Definition of Al-Mubtadaʾ (the Subject of a Nominal Sentence)

Definition of Al-Khabar (the Predicate)

The sentence that joins al-mubtadaʾ and al-khabar is called al-jumla al-ismiyya (the nominal sentence).

Examples of Al-Mubtadaʾ and Al-Khabar

Types of Al-Mubtadaʾ

• 1 — A manifest noun (ism zahir), e.g.: Khalid is great.
• 2 — A separate pronoun (damir munfasil), e.g.: You are generous.
• 3 — An interpreted infinitive (masdar muʾawwal), e.g.: That you learn is better for you.
• 4 — A noun in the genitive after rubba ('many a...'), e.g.: 'Many a night [there is] as if it were the morning'.
• 5 — A noun in the genitive after the redundant min, e.g.: Do you have any book? (lit. 'is there with you of a book')
• 6 — A noun in the genitive after the redundant baʾ, e.g.: A dirham is enough for you (lit. 'with-yours [is] a dirham').

Types of Al-Khabar

• 1 — A manifest noun, e.g.: The pupil is energetic.
• 2 — A nominal sentence (jumla ismiyya), e.g.: The student — his lessons are many.
• 3 — A verbal sentence (jumla fiʿliyya), e.g.: The player goes to the field.
• 4 — An interpreted infinitive (masdar muʾawwal), e.g.: Success is that you persevere in study.
• 5 — Omitted, attached to a prepositional phrase, e.g.: In the house [is] a man.
• 6 — Omitted, attached to an adverb (zarf), e.g.: The books [are] on top of the table.
• 7 — Two clauses combined where al-mubtadaʾ is a conditional noun, e.g.: 'Whoever sows reaps' (man yahsud yazraʿ).
• 8 — An interrogative noun, when what follows it is a noun in the nominative, e.g.: Who is your father?

Is Al-Mubtadaʾ Indefinite or Definite?

Al-mubtadaʾ is definite (maʿrifa) and al-khabar is indefinite (nakira). However, al-mubtadaʾ may be indefinite in ten situations:

• 1 — When preceded by an interrogative particle, e.g.: 'Is there a pen on the table?' (a-qalamun ʿala al-tawila?)
• 2 — When preceded by a particle of negation, e.g.: 'There is no diligent one in our class' (la mujtahidun fi saffina).
• 3 — When al-khabar is a fronted prepositional phrase preceding the indefinite noun, e.g.: 'In the battle [there is] a strong army' (fi al-maʿrakati jayshun qawiyy).
• 4 — When al-khabar is a fronted adverb preceding the indefinite noun, e.g.: 'You have wealth' (ʿindaka malun).
• 5 — In the genitive after rubba, e.g.: 'Many a brother to you' (rubba akhin lak).
• 6 — When the noun is a mudaf (first term of a construct), e.g.: 'The school's door is large' (babu al-madrasati kabir).
• 7 — An interrogative noun, e.g.: 'Who raised you?' (man rabbaka?).
• 8 — A jussive conditional noun, e.g.: 'Whoever strives toward success will find it' (man yasʿa ila al-najahi yajidh).
• 9 — An indefinite noun qualified by an attribute, e.g.: 'A long road [there is that] we walked on' (tariqun tawilun mashayna fih).
• 10 — Ma of wonderment, e.g.: 'How beautiful nature is!' (ma ajmala al-tabiʿa).

Iʿrab (Grammatical Analysis) of Al-Mubtadaʾ and Al-Khabar

Al-mubtadaʾ and al-khabar are governed by al-rafʿ (the nominative case), as follows:

• 1 — If both end in a sound consonant, they take rafʿ with the manifest damma.
• 2 — If both end in a weak letter, they take rafʿ with an estimated/implied damma.
• 3 — If both are in the dual (muthanna), they take rafʿ with alif.
• 4 — If both are sound masculine plural (jamʿ mudhakkar salim), they take rafʿ with waw.
• 5 — If both are among the Five Nouns (al-asmaʾ al-khamsa), they take rafʿ with waw.

Examples:

al-ʿilm: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case (marfuʿ), with the manifest damma at its end.

nur: khabar in the nominative case, with the manifest damma at its end.

al-madʿuww: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, with an estimated damma on the waw, prevented from appearing because of phonetic heaviness.

al-muhami: a second mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, with an estimated damma on the yaʾ, prevented from appearing because of phonetic heaviness.

Musa: khabar of al-muhami in the nominative case, with an estimated damma on the alif, prevented from appearing because the alif cannot bear vowels (taʿadhdhur). The clause (al-muhami Musa) is in the position of nominative as the khabar of al-madʿuww.

al-tilmidhani: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, marked by alif because it is dual (muthanna); the nun substitutes for the tanwin found in the singular noun.

mujiddani: khabar in the nominative case, marked by alif because it is dual; the nun substitutes for the tanwin of the singular noun.

al-mudarribuna: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, marked by waw because it is a sound masculine plural; the nun substitutes for the tanwin of the singular noun.

sarimuna: khabar in the nominative case, marked by waw because it is a sound masculine plural; the nun substitutes for the tanwin of the singular noun.

abuka: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, marked by waw because it is one of the Five Nouns (al-asmaʾ al-khamsa); the kaf is a connected pronoun fixed on fatha, in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh.

dhu: khabar in the nominative case, marked by waw because it is one of the Five Nouns; it is a mudaf (first term of a construct).

