Practical Exercises with Pronouns

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Lesson

1. Practice Applying Pronouns

● In this section, we will learn to change different adjectives according to the pronoun chart. ● We will practise replacing explicit nouns in sentences with the correct nominative pronouns. ● We will study in detail the special rule of using a feminine singular pronoun with a non-rational plural.

2. Practice with Pronouns and Adjectival Nouns

● We need to adapt صَادِقٌ, صَالِحٌ, قَائِمٌ, جَالِسٌ, and بَاكِسْتَانِيٌّ to agree with the pronouns. ● Let us compare the complete forms of صَادِقٌ, 'truthful': ● Note: Since Arabic has no separate detached dual pronoun for the first person, نَحْنُ is also used with dual forms such as صَادِقَانِ and صَادِقَتَانِ. PronounSingularDualPlural Third-person masculineهُوَ صَادِقٌهُمَا صَادِقَانِهُمْ صَادِقُونَ Third-person feminineهِيَ صَادِقَةٌهُمَا صَادِقَتَانِهُنَّ صَادِقَاتٌ Second-person masculineأَنْتَ صَادِقٌأَنْتُمَا صَادِقَانِأَنْتُمْ صَادِقُونَ Second-person feminineأَنْتِ صَادِقَةٌأَنْتُمَا صَادِقَتَانِأَنْتُنَّ صَادِقَاتٌ First-person masculineأَنَا صَادِقٌنَحْنُ صَادِقَانِنَحْنُ صَادِقُونَ First-person feminineأَنَا صَادِقَةٌنَحْنُ صَادِقَتَانِنَحْنُ صَادِقَاتٌ

3. Comparing the Forms of Other Adjectival Nouns

● Let us see how بَاكِسْتَانِيٌّ, 'Pakistani,' and قَائِمٌ, 'standing,' change in singular and plural: ○ Pakistani: ■ He is Pakistani (masculine singular): هُوَ بَاكِسْتَانِيٌّ ■ She is Pakistani (feminine singular): هِيَ بَاكِسْتَانِيَّةٌ ■ We are all Pakistani (masculine plural): نَحْنُ بَاكِسْتَانِيُّونَ ○ Standing: ■ They are all standing (masculine plural): هُمْ قَائِمُونَ ■ They are all standing (feminine plural): هُنَّ قَائِمَاتٌ ■ We are all standing: نَحْنُ قَائِمُونَ ● Other words, such as صَالِحٌ and جَالِسٌ, change according to the same pattern.

4. Using Pronouns in Place of Explicit Nouns (Part One)

● Let us practise replacing an explicit noun with the correct pronoun: ○ المسلم صادق (masculine singular) -> هُوَ صَادِقٌ ○ المسلمان صادقان (masculine dual) -> هُمَا صَادِقَانِ ○ المسلمون صادقون (masculine plural) -> هُمْ صَادِقُونَ ○ الطالبة مجتهدة (feminine singular) -> هِيَ مُجْتَهِدَةٌ ○ الطالبتان مجتهدتان (feminine dual) -> هُمَا مُجْتَهِدَتَانِ ○ الطالبات مجتهدات (feminine plural) -> هُنَّ مُجْتَهِدَاتٌ ○ الباب مفتوح (masculine singular) -> هُوَ مَفْتُوحٌ ○ البابان مفتوحان (masculine dual) -> هُمَا مَفْتُوحَانِ

5. Using Pronouns in Place of Explicit Nouns (Part Two)

● Here we will study the special rule of using a feminine singular pronoun with a non-rational plural: ○ النافذة مغلقة (feminine singular) -> هِيَ مُغْلَقَةٌ ○ النافذتان مغلقتان (feminine dual) -> هُمَا مُغْلَقَتَانِ ○ الأبواب مفتوحة (non-rational plural) -> هِيَ مَفْتُوحَةٌ (The noun described is a non-rational plural, so the pronoun is feminine singular.) ○ النوافذ مفتوحة (non-rational plural) -> هِيَ مَفْتُوحَةٌ ○ الكتب مفيدة (non-rational plural) -> هِيَ مُفِيدَةٌ ○ السرر جديدة (non-rational plural) -> هِيَ جَدِيدَةٌ ● Note: A non-rational plural, such as أَبْوَابٌ, كُتُبٌ, or سُرُرٌ, always takes the feminine singular pronoun هِيَ.

Practice questions

Question 1

Which pronoun replaces الكتب in "الكتب مفيدة", meaning 'The books are useful'?

  • هِيَ
  • هُمْ
  • هُنَّ

Question 2

When "المسلمون صادقون" is changed to use a pronoun, the correct sentence is "هُمْ صَادِقُونَ."

  • True
  • False

Question 3

Select the correct Arabic equivalent of "We are all Pakistani women."

  • نَحْنُ بَاكِسْتَانِيَّاتٌ
  • نَحْنُ بَاكِسْتَانِيُّونَ
  • أَنَا بَاكِسْتَانِيَّةٌ

Question 4

Match the following sentences with explicit nouns to the corresponding sentences using suitable pronouns:

Question 5

Select the suitable pronoun to replace السرر in "السرر جديدة", meaning 'The beds are new':

  • هِيَ
  • هُمْ
  • هُنَّ

Question 6

Sort the words into their correct grammatical-order groups to make the sentence "She is truthful."

Question 7

Arrange the given words in grammatical order to make the sentence "We are truthful."

Question 8

Select the sentence with the suitable dual pronoun replacing the explicit noun phrase "النافذتان مغلقتان":

  • هُمَا مُغْلَقَتَانِ
  • هِيَ مُغْلَقَتَانِ
  • هُنَّ مُغْلَقَتَانِ

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