In Arabic we have singular utterances – مُفْرَد and we also have utterances with more than word – مُرَكَّب. Utterances with more than one words are essentially phrases or, if you like, incomplete sentences. The are three key types: the possessive construct (الإضافَة), the adjectival phrase (التَّوْصِيْفِيْ) and the demonstrative phrase (الإِشَارِيْ).
This post looks at the possessive construct: الإضافَة.
In the English language the possessive construct is concerned with the particle ‘of’. This ‘of’ denotes possession and is sometimes exchanged with “‘s” – added to the end of a word. For example:
The book of the student
or
The student’s book
Either way, both phrases are expressing possession.
In the Arabic Language, there is no word for ‘of’. Rather, it is created through a construct. This construct is called idaafat. An idaafat consists of two components: the possessed (مُضَاف) and the possessor (مُضَافْ الَيْه). By combining these two components, you have created ‘of’ or more specifically a meaning of possession.
Let’s use the example above and create it in Arabic. There a few nice tricks in translating posession from English to Arabic. When the english translation includes the word of, as in, ‘The book of the student’ the steps are as follows:
1) Translate the words in Arabic in the same sequence
الكِتَابُ الطَّالِبُ
2) Put the cases on each component: the مُضَاف can be in any case but the مُضَافْ الَيْه is always مَجْرُوْر:
الكِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ
3) Ensure the is no tanween or alif laam on the مُضَافْ. Make sure to make the مُضَافْ الَيْه definite or indefinite:
كِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ
and there you have it, it’s as simple as that.
In the situation where you have “the student’s book”. The steps are as follows:
1) swap the words and translate directly, so: the book student
الكِتَابُ الطَّالِبُ
Then repeat steps 2) and 3) from above.
2) Put the cases on each component: the مُضَاف can be in any case but the مُضَافْ الَيْه is always مَجْرُوْر:
الكِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ
3) Ensure the is no tanween or alif laam on the مُضَافْ. Make sure to make the مُضَافْ الَيْه definite or indefinite:
كِتَابُ الطَّالِبِ
Logicalwayfarer 