Nominative
Nominative is one of the three Arabic cases. One can say that nominative is the subject case. The subject (the one that does something) in a sentence has nominative case.
Words that have nominative case end in u in definite form and un in indefinite form. As an example, we can look at the Arabic word for rabbit. Without case endings, it is pronounced 'arnab.
The Arabic word for rabbit in definite form nominative is pronounced al-'arnabu.
The prefix al in the beginning of the word is written اَل and indicates definite form. The vowel u in the end of the word is written as a loop above the final letter of the word and indicates nominative case.
The Arabic word for rabbit in indefinite form nominative is pronounced 'arnabun.
The ending un in the end if the word is written as two loops above the final letter of the word and indicates nominative case and indefinite form.
Now that we can recognize case nominative, we will learn how it is used in Arabic.
Nominative is the default case
Every noun has case, even if the case endings are not always pronounced. Nominative is the default case. If there is nothing that affects a word to be in accusative or genitive, the word has case nominative.
The subject is nominative
In Arabic, the subject of a sentence has nominative case. The subject in a verb sentence is the one that performs the action, the one that does what the verb refers to. In the sentence The rabbit eats a carrot, the rabbit is the subject. Therefore, the rabbit has nominative case: al-'arnabu.
The sentence The rabbit eats a carrot is pronounced ya'kulu al'arnabu jazaratan in Arabic. ya'akulu = he eats, al-'arnab = the rabbit, jazara = carrot. The sentence has the word order Verb Subject Object (VSO). That is the common word order in Modern Standard Arabic. But it is not the word order that tells us that the rabbit is the subject, it is the case. We know that the rabbit, al-'arnabu, is the subject because it ends in u.
We can change the word order if we want.
The sentence above is pronounced al'arnabu ya'kulu jazaratan. It has the same word order as in English: Subject Verb Object (SVO). That word order is common in Arabic dialects, I have heard. The meaning is the same as in the previous sentence. We know that the rabbit is the subject because it has nominative case, i.e. it ends in u. This word order is suitable if we want to emphasize the rabbit rather than the eating.
According to Arabic grammar, the sentence above is a nominal sentence whose predicate is a verbal sentence. In Arabic you say jumla ismiyya, khabaru-hu jumla fi3liyya.
Now let's try to change the word order again.
The sentence above is pronounced jazaratan ya'kulu al'arnabu. It is also a correct sentence, and the meaning is still the same. We know that the rabbit is the subject because it has nominative case, i.e. it ends in u. The word order is Object Subject Verb (OSV). That is a rare word order, among the languages of the world as well as in Arabic. I have actually not seen this word order in Arabic except in pedagogical context, when someone wants to show that this word order is possible.
Details - verbal sentences
We have learned that the subject in a verbal sentence has nominative case. If you love grammar, I can inform you that in Arabic, the subject in a verbal sentence is called faa3il. That literally means doer. That is logical since the subject does what the verb refers to.
I can also tell you that verbal sentence is called jumla fi3liyya in Arabic. That literally means verbal sentence. The Arabic definition of a verbal sentence is a sentence that starts with a verb.
Nominal sentences has nominative case
A nominal sentence is a sentence that begins with a noun. To be more precise: An Arabic nominal sentence begins with a word that belongs to the Arabic part of speech ism. A nominal sentence consists of two parts and both parts have nominative case.
Now let's look at a nominal sentence. Since I own a chubby rabbit, it will be this sentence.
The sentence The rabbit is fat is pronounced al'arnabu samiinun in Arabic. al-'arnab = the rabbit, samiin = fat. Literally it says The rabbit fat. Both the words have nominative case: The rabbit, al-'arnabu, has definite form nominative and ends in u. Fat, samiinun, has indefinite form nominative and ends in un.
Let's look at another nominal sentence.
The sentence The sky is rainy is pronounced assamaa'u mumTiratun in Arabic. as-samaa' = the sky, mumTira = rainy. Literally it says The sky rainy. Now we are starting to see a pattern. The first word is in definite form and ends in u and the second word is in indefinite form and ends in un.
The Arabic word for sky is feminine. Therefore, the adjective rain is feminine and it says mumTiratun rather thanmumTirun.
Details - nominal sentence
Nominal sentence i s called jumla ismiyya in Arabic. That literally means nominal sentence.
A nominal sentence consists of two part. The first part is called mubtada' which means beginning. It is mubatada' that starts a nominal sentence, and it has to be a word that belong to the Arabic part of speech ism.
The second part of an Arabic nominal sentence is called khabar which means news. It is khabar that provides information about the mubtada' and thereby makes the nominal sentence complete.
The mubtada' is in definite form while khabar is in indefinite form. Both parts have nominative case. If you want to use English grammar terms you can call mubtada' the subject and khabar predicative.
