Eleven verbs, three meaning groups, four an-rules and complete parsing Read the bilingual lesson for Verbs of Nearness: Hope, Imminence and Inception and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. New Chapter: Verbs of Nearness
الْفَصْلُ الْخَامِسُ: فِي أَفْعَالِ الْمُقَارَبَةِ
Translation: Chapter five: verbs of nearness.
This chapter introduces verbs expressing nearness, hope, or the beginning of an action. They resemble kāna in government, but their predicates have special restrictions.
2. The Book’s Definition
أَفْعَالٌ وُضِعَتْ لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى دُنُوِّ الْخَبَرِ لِفَاعِلِهَا
Translation: These verbs indicate that the predicate is near to their subject.
Dunūw means proximity. The label “verbs of nearness” is used for the whole class, even though it also contains hope and inception verbs.
3. Three Main Classes
Three classes: hope (ʿasā, ḥarā, ikhlawlaqa); nearness (kāda, kariba, awshaka); inception (ṭafiqa, jaʿala, akhadha, anshaʾa, ʿaliqa). The source names 11 verbs across these groups.
4. One Heading, Three Meanings
Compare: kāda = nearly happened; ʿasā = hoped to happen; ṭafiqa = began happening. The three meanings must not be merged.
5. Government: Like Kāna
وَهِيَ فِي الْعَمَلِ مِثْلُ كَانَ
Translation: They work grammatically like kāna.
They govern a nominative ism and an accusative-position predicate. Unlike ordinary kāna’s broader predicate types, the normal predicate here is a present-tense verbal clause.
6. Why a Verbal Clause Is the Predicate
In kāda Zaydun yakhruju, kāda is the defective verb, Zaydun its nominative ism. Yakhruju is indicative with an implicit subject referring to Zayd. The whole verbal clause is in the accusative position as khabar.
7. Indicative Verb, Accusative-Clause Position
Separate the case of the present verb from the syntactic position of the entire clause: the verb is indicative, while the verbal clause occupies the accusative predicate slot.
8. Which Noun the Pronoun Refers To
In kādat Fāṭimatu tanjaḥu, the implicit subject of tanjaḥu is hiya, referring back to Fāṭima. This is the subject-predicate link.
9. Is the Predicate a Single Word?
Ordinarily, the predicate of these verbs is a present-tense verbal clause. Contrast it with the single-word accusative predicate of kāna.
10. Four Patterns of An Before the Predicate
Four an-patterns: obligatory with ḥarā/ikhlawlaqa; absent with inception verbs; usually present with ʿasā/awshaka; usually absent with kāda/kariba. Do not confuse this four-way division with the three meaning groups.
11. First Class: Hope
Hope verbs express an anticipated outcome, not guaranteed completion. The three named forms are ʿasā, ḥarā, and ikhlawlaqa.
12. ʿAsā: Basic Example
ʿAsā expresses hope, Zaydun is its nominative ism, and the construction an yakhruja functions as its predicate.
13. The Subjunctive After ʿAsā
An is the particle that makes yakhruja subjunctive. ʿAsā governs the predicate position, but does not itself directly put the present verb in the subjunctive.
14. ʿAsā: Parsing the Interpreted Masdar
In ʿasā al-ṭālibu an yanjaḥa, the an-clause is interpreted as a masdar in the accusative predicate position. The verb’s hidden subject is the student.
15. Occasional Omission of An after ʿAsā
The ordinary construction includes an. An omitted-an construction is attested but less common; a learner should not treat the two as equally frequent.
16. Hope Is Not a Claim of Completion
ʿAsā al-marīḍu an yabraʾa expresses hope of recovery. The grammar itself does not assert that recovery has taken place or is guaranteed.
17. Ḥarā: An Is Required
The book treats ḥarā as taking a predicate with obligatory an. The resulting present verb is subjunctive.
18. Full Parsing of Ḥarā
Ḥarā is a hope verb; al-musāfiru is nominative; an yaṣila is the interpreted-masdar construction in predicate position, with yaṣila subjunctive.
19. Ikhlawlaqa: The Other Obligatory Case
Ikhlawlaqa is uncommon but explicitly listed in the book. Its predicate requires an, as in ikhlawlaqa al-shajaru an yuthmira.
20. Parsing Ikhlawlaqa
Al-ghaymu is its nominative ism; an yamṭura is its predicate construction, and the implicit subject links to the clouds.
21. Three Hope Verbs Together
Hope summary: ʿasā usually takes an; ḥarā and ikhlawlaqa require it. The difference concerns form, not the basic notion of hope.
