Lesson 76
Adjective Naʿt (Comprehensive)
النعت شامل
Comprehensive treatment of the Arabic adjective (نَعْت): real (ḥaqīqī) vs explanatory (sababī) naʿt, agreement rules for each, and the adjective-as-clause (النعت الجُمْلِيّ).
Three Types of Naʿt
TypeWhat it describesAgreementExample
Ḥaqīqī (real)The head noun directlyFour-way (gender, number, case, definiteness)كِتَابٌ كَبِيرٌ
Sababī (explanatory)A noun connected to the headGender only (with connected noun)رَجُلٌ كَرِيمٌ أَبُوهُ
Jumlī (sentence)Describes an indefinite headMust contain back-reference pronounرَجُلٌ يَضْحَكُ
Ḥaqīqī Agreement Rules
DimensionRuleExample
GenderMasc. → masc. naʿt; fem. → fem.رَجُلٌ كَرِيمٌ امْرَأَةٌ كَرِيمَةٌ
NumberBroken plurals → feminine sing. naʿtكُتُبٌ كَثِيرَةٌ
CaseFollows head noun's caseبِالرَّجُلِ الْكَرِيمِ
DefinitenessDefinite head → definite naʿtالْكِتَابُ الْكَبِيرُ
جَاءَ طَالِبٌ مُجْتَهِدٌ أَبُوهُ (سَبَبِيّ) رَأَيْتُ طَالِباً مُجْتَهِداً (حَقِيقِيّ)
Jāʾa ṭālibun mujtahidun abūhu Raʾaytu ṭāliban mujtahidan
A student came, his father being diligent (sababī). I saw a diligent student (ḥaqīqī).
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ الْيَوْمِ الْمَوْعُودِ
Wa-s-samāʾi dhāti l-burūji al-yawmi l-mawʿūdi
"By the sky with its great stars by the promised Day." (85:1-2) both are ḥaqīqī definite naʿt with four-way agreement.
- Ḥaqīqī naʿt: four-way agreement in gender, number, case, and definiteness with the head noun.
- Sababī naʿt: singular, agrees in gender only with the noun it directly describes (أَبُو, not the student it is attached to).
- Sentence naʿt (jumlī): a complete verbal or nominal sentence functioning as an adjective must follow an indefinite noun and contain a pronoun linking back to it.
- Broken plurals are treated as feminine singular for agreement: كُتُبٌ كَثِيرَةٌ (many books) كَثِيرَة is feminine singular.
- 85:1-2: ذَاتِ is a genitive ḥaqīqī naʿt (genitive, definite, feminine) agreeing fully with السَّمَاء a model of four-way agreement in Quranic style.