The Subject Ending

Level 2

The المرفوع (al-marfū‘) or Nominative Case is the default state for the 'pillars' of a sentence: the subject and the predicate. It signals who is performing an action or what the main topic of a sentence is.

How It Works

The term marfū‘ literally means 'raised.' It is the default grammatical case for the essential components of a sentence and the standard state of the present tense verb.

1. When to use it:

  • The Doer (al-Fā‘il): The subject of a verbal sentence. Example: ذَهَبَ الوَلَدُ.
  • The Passive Subject (Nā’ib al-Fā‘il): The noun that takes the place of the doer in a passive sentence. Example: كُتِبَ الكِتَابُ.
  • The Topic (al-Mubtada’): The first noun in a nominal sentence. Example: البَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ.
  • The Predicate (al-Khabar): The information about the topic. Example: البِنْتُ ذَكِيَّةٌ.
  • The Subject of Kāna (Ism Kāna): The noun following Kāna or its sisters. Example: كَانَ الجَوُّ جَمِيلاً.
  • The Predicate of Inna (Khabar Inna): The information provided after Inna. Example: إنَّ الِامْتِحَانَ سَهْلٌ.
  • Present Tense Verbs (al-Muḍāri‘ al-Marfū‘): A present tense verb is marfū‘ unless preceded by a particle that changes its mood. Example: يَكْتُبُ.
  • The Followers (at-Tawābi‘): Words like adjectives (Na‘t) or conjunctions that follow a nominative noun must also be nominative. Example: الوَلَدُ الصَّغِيرُ.

2. The Markers:
The ending changes depending on the word type:

  • Singular, Broken Plurals, & Sound Feminine Plurals: Marked by a ḍamma (ـُ). If indefinite, it takes tanwīn ḍamma (ـٌ). Example: المُعَلِّمَاتُ.
  • Dual Nouns: Marked by the suffix -āni (ـَانِ). The alif is the actual case marker.
  • Sound Masculine Plurals: Marked by the suffix -ūna (ـُونَ). The wāw is the case marker.
  • The Five Nouns (al-Asmā’ al-Khamsa): The nouns أَب (father), أَخ (brother), حَم (father-in-law), فُو (mouth), and ذُو (possessor of) use a wāw marker (e.g., أَبُوكَ). For this to happen, they must be singular, annexed to another noun or pronoun (iḍāfa), and NOT annexed to the 1st person 'my' ending. Note that the word for 'mouth' only uses the wāw marker if the letter mīm is removed (e.g., فُوكَ); if the mīm remains (فَمُكَ), it is declined with a standard ḍamma.
  • The Five Verbs (al-Af‘āl al-Khamsa): These specific present-tense forms are marfū‘ by the presence of the nūn (thubūt al-nūn) at the end. Example: يَكْتُبُونَ.

3. Register Note:
While these endings are vital for formal writing and reading (like news or literature), they are often dropped in casual speech or at the end of a sentence (pause).

Examples (4)

  1. يَكْتُبُ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ

    The student writes the lesson.

    Word by Word: Writes the student (nom.) the lesson (acc.)

    The word 'student' (الطالبُ) ends in a ḍamma because it is the subject (Fā‘il) of the verb.

  2. المُعَلِّمُونَ مُجْتَهِدُونَ

    The teachers are hardworking.

    Word by Word: The teachers (pl. nom.) hardworking (pl. nom.)

    Both words are nominative because they are the subject and predicate. They use the '-ūna' ending for the sound masculine plural.

  3. السَّيَّارَةُ جَدِيدَةٌ

    The car is new.

    Word by Word: The car (nom. def.) new (nom. indef.)

    In this nominal sentence, the subject takes a single ḍamma (definite) and the predicate takes tanwīn ḍamma (indefinite).

  4. وَصَلَ المُسَافِرَانِ

    The two travelers arrived.

    Word by Word: Arrived the travelers (dual nom.)

    The dual noun ends in '-āni' to show it is in the nominative case.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative ending for the object of a verb.

    شَرِبَ الرَّجُلُ المَاءُ
    شَرِبَ الرَّجُلُ المَاءَ

    The object (water) should be in the accusative case (al-Manṣūb), usually ending in -a, not the nominative -u.

  • Forgetting the nominative ending on the predicate.

    البَيْتُ كَبِيرَ
    البَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ

    In a nominal sentence, both the subject and the predicate must be nominative.

How It Connects

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The Subject EndingLevel 2

Learn This First

To understand Al-Marfu' (the nominative case), you first need to understand the concept of case endings in Arabic. You must also be familiar with the short vowel marks, specifically the damma, which indicates this case. Finally, knowing the roles of the Subject and Comment in a sentence is crucial, as these are the most common words that take the Marfu' ending.

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مرفوع