Lesson 92: Sending and Informing

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Letters are where Form IV lives. One sends (أَرْسَلَ) them, informs (أَخْبَرَ, أَعْلَمَ) in them, asks the reader to bring (أَحْضَرَ) or hurry (أَسْرَعَ) or not to send (لَا تُرْسِلْ). An Arabic letter opens with the greeting اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ and addresses the reader with يَا and an adjective of affection: يَا أَبِي الْعَزِيزَ my dear father, in which الْعَزِيزَ takes the accusative because أَبِي is a vocative in iḍāfa. It closes with the writer's name after a word of relation: ابْنُكَ أَحْمَدُ. Read the letter twice: first for the family news, then to collect every Form IV verb and name its person, mood and voice.

Rule 1: 1. The passive with an أَنَّ clause: أُعْلِنَ أَنَّ

Verbs of saying and informing are often made passive without naming who said or informed: أُعْلِنَ أَنَّ it was announced that, ذُكِرَ أَنَّ it was mentioned that, قِيلَ إِنَّ it was said that, أُخْبِرْتُ أَنَّ I was informed that. The أَنَّ clause itself is the subject of the passive verb, which therefore stays in the masculine singular. After قِيلَ the particle is إِنَّ, because what is quoted is a saying.

أُعْلِنَ فِي الْجَرِيدَةِ أَنَّ الْمُسْتَشْفَى الْجَدِيدَ سَيُفْتَحُ فِي أَوَّلِ الشَّهْرِ.
uʿlina fi l-jarīdati anna l-mustashfa l-jadīda sa-yuftaḥu fī awwali sh-shahri
It was announced in the newspaper that the new hospital will be opened at the beginning of the month.
ذُكِرَ أَنَّ الطَّرِيقَ سَيُصْلَحُ فِي الصَّيْفِ.
dhukira anna ṭ-ṭarīqa sa-yuṣlaḥu fi ṣ-ṣayfi
It was mentioned that the road will be repaired in the summer.
قِيلَ إِنَّ الْمُحَافِظَ سَافَرَ إِلَى بَغْدَادَ.
qīla inna l-muḥāfiẓa sāfara ilā baghdāda
It was said that the governor had travelled to Baghdad.
أُخْبِرْتُ أَنَّ أَخِي وَصَلَ أَمْسِ.
ukhbirtu anna akhī waṣala amsi
I was informed that my brother arrived yesterday.
Passive of أَخْبَرَ with the person as subject and the news as an أَنَّ clause.

Rule 2: 2. جَاءَ بِـ 'to bring'

Beside أَحْضَرَ, Arabic says to bring with a verb of motion and بِـ: جَاءَ بِالْخُبْزِ he came with the bread, that is, he brought the bread; ذَهَبَ بِهِ he took him away. جَاءَ is a hollow verb with a hamza as its last radical; learn its main forms: جَاءَ, جَاءَتْ, جَاؤُوا, جِئْتُ I came, جِئْنَا, imperfect يَجِيءُ, subjunctive أَنْ يَجِيءَ. With بِـ every one of them means bring.

مَنْ جَاءَ بِهٰذِهِ الْجَرِيدَةِ؟ أَنَا جِئْتُ بِهَا.
man jāʾa bi-hādhihi l-jarīdati? ana jiʾtu bihā
Who brought this newspaper? I brought it.
جَاءَتْ أُخْتِي بِالْقَهْوَةِ وَذَهَبَتْ بِالصُّحُونِ.
jāʾat ukhtī bi-l-qahwati wa-dhahabat bi-ṣ-ṣuḥūni
My sister brought the coffee and took away the dishes.
عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تَجِيءَ بِالتَّمْرِ مَعَكَ.
ʿalayka an tajīʾa bi-t-tamri maʿaka
You must bring the dates with you.
جَاءَ سَاعِي الْبَرِيدِ بِرِسَالَةٍ مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ.
jāʾa sāʿi l-barīdi bi-risālatin mina l-madīnati
The postman brought a letter from the city.

Rule 3: 3. The emphatic نَفْسٌ: بِنَفْسِهِ 'himself'

نَفْسٌ soul, self with a pronoun suffix stresses that the person acted in person: قَابَلَنِي عَمِّي بِنَفْسِهِ my uncle met me himself, كَتَبَتِ الرِّسَالَةَ بِنَفْسِهَا she wrote the letter herself. The suffix agrees with the subject, and بِـ is usual, though the bare noun in apposition is also found: جَاءَ الْمُدِيرُ نَفْسُهُ the director himself came. As the object of a verb نَفْسَهُ is the reflexive himself: أَكْرَمَ نَفْسَهُ he honoured himself.

