Numbers 11 to 20 and اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل (ism al-tafḍīl : comparative noun): Rules and Applications
Arabic GrammarNumbers in ArabicIsm al-TafdeelGrammatical CasesMa'adud RulesComparative FormsTamyiz
This lesson covers the numbers 11–20 and introduces اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل (ism al-tafḍīl : the comparative/superlative noun), built on the pattern أَفْعَل (af'al), used to express 'more/most' in Arabic. Rules for gender agreement and the use of مِن (min : than) in comparisons are also discussed.
Original Recording
Original class recording
Key Points
- 1اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل (ism al-tafḍīl : comparative noun) is built on the pattern أَفْعَل (af'al), e.g., أَكْبَر (akbar : bigger/oldest) and أَصْغَر (aṣghar : smaller/youngest).
- 2The number thirteen is ثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ (thalāthata 'ashara : thirteen) — not to be confused with ثَلَاثُون (thalāthūn : thirty).
- 3كِتَابَانِ (kitābāni : two books) is مُثَنَّى (muthannā : dual) and takes the مَرْفُوع (marfū' : nominative) ending ـَانِ — it does not take a فَتْحَة (fatḥah).
- 4قَصِير (qaṣīr : short) forms its اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل as أَقْصَر (aqṣar : shorter/shortest).
- 5Comparisons use مِن (min : than) after اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل: هُوَ أَكْبَرُ مِنْهُ سِنًّا (huwa akbaru minhu sinnan : he is older than him in age).
Discussion Questions
- What is the اِسْمُ التَّفْضِيل (ism al-tafḍīl : comparative form) of كَبِير (kabīr : big)?
- How does the number ثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ (thalāthata 'ashara : thirteen) differ in structure from ثَلَاثُون (thalāthūn : thirty)?
- Why does كِتَابَانِ (kitābāni : two books) take the ending ـَانِ rather than a فَتْحَة (fatḥah : short a-vowel)?