Lesson 109: Local News

Step 1 of 5: Learn

An Arabic news item has a fixed shape. It opens with the dateline, the city where the news happened, followed by a dash: اَلْعَاصِمَةُ –. The first sentence is usually verbal, with the verb first, and the verb is very often passive, because a report is about what happened rather than who did it: عُثِرَ عَلَى السَّيَّارَةِ the car was found, أُصْدِرَ أَمْرٌ an order was issued. Time and place come as accusatives and prepositional phrases: صَبَاحَ الْيَوْمِ, مَسَاءَ أَمْسِ, خَارِجَ الْمَدِينَةِ. The item closes with its source in brackets, a correspondent or a news agency: (مُرَاسِلُنَا), (وَكَالَةُ الْأَنْبَاءِ). Officials are named by their post, مُدِيرُ دَائِرَةِ الْمِيَاهِ, with اَلسَّيِّدُ Mr before the name. Once you recognise the frame, the content is easy.

Rule 1: 1. The passive in news reports

Lesson 78 taught the passive for the unknown doer. The newspaper uses it for the unimportant doer as well: nobody cares which clerk issued the order or which policeman found the car. So expect أُصْدِرَ was issued (Form IV), عُيِّنَ was appointed (Form II), اُفْتُتِحَ was opened (Form VIII), عُقِدَ was held, and the impersonal passives with a preposition, عُثِرَ عَلَى was found, قُبِضَ عَلَى was arrested, حُكِمَ عَلَى ... بِـ was sentenced to. The passive of the derived forms is formed on the pattern you learned with each form: u on the first syllable, i before the last radical in the perfect (أُصْدِرَ, عُيِّنَ, اُفْتُتِحَ), u on the prefix and a before the last radical in the imperfect (يُصْدَرُ, يُعَيَّنُ, يُفْتَتَحُ).

أُصْدِرَ أَمْرٌ رَسْمِيٌّ إِلَى سَائِقِي الْحَافِلَاتِ.
uṣdira amrun rasmiyyun ilā sāʾiqi l-ḥāfilāti
An official order was issued to the bus drivers.
سَائِقِي: genitive sound plural سَائِقِينَ loses its ن in iḍāfa.
عُثِرَ عَلَى السَّيَّارَةِ خَارِجَ الْمَدِينَةِ.
ʿuthira ʿala s-sayyārati khārija l-madīnati
The car was found outside the city.
Impersonal passive: the verb stays masculine singular.
قُبِضَ عَلَى اللِّصَّيْنِ وَسَيُحْكَمُ عَلَيْهِمَا غَدًا.
qubiḍa ʿala l-liṣṣayni wa-sa-yuḥkamu ʿalayhimā ghadan
The two thieves were arrested and will be sentenced tomorrow.
عُيِّنَ نَائِبُ الْمُدِيرِ مُدِيرًا لِلدَّائِرَةِ مُدَّةَ غِيَابِهِ.
ʿuyyina nāʾibu l-mudīri mudīran li-d-dāʾirati muddata ghiyābihi
The deputy director was appointed director of the department for the period of his absence.
يُعْقَدُ الْمُؤْتَمَرُ فِي الْعَاصِمَةِ هٰذَا الْأُسْبُوعَ.
yuʿqadu l-muʾtamaru fi l-ʿāṣimati hādha l-usbūʿa
The conference is being held in the capital this week.

Rule 2: 2. لَا يَزَالُ and مَا زَالَ: still

زَالَ means to cease, and negated it means to be still: مَا زَالَ (perfect) and لَا يَزَالُ (imperfect) both translate is still. Like كَانَ the verb takes a nominative subject and either an accusative predicate or a following imperfect: لَا يَزَالُ التَّحْقِيقُ مُسْتَمِرًّا the investigation is still going on; لَا تَزَالُ الشُّرْطَةُ تَبْحَثُ عَنِ اللِّصِّ the police are still looking for the thief. The feminine is لَا تَزَالُ / مَا زَالَتْ, the plural لَا يَزَالُونَ / مَا زَالُوا. زَالَ belongs to the class with و or ي as second radical (here ي: the root is ز-ي-ل), which you will conjugate later in this volume; for now learn these forms as fixed phrases, and never use the verb without its negative.

لَا يَزَالُ التَّحْقِيقُ مُسْتَمِرًّا.
lā yazālu t-taḥqīqu mustamirran
The investigation is still continuing.
مَا زَالَتِ السَّيَّارَةُ أَمَامَ مَرْكَزِ الشُّرْطَةِ.
mā zālati s-sayyāratu amāma markazi sh-shurṭati
The car is still in front of the police station.
لَا تَزَالُ الدَّائِرَةُ تَبْحَثُ عَنْ سَائِقٍ جَدِيدٍ.
lā tazālu d-dāʾiratu tabḥathu ʿan sāʾiqin jadīdin
The department is still looking for a new driver.
لَا يَزَالُونَ يَبْحَثُونَ عَنْ أَثَرٍ لِلِّصِّ.
lā yazālūna yabḥathūna ʿan atharin li-l-liṣṣi
They are still searching for a trace of the thief.
Plural لَا يَزَالُونَ with a following imperfect.