22. Second Class: Nearness
The nearness class consists of kāda, kariba, and awshaka. They imply an impending event without by themselves certifying its completion.
23. Kāda: Usually Without An
Kāda usually takes a present-tense predicate without an. Yaẓharu is indicative, while its clause is in the accusative predicate position.
24. Kāda with An: Less Frequent
The predominant form is kāda Zaydun yaqūmu. A construction with an is attested but not the normal pattern; the book notes the analogical resemblance to ʿasā.
25. Does Kāda Mean It Happened?
Kāda al-waladu yasquṭu expresses near falling. Whether the child actually fell depends on additional context.
26. Qurʾānic Example: Yakādu
Qurʾān 2:20: yakādu is a present-tense nearness verb, al-barqu its nominative ism, and yakhṭafu abṣārahum a verbal-clause predicate.
27. Kāda and Yakādu
Kāda is past and yakādu present. Both express nearness; yakādu is one of the regular non-past forms mentioned in this chapter.
28. Kariba: Usually Without An
Kariba expresses imminence and normally has a bare present-tense predicate. Yanbaliju is indicative; the clause is the predicate.
29. An with Kariba
Like kāda, kariba predominantly lacks an. This contrasts with ʿasā, whose usual predicate has an.
30. Awshaka: Usually With An
Awshaka expresses nearness, not hope. Its predicate usually includes an; thus yanzila is subjunctive.
31. Awshaka Can Occur Without An
Awshaka may occur with a bare indicative predicate; the common form in the book uses an plus subjunctive.
32. Comparing Three Nearness Verbs
Kāda and kariba normally omit an; awshaka normally includes it. All three indicate an event near to happening.
33. Third Class: Verbs of Inception
Inception verbs indicate that an activity started. The source names five: ṭafiqa, jaʿala, akhadha, anshaʾa, ʿaliqa. Their present-tense predicates are bare, without an.
34. Ṭafiqa: Began Doing
Ṭafiqa is an inception verb, Zaydun its nominative ism, and yaktubu with its implicit subject the predicate clause.
35. Ṭafiqā: Dual Subject Linking
In ṭafiqā yaktubāni, the dual suffix in the defective verb is its ism; the dual marker of the indicative present verb links the predicate to that same pair.
36. Qurʾānic Example: Wa-ṭafiqā
Qurʾān 7:22 (excerpt): ṭafiqā expresses beginning; the dual suffix is the verb’s ism, and yakhṣifāni is indicative with retained nūn. The excerpt is not the entire verse.
37. Jaʿala Used as an Inception Verb
Jaʿala means “began” here. Al-ṭiflu is its ism and the present-tense verb yabkī with implicit subject is its predicate.
38. Jaʿala Is Not Always Inceptive
Jaʿala may also mean “made/transformed”, with objects rather than the nominative ism plus present-clause predicate of inception use.
39. Akhadha: Began
Akhadha acts as an inception verb in akhadha al-tilmīdhu yaqraʾu; the present verbal clause is its predicate.
40. Akhadha Can Be Ordinary Transitive
In akhadha al-tilmīdhu al-kitāba, the verb is ordinary transitive: the student is fāʿil and the book is mafʿūl bih, not an inception predicate.
41. Anshaʾa: Inception Sense
Anshaʾa can denote beginning to do something; yatakallamu remains indicative, with its clause filling the predicate position.
42. ʿAliqa as an Inception Verb
ʿAliqa is one of the less common inception verbs named by the text. Here it means “began asking”, with a bare present-tense predicate.
43. No An After Inception Verbs
In their inception use, these verbs take a bare present-tense predicate. The restriction applies to this sense, not every possible use of the same lexical verb.
44. Beginning versus Nearness
Kāda expresses impending action; ṭafiqa expresses that the action began. The semantic contrast matters even though the predicate form can be identical.
45. One Verb, Two Grammatical Perspectives
With kāda, yaktubu is indicative but its clause occupies the predicate slot. With ʿasā, an makes yaktuba subjunctive while the interpreted-masdar construction occupies that same predicate slot.
46. Why the Predicate Needs a Link
Maryam is the nominative ism; the implicit hiya in takhruju refers back to Maryam. The predicate is grammatically linked to the ism.
47. Predicate Order
The usual order is a proximity/hope/inception verb, its ism, then the present-tense predicate. The predicate does not ordinarily precede the governing verb.
48. Inflection of These Verbs
The text presents this class as largely non-conjugating, while permitting present forms of kāda and awshaka (yakādu, yūshiku). It is a textbook-level summary, not a claim that no other attested forms exist.
