LessonsHow Restrictive Constructions Convey Qasr: Ellipsis and ScopeQuiz

زَيْدٌ شَاعِرٌ لَا كَاتِبٌ
Zayd is a poet, not a writer.

Here coordinating lā simply contrasts an affirmed and a denied predicate.

مَا زَيْدٌ غَيْرُ شَاعِرٍ لَا كَاتِبٍ
“Zayd is nothing except a poet, not a writer” is the combination excluded by the discussed rule.

The particle lā appears in both cases. In the first it introduces an ordinary contrast; in the second the restrictive ghayr-construction has already excluded the alternatives. The syntactic setting, not the mere presence of lā, controls the ruling.

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Ordinary contrast versus a saturated qasr form

How Restrictive Constructions Convey Qasr: Ellipsis and Scope

زَيْدٌ شَاعِرٌ لَا كَاتِبٌ
Zayd is a poet, not a writer.

Here coordinating lā simply contrasts an affirmed and a denied predicate.

مَا زَيْدٌ غَيْرُ شَاعِرٍ لَا كَاتِبٍ
“Zayd is nothing except a poet, not a writer” is the combination excluded by the discussed rule.

The particle lā appears in both cases. In the first it introduces an ordinary contrast; in the second the restrictive ghayr-construction has already excluded the alternatives. The syntactic setting, not the mere presence of lā, controls the ruling.