Lesson 47: The Parrot

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Read the story twice: once for the sense, once for the grammar. The names زَيْنَبُ, عُمَرُ and يُوسُفُ and the noun بَبَّغَاءُ are all diptotes, so watch their endings change from ḍamma to fatḥa and, after the article, to kasra. Three new idioms are explained first.

Rule 1: 1. مَرَّ بِـ, to pass by

To pass by something is مَرَّ بِـ: the thing passed is introduced by بِ, never by a direct object. مَرَّ is a doubled verb, its second and third root letters are the same ر, written once with shadda. Before the endings that begin with a consonant the two ر separate again: مَرَرْتُ I passed, مَرَرْنَا we passed. The imperfect is يَمُرُّ.

مَرَّ التَّاجِرُ بِالْبَيْتِ.
marra-t-tājiru bi-l-bayti
The merchant passed by the house.
مَرَّتْ زَيْنَبُ بِي فِي السُّوقِ.
marrat zaynabu bī fi-s-sūqi
Zaynab passed by me in the market.
بِ with the suffix of 'me'.
مَرَرْنَا بِمَطَاعِمَ كَثِيرَةٍ.
mararnā bi-maṭāʿima kathīratin
We passed by many restaurants.
The doubling opens before ـنَا; the diptote shows fatḥa after بِ.
كُلَّ يَوْمٍ يَمُرُّ الْأَوْلَادُ بِقَفَصِ الْبَبَّغَاءِ.
kulla yawmin yamurru-l-awlādu bi-qafaṣi-l-babbaghāʾi
Every day the boys pass by the parrot's cage.

Rule 2: 2. نَاسٌ, people

نَاسٌ means people and is plural in meaning though it has no plural ending; the singular a person is a different word, إِنْسَانٌ. Because it refers to human beings it takes the plural agreement of persons: اَلنَّاسُ كَثِيرُونَ. It declines like an ordinary noun, نَاسٌ, نَاسٍ, نَاسًا, and with the article is اَلنَّاسُ.

اَلنَّاسُ فِي السُّوقِ كَثِيرُونَ.
an-nāsu fi-s-sūqi kathīrūna
The people in the market are many.
Plural agreement of persons.
سَأَلَ يُوسُفُ كُلَّ النَّاسِ.
saʾala yūsufu kulla-n-nāsi
Yusuf asked all the people.
كُلَّ with the definite plural: all.
رَأَيْتُ نَاسًا كَثِيرِينَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ.
raʾaytu nāsan kathīrīna fi-ṭ-ṭarīqi
I saw many people on the road.
Indefinite accusative with tanwīn: نَاسٌ is not a diptote.
ضَحِكَ النَّاسُ مِنْ كَلَامِ الْبَبَّغَاءِ.
ḍaḥika-n-nāsu min kalāmi-l-babbaghāʾi
The people laughed at the parrot's talk.
ضَحِكَ مِنْ: to laugh at.

Rule 3: 3. عَنْ, about and away from

عَنْ is a preposition, so the noun after it is genitive. Its basic sense is away from, as in بَعِيدٌ عَنْ far from; after verbs of asking and speaking it means about: سَأَلَ عَنْ to ask about. Before the article its sukūn becomes kasra: عَنِ الْبَيْتِ. With pronoun suffixes it gives عَنِّي about me, عَنْكَ, عَنْهُ, عَنْهَا, عَنَّا, عَنْهُمْ; the full set of suffixes comes in the next lesson.

سَأَلْتُ عَنْ صَدِيقِي عُمَرَ.
saʾaltu ʿan ṣadīqī ʿumara
I asked about my friend Omar.
سَأَلَتْ زَيْنَبُ التَّاجِرَ عَنِ الْيَمَنِ.
saʾalat zaynabu-t-tājira ʿani-l-yamani
Zaynab asked the merchant about Yemen.
عَنِ before the article.
قَرْيَتُنَا بَعِيدَةٌ عَنِ الْمَدِينَةِ.
qaryatunā baʿīdatun ʿani-l-madīnati
Our village is far from the city.
سَأَلَ النَّاسُ عَنْهَا وَمَا عَرَفُوا عَنْهَا شَيْئًا.
saʾala-n-nāsu ʿanhā wa-mā ʿarafū ʿanhā shayʾan
The people asked about her and did not know anything about her.

