Lesson 27: At the Zoo

Step 1 of 5: Learn

A visit to حَدِيقَةُ الْحَيَوَانَاتِ, the garden of the animals, is the setting of this reading. Before the text come four small points that the passage uses again and again: the long-vowel forms of father and brother, the two question particles, the conjunction that, and the little prefix فَ that moves a story forward.

Rule 1: 1. أَبٌ and أَخٌ before a genitive

When أَبٌ father or أَخٌ brother is the first noun of an iḍāfa, or carries any suffix except ـِي my, its case vowel is written long: أَبُو in the nominative, أَبَا in the accusative, أَبِي in the genitive. The same holds for أَخُو, أَخَا, أَخِي. With the suffix my all three cases look alike: أَبِي my father, أَخِي my brother.

أَبُو صَدِيقِي مُعَلِّمٌ.
abū ṣadīqī muʿallimun
My friend's father is a teacher.
Nominative: أَبُو.
رَأَيْتُ أَبَا صَدِيقِي.
raʾaytu abā ṣadīqī
I saw my friend's father.
Accusative: أَبَا.
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى أَبِي صَدِيقِي.
dhahabtu ilā abī ṣadīqī
I went to my friend's father.
Genitive: أَبِي.
أَخُو الْمُعَلِّمِ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.
akhu-l-muʿallimi fi-l-ḥadīqati
The teacher's brother is in the garden.
سَأَلْتُ أَخَا الْمُعَلِّمِ.
saʾaltu akha-l-muʿallimi
I asked the teacher's brother.
هٰذَا قَفَصُ أَخِي الْحَارِسِ.
hādhā qafaṣu akhi-l-ḥārisi
This is the cage of the keeper's brother.

أَبٌ and أَخٌ with a following noun or suffix

The case vowel becomes a long vowel: و for -u, ا for -a, ي for -i.
Case	Before a genitive	With 'your (m.)'	With 'his'
Nominative	أَبُو الْوَلَدِ · أَخُو الْوَلَدِ	أَبُوكَ · أَخُوكَ	أَبُوهُ · أَخُوهُ
Accusative	أَبَا الْوَلَدِ · أَخَا الْوَلَدِ	أَبَاكَ · أَخَاكَ	أَبَاهُ · أَخَاهُ
Genitive	أَبِي الْوَلَدِ · أَخِي الْوَلَدِ	أَبِيكَ · أَخِيكَ	أَبِيهِ · أَخِيهِ

Rule 2: 2. Yes/no questions: هَلْ and أَ

A question expecting yes or no begins with هَلْ, a separate word, or with أَ, a single letter written joined to the next word. The word order does not change. The answers are نَعَمْ yes and لَا no; after نَعَمْ the verb is often repeated.

هَلْ رَأَيْتَ الْفِيلَ؟ نَعَمْ، رَأَيْتُهُ.
hal raʾayta-l-fīla? naʿam, raʾaytuhu
Did you see the elephant? Yes, I saw it.
أَكَتَبْتَ الْيَوْمَ؟ لَا، مَا كَتَبْتُ.
a-katabta-l-yawma? lā, mā katabtu
Did you write today? No, I did not write.
هَلْ هٰذَا الْقِرْدُ صَغِيرٌ؟
hal hādhā-l-qirdu ṣaghīrun
Is this monkey small?
أَهٰذَا أَخُوكَ؟ نَعَمْ، هُوَ أَخِي.
a-hādhā akhūka? naʿam, huwa akhī
Is this your brother? Yes, he is my brother.

Rule 3: 3. أَنَّ 'that'

To report what someone answered or knew, use أَنَّ that. A pronoun after it becomes a suffix: أَنِّي that I, أَنَّكَ that you, أَنَّهُ that he, أَنَّهَا that she. A noun after أَنَّ stands in the accusative: أَنَّ الْأَسَدَ كَبِيرٌ that the lion is big.

أَجَابَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ هُنَاكَ.
ajāba annahu kāna hunāka
He answered that he had been there.
أَجَابَتْ أَنَّهَا رَأَتِ الْأَسَدَ.
ajābat annahā raʾati-l-asada
She answered that she had seen the lion.
سَأَلْتُ أَخِي فَأَجَابَ أَنَّ الْقِرْدَ فِي الْقَفَصِ.
saʾaltu akhī fa-ajāba anna-l-qirda fi-l-qafaṣi
I asked my brother and he answered that the monkey was in the cage.
أَجَابَ أَبُوكَ أَنَّكَ فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ.
ajāba abūka annaka fi-l-madrasati
Your father answered that you were at school.

