Lesson 45
Iḍāfa Possessive Genitive Construction
الإضافة
The iḍāfa (إِضَافَة) is the Arabic possessive construction two nouns placed together where the first "belongs to" or is "of" the second. It is the most common noun structure in Arabic.
Iḍāfa Rules
Two nouns: the first (الْمُضَاف) never takes tanwīn and never takes the definite article. The second (الْمُضَاف إِلَيْهِ) is in the genitive case. The definiteness of the construction is determined by the second noun.
ArabicTransliterationMeaningDefiniteness
كِتَابُ الطَّالِبِkitābu ṭ-ṭālibthe student's bookDefinite
كِتَابُ طَالِبٍkitābu ṭālibina student's bookIndefinite
بَيْتُ اللَّهِbaytu llāhthe House of AllahDefinite
رَسُولُ اللَّهِrasūlu llāhthe Messenger of AllahDefinite
بَابُ الْفَصْلِbābu l-faṣlthe door of the classroomDefinite
مَسْجِدُ مَدِينَةٍmasjidu madīnatina mosque of a cityIndefinite
Chain Iḍāfa (3 nouns)
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
كِتَابُ قَوَاعِدِ اللُّغَةِkitābu qawāʿidi l-lughathe book of grammar of the language
مَفَاتِيحُ بَابِ الْجَنَّةِmafātīḥu bābi l-jannathe keys to the gate of Paradise
هَذَا كِتَابُ أُسْتَاذِنَا قَرَأْتُ قِصَّةً مِنْ قِصَصِ الْأَنْبِيَاء
Hādhā kitābu ustādhina Qaraʾtu qiṣṣatan min qiṣaṣi l-anbiyāʾ
This is our teacher's book. I read a story from the stories of the Prophets.
فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مِنْ عِبَادِ اللَّهِ الصَّالِحِين
Fī sabīli llāh Min ʿibādi llāhi ṣ-ṣāliḥīn
In the way of Allah. From among the righteous servants of Allah.
- First noun: NO article, NO tanwīn. Its case varies by position in the sentence.
- Second noun: genitive (kasra/tanwīn kasra).
- Chains of 3+: each noun is genitive to the one before it كِتَابُ قَوَاعِدِ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة.
- An adjective modifying the first noun of an iḍāfa must come AFTER the entire iḍāfa chain never between the two nouns.
- A pronoun suffix on the first noun also creates an iḍāfa: كِتَابِي (my book) = كِتَاب + ي the first noun loses tanwīn.