ʿilm: mudaf ilayh in the genitive case, with the manifest kasra at its end.

Omission of Al-Mubtadaʾ

• — Al-mubtadaʾ is omitted when there is contextual evidence indicating it and the meaning is not affected, e.g.: 'How is Muhammad?' — 'Fine.' — that is, 'Muhammad's state is fine.'
• — Al-mubtadaʾ is also omitted from titles, e.g.: 'House of Wisdom' (Bayt al-Hikma) — implying 'This is the House of Wisdom.'

Obligatory and Permissible Omission of Al-Khabar

Al-khabar is omitted obligatorily:

1 — When al-mubtadaʾ comes after lawla al-imtinaʿiyya ('were it not for...'), e.g.:

Al-mubtadaʾ: ʿAliyy.

Al-khabar: omitted obligatorily; its implied meaning is 'Were it not for Ali being present, ʿUmar would have perished.'

2 — When al-mubtadaʾ appears in an oath formula, e.g.:

Al-mubtadaʾ: la-ʿamri.

Al-khabar: omitted obligatorily; its implied meaning is 'By my life, I swear that I shall surely study.'

3 — When al-khabar comes after the waw of accompaniment (waw al-maʿiyya, 'and' meaning 'with'), e.g.:

Al-mubtadaʾ: kull.

Al-khabar: omitted obligatorily; its implied meaning is 'Every person and his deeds are paired together (muqtarinan).'

4 — When al-mubtadaʾ is followed by a hal (circumstantial accusative) that cannot serve as a khabar, e.g.:

Al-mubtadaʾ: darbuka.

Al-khabar: omitted obligatorily; its implied meaning is 'Your striking the boy is occurring when you act mistakenly.'

Al-khabar is omitted permissibly:

— When there is contextual evidence and the meaning is not affected by its omission, e.g.:

— 'Who is at your place?' You answer: 'Muhammad' — its implied meaning being 'Muhammad is at our place.' Here al-khabar (ʿindana, 'at our place') is omitted because it is mentioned in the question.

Permissible Fronting of Al-Khabar Before Al-Mubtadaʾ

It is permissible to front al-khabar before al-mubtadaʾ in two cases:

1 — When al-khabar is a quasi-clause (shibh jumla — i.e., a prepositional or adverbial phrase) and al-mubtadaʾ is definite, e.g.:

fi al-taʾanni: a quasi-clause consisting of a preposition and its object — a fronted khabar.

al-salama: a postponed mubtadaʾ.

2 — When the meaning of al-khabar requires it to take initial position, e.g.:

Obligatory Fronting of Al-Khabar Before Al-Mubtadaʾ

Al-khabar must be fronted before al-mubtadaʾ in four cases:

1 — When al-khabar is a quasi-clause and al-mubtadaʾ is indefinite, e.g.:

2 — When al-khabar is a word that requires initial position, such as the interrogative nouns, e.g.:

3 — When al-mubtadaʾ has a connected pronoun referring back to something in al-khabar, e.g.:

4 — When al-khabar is restricted by 'illa' (except) or 'innama' (only), e.g.:

Examples of Al-Mubtadaʾ and Al-Khabar from the Noble Quran

Allah, Glorified and Most High, says in His noble Book:

• – ‘ وَأَن تَصُومُوا خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ ‘ ( البقرة 184 ) .
• – ‘ وَلَعَبْدٌ مُّؤْمِنٌ خَيْرٌ مِّن مُّشْرِكٍ ‘ ( البقرة 212 ) .
• – ‘ وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ ‘ ( آل عمران 144 ) .
• – ‘ إِنَّمَا أَنتَ نَذِيرٌ ‘ ( هود 12 ) .
• – ‘ هَلْ مِنْ خَالِقٍ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ ‘ ( فاطر 3 ) .
• – ‘ وَالشُّعَرَاءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوُونَ ‘ ( الشعراء 224 ) .

Exercises on the Iʿrab of Al-Mubtadaʾ and Al-Khabar

Muhammad: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, with the manifest damma at its end.

karim: khabar in the nominative case, with the manifest damma at its end.

anta: a separate pronoun fixed on fatha, in the position of nominative as a mubtadaʾ.

shujaʿ: khabar in the nominative case, with the manifest damma at its end.

la-ʿamri: the lam is the lam of inception (lam al-ibtidaʾ) for emphasis. ʿamr: mubtadaʾ in the nominative case, with an estimated damma on the letter preceding the speaker's yaʾ — prevented from appearing because the position is occupied by the appropriate vowel. The yaʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh. Al-khabar is omitted; its implied meaning is 'I swear.'

la-adrusann: the lam is the link to the response of the oath (lam jawab al-qasam). adrusann: a present-tense verb fixed on fatha because it is attached to the heavy emphatic nun (nun al-tawkid al-thaqila); the nun is a particle with no place in iʿrab. The subject (faʿil) is an obligatorily concealed pronoun whose implied form is 'I' (ana).

The clause (la-ʿamri) is an opening clause (jumla ibtidaʾiyya) with no place in iʿrab, and the clause (la-adrusann) is the response to the oath, also with no place in iʿrab.

layta: a particle of wishing and accusative-governance, from the sisters of inna (akhawat inna).

shiʿri: the noun (ism) of layta in the accusative case, with an estimated fatha on the letter preceding the speaker's yaʾ — prevented from appearing because the position is occupied by the appropriate vowel. The yaʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh. Al-khabar is omitted obligatorily.