Lesson 24: Trades and Comparisons

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Lesson 23 gave you four building blocks: خَبَّازٌ a baker, اَلْخَبَّازُ the baker, اَلْخَبَّازُ الْغَنِيُّ the rich baker and اَلْخَبَّازُ غَنِيٌّ the baker is rich. This lesson puts them into a short text about the tradesmen of a town. Five small points of grammar hide in the glossary; each is explained below before you read.

Rule 1: 1. Definite and indefinite in a sentence

A sentence normally opens with a definite subject and closes with an indefinite predicate. The subject can be definite by the article (اَلْخَيَّاطُ), by a possessive suffix (خَيَّاطِي) or by a demonstrative phrase (هٰذَا الْخَيَّاطُ). Watch the article: هٰذَا خَيَّاطٌ is already a sentence, this is a tailor.

هٰذَا خَبَّازٌ.
hādhā khabbāzun
This is a baker.
هٰذَا الْخَبَّازُ غَنِيٌّ.
hādhā-l-khabbāzu ghaniyyun
This baker is rich.
اَلْخَيَّاطُ الْجَدِيدُ فَقِيرٌ.
al-khayyāṭu-l-jadīdu faqīrun
The new tailor is poor.
مَعْمَلُهُ قَدِيمٌ.
maʿmaluhu qadīmun
His workshop is old.

Rule 2: 2. ذٰلِكَ 'that'

ذٰلِكَ that behaves exactly like هٰذَا this: followed by an indefinite noun it makes a sentence, followed by a definite noun it makes a phrase. Like هٰذَا it is written with a dagger alif and never changes its form. Use the pair to set two things against each other.

ذٰلِكَ حَلَّاقٌ.
dhālika ḥallāqun
That is a barber.
ذٰلِكَ الْحَلَّاقُ فَقِيرٌ.
dhālika-l-ḥallāqu faqīrun
That barber is poor.
هٰذَا الْبَيْتُ جَدِيدٌ وَذٰلِكَ الْبَيْتُ قَدِيمٌ.
hādhā-l-baytu jadīdun wa-dhālika-l-baytu qadīmun
This house is new and that house is old.
ذٰلِكَ الْمَعْمَلُ الْكَبِيرُ مَعْمَلُ حَدَّادٍ.
dhālika-l-maʿmalu-l-kabīru maʿmalu ḥaddādin
That big workshop is a blacksmith's workshop.
مَعْمَلُ حَدَّادٍ 'a blacksmith's workshop': the second noun ends in -in; this construction is explained in lesson 25.

Rule 3: 3. Comparing with أَفْعَلُ مِنْ

You met أَكْبَرُ bigger in lesson 9. Any simple adjective can be poured into the mould أَفْعَلُ: فَقِيرٌ gives أَفْقَرُ poorer, رَخِيصٌ gives أَرْخَصُ cheaper, قَرِيبٌ gives أَقْرَبُ nearer. The comparative takes no tanwīn and does not change for a feminine noun. Than is مِنْ; before the article it is read مِنَ. Than it or than him is مِنْهُ.

اَلْخَيَّاطُ أَفْقَرُ مِنَ الْخَبَّازِ.
al-khayyāṭu afqaru mina-l-khabbāzi
The tailor is poorer than the baker.
هٰذَا الْكِتَابُ أَرْخَصُ مِنْ كِتَابِي.
hādhā-l-kitābu arkhaṣu min kitābī
This book is cheaper than my book.
ذٰلِكَ الْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ وَبَيْتِي أَكْبَرُ مِنْهُ.
dhālika-l-baytu kabīrun wa-baytī akbaru minhu
That house is big and my house is bigger than it.
اَلْحَدِيقَةُ قَرِيبَةٌ وَالْمَعْمَلُ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهَا.
al-ḥadīqatu qarībatun wa-l-maʿmalu aqrabu minhā
The garden is near and the workshop is nearer than it.
مِنْهَا 'than it (f.)' because حَدِيقَةٌ is feminine.

Rule 4: 4. كَانَ 'he was', كَانَتْ 'she was'

A sentence like اَلْخَبَّازُ فِي الْمَعْمَلِ the baker is in the workshop has no verb. To put it in the past, Arabic adds the verb كَانَ he was or كَانَتْ she was. كَانَ may stand before or after its subject.

كَانَ الْخَبَّازُ فِي الْمَعْمَلِ.
kāna-l-khabbāzu fi-l-maʿmali
The baker was in the workshop.
اَلْخَبَّازُ كَانَ هُنَاكَ.
al-khabbāzu kāna hunāka
The baker was there.
أَيْنَ كَانَتْ أُخْتُكَ؟
ayna kānat ukhtuka
Where was your sister?
كَانَتْ فِي بَيْتِ جَارِي.
kānat fī bayti jārī
She was in my neighbour's house.
مَنْ كَانَ فِي غُرْفَتِي؟
man kāna fī ghurfatī
Who was in my room?

