Lesson 37
Attached Pronouns on Verbs and Prepositions
الضمائر المتصلة على الفعل والحرف
The same attached pronoun suffixes from Lesson 10 now apply to verbs (as objects) and to prepositions. This system is one of the most productive in Arabic.
Pronouns as Verb Objects
SuffixWith عَلَّمَ (taught)Meaning
ـِي / ـنِيعَلَّمَنِيtaught me
ـكَعَلَّمَكَtaught you (m)
ـكِعَلَّمَكِtaught you (f)
ـهُعَلَّمَهُtaught him
ـهَاعَلَّمَهَاtaught her
ـنَاعَلَّمَنَاtaught us
ـهُمْعَلَّمَهُمْtaught them
Prepositions + Attached Pronouns
Preposition+ him+ her+ us
مِنْ (from)مِنْهُمِنْهَامِنَّا
إِلَى (to)إِلَيْهِإِلَيْهَاإِلَيْنَا
فِي (in)فِيهِفِيهَافِينَا
عَلَى (on)عَلَيْهِعَلَيْهَاعَلَيْنَا
عَلَّمَهُ الْقُرْآنَ اللَّهُ خَلَقَنَا وَرَزَقَنَا
ʿAllamahū l-Qurʾāna Allāhu khalaqanā wa-razaqanā
He taught him the Quran. Allah created us and provided for us.
تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَيْهِ رَجَعَ إِلَيْنَا بَعْدَ غِيَاب
Tawakkaltu ʿalayhi Rajaʿa ilaynā baʿda ghiyāb
I relied upon Him. He returned to us after an absence.
- When the subject pronoun suffix ـنَا (we/us) follows a verb, it is both subject and object depending on context.
- Prepositions + pronouns: مِنْهُ (from him), إِلَيْهِ (to him), فِيهَا (in it), عَلَيْكَ (upon you).
- Quranic abundance: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُد (1:5) إِيَّا is the detached object pronoun used for emphasis before the verb.
- Note vowel shift: عَلَى → عَلَيْهِ (the ā becomes ay before the pronoun); إِلَى → إِلَيْهِ these shifts must be memorised.
- لَدَى (with/at) behaves like عَلَى: لَدَيْهِ (with him) the yāʾ appears before pronoun suffixes.