So, you’ve learned about a gazillion words in Arabic, but you still can’t make a sentence with any of them? Well, don’t worry because today’s the day you start making simple Arabic sentences and putting all those words to use.


Basic Sentence Structure in Arabic

First, there are basically three sentence structures you need to learn for making sentences in Arabic: the basic, the compound and the clausal. Today, we’re going to start with the basic Arabic sentence which can also be either verbal or nominal. So, more specifically, today you’re going to learn about how to make a basic verbal sentence.


Verbal Sentences in Arabic

Essentially, when it comes to the Arabic word order in a basic verbal sentence, it starts with a verb (الفِعْل/alfiel) followed by the subject (الفَاعِل/alfaeil). Further, there are some other important things to know when making basic verbal sentences:

Most importantly, always start the verbal sentence with a fully conjugal verb. These can include three forms of the verb: a perfective (past), an imperfective (present), or an imperative (command). What’s more, particles like قَدّ /qadd (maybe), مَا /maa (not), and so on are the only words that can precede the verb. Now, here are some Arabic sentences examples using the verbal form:

ArabicTransliterationEnglish
خرج الرجلkharaj alrajulThe man went out.
خَرَجَتْ نادين kharajat nadinNadine already went out.
اُخْرُجُوا!/اخرجukhrujuu!/ukhrujGet out!
لِنَذْهَبْ إِلَى السِّيْنَمَا.li-nadhhab ilaa assiinamaLet’s go to the cinema.



Not surprisingly, a verbal sentence expresses an action, so we call it an action sentence. Therefore, since the verb is the word that describes the action, we put it at the beginning of the Arabic sentence. On the other hand, if it started with the noun, then the sentence would be called a declarative sentence. (In other words, a sentence that declares a fact.) To give you some examples, let’s flip the word order of the first two examples above:

Arabic Verbal (with transliteration)Arabic Declarative (with transliteration)English
خَرَجَ الرجل / kharaj alrajulالرجل خَرَجَ / alrajul kharajThe man went out.
خَرَجَتْ نادين / kharajat nadinنادين خَرَجَت / nadin kharajatNadine already went out.



As you can see, the difference between the two is merely the focus. Therefore, the focus tells you whether the sentence is verbal or declarative.

Parts of the Verbal Sentence

As mentioned above, a verbal sentence must have two parts: a verb (الفِعْل/alfiel) followed by the subject (الفَاعِل/alfaeil). It would be an incomplete sentence if you only used a verb. Likewise, it would not be a complete sentence if it contained only the subject. However, there may be a time when you run into imperatives (or commands) like !اُكْتُبْ / uktub! (Write!) or !يقرأ / yaqra’ul! (Read!) where “you” as the subject is implied just as an imperative is in English.

Moreover, along with the verb and the subject, basic sentences may also include complements. These can be the object, an adjective, an adverb, a prepositional phrase and so on. These are words that complete the verb or the subject.


Types of Subject

In a verbal sentence, the subject of the verb can be an overt noun (that is, a proper noun, a common noun, an interrogative noun and the like). However, it can also be a pronoun which can either be attached or implicit. What’s more, it can also be a noun clause. For now, we will just highlight the overt noun and the covert/implicit or attached pronoun. Look at these examples:

Overt Noun Subject
ArabicTransliterationEnglish
رَقَدَ/ نام) الوَلَد)(raqada/naam) al-waladuThe boy slept.
تَرْقُصُ البِنْت.tarquSu al-bintThe girl dances.
الرجال يركضون ar-rijaal yrkudhounThe men run.
النساء يركضنan-nisaa’ yarkudhnThe women ran.
Covert/Implicit or Attached Pronoun Subject
ArabicTransliterationEnglish
نام (Implicit Subject)  naamHe slept.
نَرْقُص. (Implicit Subject)  narquSWe dance.
ركضنا. (Attached Subject)  rakadhnaaWe ran.
يَجْرَيْـنَ. (Attached Subject)yajreinaThey run. (f.)



Subject-Verb Agreement

When it comes to gender, the verb absolutely must agree with the subject. In other words, if the subject is feminine, the verb must be feminine and therefore, marked with a ـتْ (ت with sukoon) in the perfective (past) verb tense. Likewise a تَـ (ت with fatHah) should be added to the beginning of the imperfective verb. Again, here are some examples:

ArabicTransliterationEnglish
سَافَرَتْ نادين saafarat nadinNadine traveled.
جَلَسَـتْ البِنْتَان. jalasat al-bintanThe two girls sat.
خَرَجَـتْ المُدَرِّسَاتkharajat al-mudarrisaatThe teachers went out.
تــقْفِز البَنَات.taqfiz al-banatThe girls jump.


Would you like to learn more about Arabic sentences, Arabic grammar, or do you just want to start learning Arabic in general? Well, simply download the Kaleela Arabic Language app today, and you could be speaking Arabic as soon as tomorrow! Try it out now at only at kaleela.com.

Kaleela – Learn Arabic the Right Way!

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