Reading practice

مَتَى كَانَ الْفَلَّاحُ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ؟
matā kāna-l-fallāḥu fi-l-ḥadīqati
When was the farmer in the garden?
كَانَ هُنَاكَ الْيَوْمَ وَرَجَعَ مِنْ هُنَاكَ إِلَى بَيْتِهِ.
kāna hunāka-l-yawma wa-rajaʿa min hunāka ilā baytihi
He was there today and returned from there to his house.
هٰذَا الْبَنَّاءُ غَنِيٌّ وَذٰلِكَ الْبَنَّاءُ أَفْقَرُ مِنْهُ.
hādhā-l-bannāʾu ghaniyyun wa-dhālika-l-bannāʾu afqaru minhu
This builder is rich and that builder is poorer than him.
اَلْخُبْزُ رَخِيصٌ الْيَوْمَ وَأُمِّي أَيْضًا كَانَتْ هُنَاكَ.
al-khubzu rakhīṣuni-l-yawma wa-ummī ayḍan kānat hunāka
The bread is cheap today and my mother too was there.

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

خَيَّاطٌ

khayyāṭun

tailor

خَبَّازٌ

khabbāzun

baker

حَلَّاقٌ

ḥallāqun

barber

حَدَّادٌ

ḥaddādun

blacksmith

بَنَّاءٌ

bannāʾun

builder

فَلَّاحٌ

fallāḥun

farmer

مَعْمَلٌ

maʿmalun

workshop

رَخِيصٌ

rakhīṣun

cheap

غَنِيٌّ

ghaniyyun

rich

فَقِيرٌ

faqīrun

poor

ذٰلِكَ

dhālika

that (m.)

كَانَ

kāna

he was

اَلْيَوْمَ

al-yawma

today

أَيْضًا

ayḍan

also, too

مَتَى

matā

when?

هُنَاكَ

hunāka

there

رَجَعَ

rajaʿa

he returned

Step 2 of 5: Read

The baker and the tailor

اَلْخَبَّازُ وَالْخَيَّاطُ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Who is rich, the baker or the tailor?
2.Where was the blacksmith today?
3.When did the blacksmith return?
4.Who was in the new workshop besides the writer's sister?

In the Quran

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:2
ذٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ 'that Book': ذٰلِكَ followed by a definite noun forms a single phrase; the rest of the ayah is its predicate.
- ذَٰلِكَdhālikaThat
- ٱلْكِتَـٰبُl-kitābu(is) the book
Read in context
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍۢ فِيهِ ۖ قُلْ قِتَالٌۭ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌۭ ۖ وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَكُفْرٌۢ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِۦ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَٱلْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ ٱلْقَتْلِ ۗ وَلَا يَزَالُونَ يُقَـٰتِلُونَكُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَن دِينِكُمْ إِنِ ٱسْتَطَـٰعُوا۟ ۚ وَمَن يَرْتَدِدْ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِۦ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌۭ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَـٰلُهُمْ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:217
وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ 'and persecution is worse (literally: bigger) than killing': the comparative أَكْبَرُ with مِنَ before the article.
Read in context
كَانَ
Surah Al-Ahzab · 33:21
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ … 'there was indeed for you …': كَانَ opening a sentence whose predicate is a prepositional phrase, like كَانَ الْخَبَّازُ فِي الْمَعْمَلِ.
- كَانَkānais
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 50/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Fill in the comparative of فَقِيرٌ:

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

هٰذَا الْخَيَّاطُ غَنِيٌّ وَذٰلِكَ الْخَبَّازُ فَقِيرٌ.

2.

كَانَ الْحَلَّاقُ الْيَوْمَ فِي الْمَعْمَلِ وَالْحَدَّادُ أَيْضًا كَانَ هُنَاكَ.

3.

مَتَى رَجَعَ الْفَلَّاحُ مِنَ الْحَدِيقَةِ؟

4.

هٰذَا الْمَعْمَلُ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ مَعْمَلِي.

5.

أَيْنَ الْبَنَّاءُ؟ هُوَ فِي الْبَيْتِ الْجَدِيدِ.

6.

ذٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ رَخِيصٌ وَهٰذَا الْكِتَابُ أَرْخَصُ مِنْهُ.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

Your (m.) house is cheaper than my house.

2.

This baker is rich and that tailor is poor.

3.

The blacksmith was in the workshop today.

4.

My sister too was there.

5.

When did you (m.) return from the garden? I returned today.

6.

That new workshop is bigger than this workshop.

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