Definite and Indefinite
An indefinite noun names any member of its kind (rajul, a man); a definite noun names a specific one. The seven definites are the pronoun, the proper name, the demonstrative, the relative noun, the noun with al-, the noun annexed to a definite, and the specific vocative.
Definiteness looks like a small topic and is not. Four separate rules elsewhere in the grammar are decided by it: whether a sentence may begin with a word, whether a following clause is an adjective or a circumstantial accusative, whether an adjective agrees, and why three whole chapters require indefinite nouns. This lesson gives the test, the seven kinds of definite noun, and the consequences.
Learn: the test
An indefinite noun denotes anything within its kind without singling one out, and its sign is that it accepts al-. A definite noun denotes something particular, and it does not accept al-, because it is already made definite by something else.
By the end of this lesson
- Apply a one-step test that separates definite from indefinite.
- List the seven kinds of definite noun in order of definiteness.
- Predict four grammatical consequences that follow from definiteness alone.
- Tell an adjective from a circumstantial accusative by looking at what precedes it.
The test is genuinely mechanical, which makes it valuable. Ask: can this word take al-? Rajul can, so it is indefinite. Muḥammad, huwa and hādhā cannot, so each is already definite. Tanwīn is a reliable secondary clue: a definite noun does not carry it.
English speakers should resist mapping this onto "a" and "the". The overlap is real but partial: Arabic has seven routes to definiteness and only one of them is the article.
See: the seven definite nouns
The definite nouns are a closed list. Anything outside it is indefinite.
- The pronoun: huwa, anta, and the attached pronouns.
- The proper noun: Muḥammad, Makka.
- The demonstrative: hādhā, tilka.
- The relative noun: alladhī, allatī.
- The noun with al-: al-kitāb.
- What is annexed to a definite: kitābu l-ṭālibi.
- The indefinite intended by a vocative: yā rajulu, addressing one particular man.
Number 6 is the one to think about. Annexation transfers definiteness from the second term to the first. That is why the first term of an annexation carries neither al- nor tanwīn: its definiteness arrives from what follows it.
قَرَأْتُ كِتَابَ الطَّالِبِ
qaraʾtu kitāba l-ṭālibi
I read the student's book.
Show the i‘rāb
قرأتُ فعل وفاعل، كتابَ مفعول به منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة وهو مضاف، الطالبِ مضاف إليه مجرور وعلامة جره الكسرة الظاهرة.
kitāba carries no al- and no tanwīn, yet it is definite, because al-ṭālibi is. Had it been kitāba ṭālibin, 'a student's book', the whole phrase would have remained indefinite.
Understand: four rules that depend on this
Definiteness is not a label but a cause. Four separate rulings elsewhere in the grammar follow from it.
1. Beginning a sentence. A mubtadaʾ is definite by default, and an indefinite needs a licensor.
2. Clauses after nouns. This is the most useful rule in the whole lesson: a sentence following an indefinite noun is an adjective describing it; a sentence following a definite noun is a circumstantial accusative. The tradition states it as a maxim: al-jumal baʿda l-nakirāti ṣifāt, wa-baʿda l-maʿārifi aḥwāl.
رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا يَبْتَسِمُ
raʾaytu rajulan yabtasimu
I saw a man who was smiling.
Show the i‘rāb
رأيتُ فعل وفاعل، رجلًا مفعول به منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة، يبتسمُ فعل مضارع مرفوع، والفاعل ضمير مستتر تقديره هو، والجملة الفعلية في محل نصب نعت لرجلًا.
rajulan is indefinite, so the clause after it describes which man: an adjective, naʿt.
رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ يَبْتَسِمُ
raʾaytu l-rajula yabtasimu
I saw the man while he was smiling.
Show the i‘rāb
رأيتُ فعل وفاعل، الرجلَ مفعول به منصوب وعلامة نصبه الفتحة الظاهرة، يبتسمُ فعل مضارع مرفوع، والفاعل ضمير مستتر تقديره هو، والجملة الفعلية في محل نصب حال.
One word changed, and the whole analysis of the clause changed with it. The man is already identified, so the clause cannot be telling us which man; it tells us his state at the time. Note the English translations differ accordingly: 'who was smiling' against 'while he was smiling'.
3. Adjective agreement. An adjective matches its noun in definiteness as well as case, number and gender.
4. Three chapters require indefinites. The circumstantial accusative, the specifier, and the noun of the lā of absolute negation are all indefinite by rule.
Check yourself
Is the clause here an adjective or a circumstantial accusative?
جَاءَ الطَّالِبُ يَحْمِلُ كِتَابَهُ
Show the answer
A circumstantial accusative, ḥāl, in the position of accusative.
al-ṭālibu is definite, so the clause cannot be identifying which student. It describes his state as he arrived: carrying his book. Had it been jāʾa ṭālibun yaḥmilu kitābahu, the clause would have been an adjective.
Where learners go wrong
Three errors, and the second is the one that changes an analysis rather than merely a vowel.
- Beginning with an indefinite for no reason. Say fī l-dāri rajulun, not rajulun fī l-dāri, unless a licensor is present.
- Making an adjective disagree in definiteness. al-kitābu l-jadīdu, both definite; kitābun jadīdun, both indefinite. Mixing them produces a sentence, not a phrase: al-kitābu jadīdun means "the book is new".
- Confusing adjective with circumstantial accusative. Look at the noun before the clause and let its definiteness decide.
Sources
The list of definite nouns and the maxim about clauses are given in these texts.
- Ibn Hishām al-Anṣārī, قطر الندى وبل الصدى and أوضح المسالك: the kinds of definite noun and their ordering.
- Ibn ʿAqīl, شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك: the maxim on clauses after definite and indefinite nouns, and the licensors of an indefinite subject.
- Al-Ashmūnī, شرح الأشموني على الألفية: on generic al- and its effect.
Common questions
Frequently asked
How do I tell definite from indefinite quickly?
Test whether the word can accept al-. If it can, it is indefinite in its bare form: rajul accepts al- and is indefinite. If it cannot, because it is already definite by something else, it is definite: Muḥammad, huwa and hādhā all refuse al-. Tanwīn is a useful secondary clue, since a definite noun does not carry it.
Which of the definite nouns is the most definite?
The usual ordering runs: the pronoun, then the proper noun, then the demonstrative, then the relative, then the noun with al-, then what is annexed to a definite, then the indefinite intended by a vocative. The pronoun leads because it points at something already present in the discourse.
What licenses beginning a sentence with an indefinite?
A musawwigh, something that makes the indefinite informative: being described (rajulun karīmun zāranā), following negation or a question (mā aḥadun ʿindanā), expressing a prayer (salāmun ʿalaykum), or having a fronted quasi-sentence predicate (fī l-dāri rajulun).
Why must the ḥāl and the tamyīz be indefinite?
Because both describe a manner or specify an amount rather than identify a particular thing. A ḥāl states the condition of its holder at the time of the act, and a tamyīz removes ambiguity from a quantity. Definiteness would pick out an individual, which is not what either construction does.
Is a noun annexed to an indefinite definite?
No. Annexation transfers definiteness from the second term to the first, so kitābu l-ṭālibi is definite while kitābu ṭālibin remains indefinite. This is why the first term of an annexation never carries al- or tanwīn: its definiteness comes from what follows it.
Is every noun with al- definite?
No. The al- of generic reference, al- al-jinsiyya, does not individuate: al-insānu khuliqa ḍaʿīfan speaks of humankind in general rather than one person. Extra al- in some proper nouns is likewise not definiteness, since the name is already definite in itself.