49. Related to Kāna, Yet Distinct
Kāna can take a simple accusative adjective predicate, while kāda ordinarily takes a present-tense verbal clause. Their meanings also differ.
50. Nearness Is Not Hope
ʿAsā expresses hope; kāda expresses nearness. The two are not synonymous.
51. An Alone Does Not Identify the Class
Both ʿasā and awshaka commonly take an, but one indicates hope and the other nearness. Classify by meaning, not by an alone.
52. All 11 Verbs Named in the Book
The source names 11 verbs: three hope verbs, three nearness verbs, and five inception verbs. The last five belong to this chapter only when they mean “began”.
53. Four An Rules at a Glance
Recap: obligatory an (ḥarā, ikhlawlaqa); absent with inception predicates; usual an (ʿasā, awshaka); usual omission (kāda, kariba). “Usually” does not mean “always”.
54. Three Fully Parsed Contrasts
Three constructions with the same subject: kāda (nearly read), ʿasā (hope he reads), and akhadha (began reading). The ʿasā predicate has an and a subjunctive verb.
55. Correcting Common Misreadings
Avoid four mistakes: adding an indiscriminately, confusing verb mood with clause position, reading kāda as completion, and treating every akhadha or jaʿala as inceptive.
56. Quick Review and Next Chapter
Check: ḥarā requires an; the predicate of ṭafiqa is a verbal clause; awshaka belongs to nearness, not hope. Next chapter: the two exclamatory verb forms.
Practice questions
Question 1
What is the central topic of this chapter?
- Nearness, hope, or inception
- Only past tense construction
- Only defining the subject
- Only classes of numbers
Question 2
How many semantic classes are there?
Question 3
Which class contains ʿasā?
- Inception
- Nearness
- Hope
- Blame
Question 4
What is the central meaning of kāda?
- An action definitely began
- An action is near
- Issuing a command
- Prohibition
Question 5
In its inception sense, ṭafiqa belongs to which group?
- Inception verbs
- Hope verbs
- Nearness verbs
- Praise verbs
Question 6
What case do these verbs assign to their ism?
- Accusative
- Genitive
- Jussive
- Nominative
Question 7
What is their typical predicate?
- Only a preposition
- Only a past-tense verb
- Present-tense verbal clause
- Only a comparative noun
Question 8
What is the ism of kāda in this sentence?
Question 9
What is the mood of yakhruju itself?
- Indicative
- Subjunctive
- Genitive
- Jussive
Question 10
What occupies the accusative predicate position?
- Only Zaydun
- Only kāda
- A preposition
- The whole yakhruju clause
Question 11
What is the implicit subject of tanjaḥu?
Question 12
Which pair obligatorily takes an?
- Kāda and kariba
- Ḥarā and ikhlawlaqa
- Ṭafiqa and akhadha
- Jaʿala and anshaʾa
Question 13
Which pair usually lacks an?
- Kāda and kariba
- Ḥarā and ikhlawlaqa
- ʿAsā and awshaka
- ʿAsā and ḥarā
Question 14
With which pair is an usually present?
- Kāda and kariba
- Ṭafiqa and akhadha
- Jaʿala and ʿaliqa
- ʿAsā and awshaka
Question 15
What is the rule for an after inception verbs?
- Always obligatory
- Required half the time
- Absent from the predicate
- Makes the predicate genitive
Question 16
Why is yakhruja subjunctive?
- Directly by ʿasā
- Governed by an
- Governed by Zayd
- Governed by a preposition
Question 17
Identify the ism of ʿasā.
Question 18
What fills the predicate slot of ʿasā?
- Al-ṭālibu: ordinary fāʿil
- ʿAsā: direct object
- An: genitive noun
- An yanjaḥa: interpreted masdar
Question 19
What must occur in ḥarā’s predicate?
- Lam
- Mā before lan
- An
- The preposition bi
Question 20
What is al-shajaru here?
- Accusative direct object
- Nominative ism of ikhlawlaqa
- Possessive complement
- Single-word predicate
Question 21
What is actually asserted by kāda al-waladu yasquṭu?
- He was close to falling
- He definitely fell
- He will never fall
- Falling became forbidden
Question 22
What tense/aspect form is yakādu?
- Past tense
- Imperative
- Verbal noun
- Present tense
Question 23
Which is the nearness verb in this sentence?
- Al-shamsu
- Taghrubu
- Kādat
- None
Question 24
Which group is kariba al-ṣubḥu yanbaliju?
- Hope
- Nearness
- Inception
- Praise
Question 25
Why is yanzila subjunctive after awshaka?
