Arabic Grammar: Too Much About ال

Have you ever thought to yourself I want to learn entirely too much unnecessary information about the definite article in Arabic?

Well by reading this article that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

On the face of it the definite article is fairly straightforward to use, functioning in the same way that it does in other languages.

The definite article has two main categories in Arabic, العهدية and الجنسية, each further divided into three more specific subcategories.

العهدية

This category refers to words which are definite as a result of some shared knowledge between the speaker and the listener.

It’s name is derived from عَهْد meaning knowledge.

1. الذكري

In this category the ال refers back to something that has already been mentioned (مذكور) in the sentence.

شَاهَدتُ مُسَلسَلٌ وأَحبَبتُ المُسَلسَل

In this example the definite المسلسل refers back to the مسلسل that the speaker mentions watching.

2. الذهني

The name for this category comes from the word ذِهْن, meaning mind or intellect.

This is because the speaker and the listener share some kind of prior knowledge which provides the context for which the definiteness of a word makes sense.

بَعدَ قَلِيل سأَذهَبُ إِلَى المَكتَب

In this sentence the speaker would not specify the definite المكتب if the listener was not already aware of which office was being talked about, for instance by knowing where it was that the speaker worked.

3. الحضوري

In this category the listener understands what the definite word refers to because of its physical presence (حضور).

خُذ القَلَم

For instance the listener would understand which قلم was being talked about because of its presence in the room or by the speaker gesturing towards it while uttering the sentence.

الجنسية

1. لتعريف الحقيقة

This category relates to the general essence (الحقيقة) of something.

أحب زيارة المدن

In this example the speaker does not mean that they like to visit every city in the world or that there are no cities that they don’t like, but that generally they like to visit cities.

2. لاستغراق الأفراد

Used in cases where all individual members of a group are covered by this.

The only example I could find to demonstrate this is from the end of a Quranic verse .

يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمْ ۚ وَخُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ ضَعِيفًۭا

Even though the word إنسان is singular the use of ال to precede it indicates that the sentence applies to everyone who is an إنسان.

3. لاستغراق خصائص الأفراد

This category applies to cases where a characteristic in a person is highlighted.

هو الرجل كرماً

In this example we are saying that with respect to his generosity this man is particularly noteworthy.