أَحْضَرَ الْمُدِيرُ الْكُتُبَ بِنَفْسِهِ.
aḥḍara l-mudīru l-kutuba bi-nafsihi
The director brought the books himself.
أَصْلَحَتِ الْأُمُّ الْمِصْبَاحَ بِنَفْسِهَا.
aṣlaḥati l-ummu l-miṣbāḥa bi-nafsihā
The mother repaired the lamp herself.
سَأُرْسِلُ الرِّسَالَةَ بِنَفْسِي وَلَنْ أُرْسِلَهَا مَعَ أَحَدٍ.
sa-ursilu r-risālata bi-nafsī wa-lan ursilahā maʿa aḥadin
I shall send the letter myself and will not send it with anyone.
لَا يَقْدِرُ الْعَجُوزُ أَنْ يَحْرُثَ حَقْلَهُ بِنَفْسِهِ.
lā yaqdiru l-ʿajūzu an yaḥrutha ḥaqlahu bi-nafsihi
The old man cannot plough his field himself.

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).

أَعْلَنَ يُعْلِنُ

aʿlana, yuʿlinu

to announce, declare

إِعْلَانٌ

iʿlānun

announcement, advertisement

أَفْطَرَ يُفْطِرُ

afṭara, yufṭiru

to have breakfast; to break the fast

جَاءَ بِـ يَجِيءُ

jāʾa bi-, yajīʾu

to bring

تُوُفِّيَ

tuwuffiya

he passed away

دَفَنَ يَدْفِنُ

dafana, yadfinu

to bury

دَفَعَ يَدْفَعُ

dafaʿa, yadfaʿu

to pay; to push

نَفْسٌ

nafsun

soul, self; (with suffix) -self

مُسْتَشْفًى

mustashfan

hospital

بَرِيدٌ

barīdun

post, mail

قَبْرٌ

qabrun

grave

اَلْمَرْحُومُ

al-marḥūmu

the late, the deceased

تَالٍ

tālin

following, next

عَزِيزٌ

ʿazīzun

dear; mighty

حَرَثَ يَحْرُثُ

ḥaratha, yaḥruthu

to plough

Step 2 of 5: Read

A letter from the city

رِسَالَةٌ مِنَ الْمَدِينَةِ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Who met Aḥmad at the station?
2.What two things were announced in the newspaper?
3.Who passed away, and where was he buried?
4.What does Aḥmad ask his father to send, and what not to send?
5.What must the little brother bring?

In the Quran

هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُۥ
Surah At-Tawbah · 9:33
هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ: Form IV أَرْسَلَ with its object رَسُولَهُ, 'He it is who sent His Messenger'.
- هُوَhuwaHe
- ٱلَّذِىٓalladhī(is) the One Who
- أَرْسَلَarsalahas sent
- رَسُولَهُۥrasūlahuHis Messenger
Read in context
بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:4
بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ: the Form IV passive أُفْعِلَ, 'what was sent down to you', with no agent named, like أُعْلِنَ in this lesson.
- بِمَآbimāin what
- أُنزِلَunzila(is) sent down
- إِلَيْكَilaykato you
Read in context
ٱلَّذِىٓ أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍۢ
Surah Quraysh · 106:4
الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ: Form IV أَطْعَمَ 'fed them', the causative of طَعِمَ 'to eat', with the person as its object.
- ٱلَّذِىٓalladhīThe One Who
- أَطْعَمَهُمaṭʿamahumfeeds them
- مِّنmin[from]
- جُوعٍۢjūʿin(against) hunger
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Transform

Turn into the impersonal passive, dropping the agent:

أَعْلَنَتِ الْحُكُومَةُ أَنَّ الطَّرِيقَ سَيُصْلَحُ.

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

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

1.

أُعْلِنَ أَمْسِ أَنَّ مَكْتَبَ الْبَرِيدِ سَيُغْلَقُ يَوْمَ الْجُمْعَةِ.

2.

جَاءَ أَخِي بِالْجَرِيدَةِ وَأَعْلَمَنِي أَنَّ الْمُسْتَشْفَى قَدْ فُتِحَ.

3.

تُوُفِّيَ جَارُنَا الْمَرْحُومُ لَيْلَةَ الْخَمِيسِ وَدُفِنَ فِي الْيَوْمِ التَّالِي.

4.

لَا تُرْسِلْ إِلَيَّ مَالًا، فَإِنَّ عَمِّي لَا يَتْرُكُنِي أَدْفَعُ شَيْئًا.

5.

أَحْضَرَ الْمُدِيرُ الْإِعْلَانَ بِنَفْسِهِ وَقَرَأَهُ عَلَى الطُّلَّابِ.

6.

أَفْطَرْتُ مُبَكِّرًا ثُمَّ أَسْرَعْتُ إِلَى الْمَحَطَّةِ.

Translate from English to Arabic

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

1.

Send my little brother to the baker to bring the bread.

2.

I was informed that the court is now in the new building.

3.

My grandfather cannot plough the field himself.

4.

Who brought these two letters? I did not bring them.

5.

The late merchant was buried beside his father's grave.

6.

It was announced in the newspapers that the road will be repaired.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

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