْدٌ ends in a Dammah, which suggests it is مرفوع, and الْكِتَابَ ends in a Fathah, which suggests it is منصوب. Therefore, we make زَيْدٌ the subject of the verb and الْكِتَابَ the object, and translate the sentence as "Zaid wrote the book."

The total number of ways an Ism can be used in a sentence is 22. Today, we will cover 8 of these cases, 6 of which are in رفع, and 2 in جرّ.

The 6 رفع Uses of an Ism (and 2 نصب ones)

Here we list the 6 ways an Ism can be used that will cause the Ism to be in the state of رفع. You have already seen all of these before.

مُبْتَدَأ and خَبَر - Subject and Predicate

The first two you have seen numerous times, and they are the two portions of a جملة إسمية: the subject, مبتدأ, and the predicate, خبر.

• الْكِتَابُ جَدِيْدٌ - The book is new. الْكِتَابُ is the مبتدأ, and جَدِيْدٌ is the خبر.
• الرَّجُلُ مَشْهُوْرٌ - The man is famous. الرَّجُلُ is the مبتدأ, and مَشْهُوْرٌ is the خبر.
• الْأَصْنَامُ حِجَارَةٌ - The idols are stone. الْأَصْنَامُ is the مبتدأ, and حِجَارَةٌ is the خبر.

فاعل and نائب الفاعل (Naaib-ul-Faa'il) - Doer and Deputy Doer

Next, we have the فاعل, which is the subject of an active verb (مَعْلُوْم) (the one doing the verb), and the نائب الفاعل, which we translate as the deputy doer. It is the subject of the passive(مَجْهُوْل) verb and represents the entity on which the verb/action occurred.

• كَسَرَ إِبْرٰهِيْمُ الْأَصْنَامَ - Ibraheem broke the idols. إِبْرٰهِيْمُ is the subject of the verb, the فاعل.
• كُسِرَ الْأَصْنَامُ - The idols were broken. الْأَصْنَامُ is the deputy subject of the verb, the نائب الفاعل.

اسم كان (and خبر كان)

The اسم كان is رفع, while the خبر كان is نصب.

• كَانَ إِبْرٰهِيْمُ نَبِيَّةً - Ibraheem was a Prophet. إِبْرٰهِيْمُ is the اسم كان and is مرفوع, while نَبِيَّةً is the خبر كان and is منصوب.
• كَانَ الْمَلِكُ بَلِيْدًا - The king was dull-witted. الْمَلِكُ is the خبر كان in رفع, and بَلِيْدًا is the خبر كان in نصب.

خبر إنّ (and اسم إنّ)

The اسم إنّ is نصب, while the خبر إنّ is رفع.

• إِنَّ ﷲَ حَلِيْمٌ - Indeed, Allah is forbearing. ﷲَ is the اسم إنّ and is منصوب, while حَلِيْمٌ is the خبر إنّ and is مرفوع.
• إِنَّ الْأَصْنَامَ حِجَارَةٌ - Indeed, the idols are stone. الْأَصْنَامَ is the اسم إنّ and is منصوب, while حِجَارَةٌ is the خبر إنّ and is مرفوع.