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

خَبَرٌ

khabarun

piece of news, report

مَحَلِّيٌّ

maḥalliyyun

local

تَحْقِيقٌ

taḥqīqun

investigation, inquiry

حَقَّقَ يُحَقِّقُ فِي

ḥaqqaqa, yuḥaqqiqu fī

to investigate; to realise, achieve

أَصْدَرَ يُصْدِرُ

aṣdara, yuṣdiru

to issue (an order, a newspaper)

أَمْرٌ

amrun

order, command; matter, affair

رَسْمِيٌّ

rasmiyyun

official

سَائِقٌ

sāʾiqun

driver

مَفْرَقٌ

mafraqun

crossroads, junction

سِكَّةُ الْحَدِيدِ

sikkatu l-ḥadīdi

railway

إِطَارٌ

iṭārun

tyre; frame

عَثَرَ يَعْثُرُ عَلَى

ʿathara, yaʿthuru ʿalā

to come upon, find (by chance)

أَخْبَرَ يُخْبِرُ

akhbara, yukhbiru

to inform, tell

إِجَازَةٌ

ijāzatun

leave, holiday

مُؤْتَمَرٌ

muʾtamarun

conference, congress

لَا يَزَالُ

lā yazālu

is still, continues to be

Step 2 of 5: Read

Local news

أَخْبَارٌ مَحَلِّيَّةٌ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.When did the owner discover that his car was missing?
2.In what state was the car found?
3.What must drivers do at level crossings according to the new order?
4.Why did the director of the Water Department travel to the capital?
5.Who runs the department during his absence?

In the Quran

سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:6
سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ: the construction سَوَاءٌ أَ... أَمْ 'it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them'.
- سَوَآءٌsawāon(it) is same
- عَلَيْهِمْʿalayhimto them
- ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْa-andhartahumwhether you warn them
- أَمْamor
- لَمْlamnot
- تُنذِرْهُمْtundhir'humyou warn them
Read in context
فَمَا زَالَت تِّلْكَ دَعْوَىٰهُمْ
Surah Al-Anbya · 21:15
فَمَا زَالَتْ تِلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ: مَا زَالَ 'did not cease, was still' with its nominative subject تِلْكَ and accusative-position predicate دَعْوَاهُمْ, 'that remained their cry'.
- فَمَاfamāThen not
- زَالَتzālatceased
- تِّلْكَtil'ka[this]
- دَعْوَىٰهُمْdaʿwāhumtheir cry
Read in context
ٱقْتَرَبَتِ ٱلسَّاعَةُ وَٱنشَقَّ ٱلْقَمَرُ
Surah Al-Qamar · 54:1
اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ: Form VIII اِقْتَرَبَ 'drew near' and the doubled Form VII اِنْشَقَّ 'split', contracted from اِنْشَقَقَ by rule 1 of lesson 107.
- ٱقْتَرَبَتِiq'tarabatiHas come near
- ٱلسَّاعَةُl-sāʿatuthe Hour
- وَٱنشَقَّwa-inshaqqaand has split
- ٱلْقَمَرُl-qamaruthe moon
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Transform

Rewrite as a news report in the passive, dropping the agent:

أَصْدَرَتِ الدَّائِرَةُ أَمْرًا رَسْمِيًّا.

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

عُثِرَ عَلَى الْحَقِيبَةِ فِي مَحَطَّةِ الْقِطَارِ وَلَا يَزَالُ صَاحِبُهَا مَجْهُولًا.

2.

أَصْدَرَتِ الْبَلَدِيَّةُ أَمْرًا رَسْمِيًّا بِأَنْ تُغْلَقَ الْأَسْوَاقُ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْعَاشِرَةِ مَسَاءً.

3.

سَافَرَ مُدِيرُ الدَّائِرَةِ صَبَاحَ الْيَوْمِ إِلَى الْعَاصِمَةِ لِحُضُورِ مُؤْتَمَرٍ يُعْقَدُ فِيهَا.

4.

عَلَى السَّائِقِ أَنْ يَقِفَ عِنْدَ الْمَفْرَقِ سَوَاءٌ أَكَانَ الطَّرِيقُ فَارِغًا أَمْ مُزْدَحِمًا.

5.

مَا زَالَتِ الشُّرْطَةُ تُحَقِّقُ فِي حَادِثِ السَّرِقَةِ.

6.

رُفِعَتِ السَّيَّارَةُ اسْتِعْدَادًا لِأَخْذِ إِطَارَاتِهَا.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

An official order was issued to the drivers yesterday.

2.

The investigation is still going on.

3.

The thief was arrested near the railway.

4.

The man informed the police station at once.

5.

He will spend his annual leave with his family.

6.

The conference was held in the capital last week.

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