LessonsThe Predicate as a Single Expression: Causal Linkage, Clauses, Verbs and NounsQuiz

زَيْدٌ أَبُوهُ مُنْطَلِقٌ
Zayd's father is departing.

زَيْدٌ انْطَلَقَ أَبُوهُ
Zayd's father departed.

The predicate of Zayd in the first is the nominal clause «أبوه منطلق». In the second it is the verbal clause «انطلق أبوه». The pronoun on «أبوه» links the internal sentence back to the initial subject Zayd.

The first can foreground an established state and the second the occurrence of an action. Their common feature remains the indirect, causal attribution. The noun-versus-verb distinction is separate from the causal-versus-direct distinction.

Opening interactive controls...

Nominal and verbal causal predicates

The Predicate as a Single Expression: Causal Linkage, Clauses, Verbs and Nouns

زَيْدٌ أَبُوهُ مُنْطَلِقٌ
Zayd's father is departing.

زَيْدٌ انْطَلَقَ أَبُوهُ
Zayd's father departed.

The predicate of Zayd in the first is the nominal clause «أبوه منطلق». In the second it is the verbal clause «انطلق أبوه». The pronoun on «أبوه» links the internal sentence back to the initial subject Zayd.

The first can foreground an established state and the second the occurrence of an action. Their common feature remains the indirect, causal attribution. The noun-versus-verb distinction is separate from the causal-versus-direct distinction.