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).

بَبَّغَاءُ

babbaghāʾu

parrot

مَرَّ / يَمُرُّ بِـ

marra / yamurru bi-

to pass by

نَاسٌ

nāsun

people

عَنْ

ʿan

about; away from

سَأَلَ / يَسْأَلُ

saʾala / yasʾalu

to ask

صَوْتٌ

ṣawtun

voice, sound

ضَحِكَ / يَضْحَكُ

ḍaḥika / yaḍḥaku

to laugh

قَفَصٌ

qafaṣun

cage

عَمٌّ

ʿammun

paternal uncle

طَائِرٌ

ṭāʾirun

bird

كَلَامٌ

kalāmun

speech, talk

عَجِيبٌ

ʿajībun

strange, amazing

رُمَّانٌ

rummānun

pomegranates (collective)

اَلْيَمَنُ

al-yamanu

Yemen

جَاءَ بِـ

jāʾa bi-

to bring

تَاجِرٌ

tājirun

merchant

Step 2 of 5: Read

Zaynab's parrot

بَبَّغَاءُ زَيْنَبَ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Who brought the parrot, and from where?
2.What does the parrot say to everyone who passes by?
3.Why does the parrot call everyone Omar?
4.What did the merchant offer for the parrot?
5.Did Zaynab sell the parrot?

In the Quran

مَرُّوا۟ بِٱللَّغْوِ
Surah Al-Furqan · 25:72
مَرُّوا بِاللَّغْوِ: the verb مَرَّ with بِ, 'when they pass by idle talk'. Note the plural مَرُّوا keeps the shadda because the ending begins with a vowel.
- مَرُّوا۟marrūthey pass
- بِٱللَّغْوِbil-laghwiby futility
Read in context
ٱلنَّاسِ
Surah An-Nas · 114:1
النَّاسِ: the plural-only noun نَاسٌ with the article, in the genitive as the second term of بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ.
- ٱلنَّاسِl-nāsi(of) mankind
Read in context
۞ يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْأَهِلَّةِ ۖ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:189
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ: 'they ask you about the new moons'. سَأَلَ عَنْ with the kasra of عَنِ before the article.
- ۞ يَسْـَٔلُونَكَyasalūnakaThey ask you
- عَنِʿaniabout
- ٱلْأَهِلَّةِ ۖl-ahilatithe new moons
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Complete with the preposition that goes with مَرَّ: 'The merchant passed by the house.'

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

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

1.

مَرَّ تَاجِرٌ مِنْ مَكَّةَ بِبَيْتِ زَيْنَبَ.

2.

سَأَلَ النَّاسُ عَنِ الطَّائِرِ الْعَجِيبِ.

3.

اَلْبَبَّغَاءُ فِي قَفَصٍ كَبِيرٍ عِنْدَ الْبَابِ.

4.

ضَحِكَ الْأَوْلَادُ مِنْ صَوْتِ الْبَبَّغَاءِ.

5.

جَاءَ عَمِّي يُوسُفُ مِنَ الْيَمَنِ بِرُمَّانٍ كَثِيرٍ.

6.

قَرْيَةُ عُمَرَ بَعِيدَةٌ عَنِ السُّوقِ.

Translate from English to Arabic

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

1.

We passed by the restaurant after noon.

2.

The people in the market are many.

3.

Zaynab asked the merchant about the parrot.

4.

I heard the voice of a parrot in Omar's house.

5.

The merchant laughed and went to the market.

6.

Every day the bird says to the people: peace be upon you.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

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