Arabic sentences come in two types: ones that start with a noun, and ones that start with a verb. Let's discover the difference with easy examples.
المادةاللغة العربية
المرحلةالصف الثاني الابتدائي
مدة الدرس15 د
أهداف الدرس
Distinguish between nominal and verbal sentences
Identify the subject and predicate in a nominal sentence
Identify the verb and doer in a verbal sentence
نشاط تطبيقي
Read five sentences from your child's favorite storybook together, and ask them to circle the first word in each and decide whether it makes it nominal or verbal.
A nominal sentence starts with a noun, like “The sun is shining” (الشمسُ مشرقةٌ). A verbal sentence starts with a verb, like “The sun rose” (أشرقتِ الشمسُ) or “The boy plays” (يلعبُ الولدُ).
A nominal sentence has a “subject” (مبتدأ) and a “predicate” (خبر): «الشمسُ» is the subject and «مشرقةٌ» is the predicate that tells us about it. A verbal sentence has a “verb” (فعل) and a “doer” (فاعل): «أشرقتِ» is the verb and «الشمسُ» is the doer.
Notice the same idea can be said two ways: «الطفلُ يكتبُ» (nominal — “The child writes”) and «يكتبُ الطفلُ» (verbal — “Writes the child”) — both are correct, only the word order differs.