Reading practice

هَلْ يَكُونُ أَبُوكَ غَدًا فِي الْبَيْتِ؟ نَعَمْ، يَكُونُ هُنَاكَ.
hal yakūnu abūka ghadan fi-l-bayti? naʿam, yakūnu hunāka
Will your father be at home tomorrow? Yes, he will be there.
رَأَى أَخُو صَدِيقِي أَسَدًا كَبِيرًا فِي قَفَصٍ وَاسِعٍ.
raʾā akhū ṣadīqī asadan kabīran fī qafaṣin wāsiʿin
My friend's brother saw a big lion in a spacious cage.
أَرَكِبْتَ الْحِصَانَ؟ لَا، مَا رَكِبْتُهُ، وَأَخِي رَكِبَهُ.
a-rakibta-l-ḥiṣāna? lā, mā rakibtuhu, wa-akhī rakibahu
Did you ride the horse? No, I did not ride it, but my brother rode it.
سَأَلَتِ الْبِنْتُ أَبَاهَا فَأَجَابَ أَنَّ الْغَزَالَ حَيَوَانٌ جَمِيلٌ.
saʾalati-l-bintu abāhā fa-ajāba anna-l-ghazāla ḥayawānun jamīlun
The girl asked her father and he answered that the gazelle is a beautiful animal.

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).

حَيَوَانٌ

ḥayawānun

animal

أَسَدٌ

asadun

lion

فِيلٌ

fīlun

elephant

قِرْدٌ

qirdun

monkey

حِصَانٌ

ḥiṣānun

horse

غَزَالٌ

ghazālun

gazelle

قَفَصٌ

qafaṣun

cage

صَدِيقٌ

ṣadīqun

friend

رَأَى

raʾā

he saw

سَأَلَ

saʾala

he asked

أَجَابَ

ajāba

he answered

رَكِبَ

rakiba

he rode

يَكُونُ

yakūnu

he will be, he is

غَدًا

ghadan

tomorrow

هَلْ

hal

(question particle)

نَعَمْ

naʿam

yes

أَنَّ

anna

that (conjunction)

Step 2 of 5: Read

At the zoo

فِي حَدِيقَةِ الْحَيَوَانَاتِ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Who went to the zoo with Ḥāmid?
2.What did Ḥāmid see in the spacious cage?
3.Is the monkey the elephant's friend, according to the answer?
4.When will Ḥāmid ride the horse?

In the Quran

إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰٓ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِى ضَلَـٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍ
Surah Yusuf · 12:8
لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ 'Yūsuf and his brother': أَخُوهُ is the nominative form with long ū before the suffix, exactly like أَخُوهُ in the passage.
Read in context
إِذْ قَالُوا۟ لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰٓ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِى ضَلَـٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍ
Surah Yusuf · 12:8
In the same ayah, أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا 'dearer to our father than we are': أَبِينَا is the genitive form after إِلَى, with the long ī before the suffix.
Read in context
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ
Surah Ash-Sharh · 94:1
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ 'did We not expand…?': the question particle أَ prefixed to the first word of the sentence.
- أَلَمْalamHave not
- نَشْرَحْnashraḥWe expanded
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 50/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Fill in 'father' in the right form ('I saw the boy's father'):

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

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

1.

أَيْنَ أَخُو الْحَارِسِ؟ هُوَ فِي حَدِيقَةِ الْحَيَوَانَاتِ.

2.

هَلْ رَأَيْتَ الْأَسَدَ الْكَبِيرَ؟ نَعَمْ، رَأَيْتُهُ فِي الْقَفَصِ.

3.

رَكِبَ أَبُو صَدِيقِي حِصَانًا وَرَكِبَ أَخُوهُ جَمَلًا.

4.

سَأَلْتُ أَبَا الْوَلَدِ فَأَجَابَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ الْيَوْمَ فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ.

5.

أَيَكُونُ أَخُوكَ غَدًا فِي الْبَيْتِ؟ لَا، يَكُونُ فِي الْمَعْمَلِ.

6.

اَلْغَزَالُ حَيَوَانٌ جَمِيلٌ وَالْفِيلُ أَكْبَرُ مِنْهُ.

Translate from English to Arabic

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

1.

Where is my friend's father? He is in the garden.

2.

Did you (m.) open the door of the cage? Yes, I opened it.

3.

I saw the teacher's brother in the zoo.

4.

The monkey is in a small cage.

5.

Her father rode a horse today.

6.

She answered that the lion is big.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

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