- Because of an
- Because of al-maṭaru
- Awshaka is a particle of nasb
- Because the subject is omitted
Question 26
Semantically, awshaka belongs to which class?
- Hope
- Inception
- Negation
- Nearness
Question 27
What is the ending of yanzilu with no an?
Question 28
How many inception verbs does the text name?
Question 29
What is the role of yaktubu and its subject?
- Predicate of ṭafiqa in accusative position
- Absolute object
- Ism of ṭafiqa
- Prepositional phrase
Question 30
How is yaktubāni indicative?
- By deleting nūn
- By fatḥa
- By hamzat al-waṣl
- By retaining nūn
Question 31
What is the role of the dual suffix in ṭafiqā?
- Preposition
- Direct object
- Pronoun in nominative position as ṭafiqa’s ism
- Subjunctive marker
Question 32
What does jaʿala mean here?
- Made wood
- Began
- Denied
- Prohibited
Question 33
How is jaʿala used in this sentence?
- To make or transform
- To begin doing
- To be about to
- To hope
Question 34
What is yaqraʾu in the inception construction?
- Accusative direct object
- Ism of akhadha
- Subjunctive particle
- Present verb of the predicate clause
Question 35
What is al-kitāba here?
- Predicate of inceptive akhadha
- Ism of inceptive akhadha
- Direct object
- Subject
Question 36
What does anshaʾa signify in this construction?
- Hoped to speak
- Began speaking
- Prevented speaking
- Almost spoke
Question 37
Which class does ʿaliqa al-waladu yasʾalu show?
- Inception
- Hope
- Nearness
- Negation
Question 38
What key distinction separates these sentences?
- Nominative versus genitive
- Dual versus plural
- Verb versus particle
- Nearness versus beginning
Question 39
What does saying “predicate in accusative position” mean?
- Every word must have fatḥa
- The present verb must be jussive
- The entire clause fills a predicate slot
- The ism must be genitive
Question 40
What sign appears on yaqraʾa?
Question 41
What ending appears on yaqraʾu?
Question 42
How many an-use groups are stated?
Question 43
Why are ʿasā and awshaka not semantically equivalent?
- Both signal inception
- Both are prepositions
- One is hope, the other nearness
- Both only take direct objects
Question 44
Yakādu is the present form of which verb?
Question 45
Yūshiku is the present of which verb?
- Awshaka
- Ḥarā
- Ikhlawlaqa
- ʿAliqa
Question 46
Which type of predicate is qāʾiman with kāna?
- Present-tense verbal-clause predicate
- Obligatory an-clause
- Possessive complement
- Single-word accusative predicate
Question 47
Why is the event not assured in this sentence?
- Yaṣila is past tense
- Al-musāfiru is indefinite
- ʿAsā expresses hope
- An is jussive
Question 48
Why does yakhṣifāni retain nūn?
- The verb is subjunctive
- The verb is indicative
- The verb is jussive
- The form is past and indeclinable
Question 49
Which sentence contains inception?
- The student began writing
- Hopefully the student writes
- The student almost wrote
- The student is a writer
Question 50
Which sentence indicates hope?
- The man began reading
- The man almost left
- The man took the pen
- Hopefully the door will be opened
Question 51
Which example expresses nearness?
- Zayd began reading
- Hopefully Zayd reads
- The rain was about to fall
- Zayd took the book
Question 52
All verbs in this chapter mean nearness only.
Question 53
Their ism is nominative.
Question 54
The whole present clause is the predicate of kāda.
Question 55
ʿAsā directly makes yaqūma subjunctive.
Question 56
Ḥarā and ikhlawlaqa require an.
Question 57
ʿAsā and awshaka have the same semantic class.
Question 58
Kāda most often takes an.
Question 59
Kariba normally omits an.
Question 60
In inception use ṭafiqa takes an in its predicate.
Question 61
Jaʿala is always an inception verb.
Question 62
Akhadha is ordinarily transitive in this example.
Question 63
Kāda Zaydun yasquṭu entails that Zayd fell.
Question 64
Retained nūn in yakhṣifāni marks the indicative.
Question 65
The two predicates are the same type.
Question 66
Yakādu and yūshiku are attested present forms.
Question 67
The four an-patterns differ from the three meaning groups.
Question 68
Zayd is accusative after ʿasā.
Question 69
Awshaka is the verb of nearness in this example.
Question 70
ʿAliqa is among the text’s named inception verbs.
Question 71
An accusative-position predicate forces every verb inside it to be subjunctive.
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