Nominative with kaana and its sister verbs
As we have seen in the nominal sentences above, there is no need for an Arabic verb with the meaning to be. However, we need a verb to express was. For that purpose, we use the past tense of the verb kaana.
Let's take our rainy sky and place kaana in front of it.
We have now changed the meaning from The sky is rainy to The sky was rainy. We have done this by changing two things. Firstly, we added the verb kaana. Secondly, we changed the case of the word for rainy, from nominative to accusative.
Note that it does not say kaana but kaanat, since the Arabic word for sky is feminine.
The verb kaana belongs to a group of verbs that we call kaana and her sisters. This group includes for example the Arabic verb laysa that means to not be.
Let's take our fat rabbit and place laysa in front of him.
Now we have negated our sentence by adding the verb laysa and changing case on the word for fat, from nominative to accusative.
Kaana, laysa and their sisters is a group of verb that can change the meaning of a nominal sentence. When any of those verbs are added to a nominal sentence, the following happens: The first part stays in nominative case and the second part changes to accusative case.
Details - kaana and her sisters
Kaana and her siser are called kaana wa 'akhwaatu-haa in Arabic. kaana = the verb kaana, wa = and, 'akhwaat = sisters, haa = her. The word kaana is considered to be feminine, therefore the pronoun her is used.
The first part of a nominal sentence is called mubtada'. When we add kaana to a nominal sentence, that part is instead called ismu kaana that can be translated to kaana's nominal. If you want to use an English grammar term, you can call it kaana's subject. Both mubtada' and ismu kaana always have nominative case.
The second part of a nominal sentence is called khabar. When you add kaana to a nominal sentence, that part is instead called khabaru kaana that can be translated to kaana's news or kaana's information. If you want to use an English grammar term, you can call it kaana's predicative. While khabar has nominative case, khabaru kaana has accusative case.
Nominative with 'inna and her sister particles
The Arabic particle 'inna means indeed. Let's try and see what happens if we place 'inna in front of our fat rabbit.
We can see that the particle 'inna operates in the opposite way compared to kaana regarding grammatical case. The first part of the nominal sentence has accusative case while the secon part has nominative case.
The particle 'inna means indeed. But often 'inna is merely used in a stylistic way. The sentence may as well be translated to The rabbit is fat in English, as if the particle 'inna did not exist.
The particle 'inna belongs to a group of particles that is called 'inna and her sisters. This group contains for example the Arabic particle 'anna that means that.
Let's try to use the particle 'anna in or nominal sentence with the fat rabbit. But 'anna can not start a sentence, so we will place a verb in the beginning.
We now have the sentence I know that the rabbit is fat. 'a3rifu = I know, 'anna = that, al-'arnab = the rabbit, samiin = fat. We can see that the first word in our nominal sentence, the rabbit, has accusative case while the second word in our nominal sentence, fat, has nominative case.
'inna, 'anna and their sisters are a group of particles that can change the meaning of a nominal sentence. When any of those particles are added to a nominal sentence, the following happens: The first part changes to case accusative while the second parts stays in nominative case.
See more of 'inna and her sisters
Details - 'inna and her sisters
'inna and her sisters are called 'inna wa 'akhwaatu-haa in Arabic. 'inna = the particle 'inna, wa = and, 'akhwaat = sisters, haa = her. The word 'inna is considered to be feminine. Therefore, the pronoun her is used.
The first part of a nominal sentence is called mubtada'. When you add 'inna to a nominal sentence, that part is instead called ismu 'inna that can be translated to 'inna's nominal. If you want to use an English grammar term, you can say 'inna's subject. While mubtada' has nominative case, ismu 'inna has accusative case.
The second part of a nominal sentence is called khabar. When you add 'inna to a nominal sentence that part is instead called khabaru 'inna that can be translated to 'inna's news or 'inna's information. If you want to use an English grammar term, you can say 'inna's predicative. Both khabar and khabaru 'inna always have nominative case.
Nominative - lifted in Arabic
If you open the English Wikipedia page for 'Nominative case', and then change language to Arabic, you will find the Arabic word for nominative: raf3.
raf3 literally means lifting. One can image that the vowel Damma, that is pronounced u, and indicates nominative case, has a pronunciation that lifts. The vowel Damma is written as a loop above the letter, as if the loop is about to lift the letter up.
In Arabic, we also use the word marfuu3 that functions as an adjective. It literally means lifted. If a word has nominative case, we say that the word is marfuu3.
Signs of nominative
Now we will become experts in recognizing words with nominative case. First I will introduce the Arabic term 3alaamatu raf3in that means sign of nominative. It is the vowel or letter in the end of the word that indicates that a word has nominative case.
Arabic has three signs of nominative: The vowel Damma, the letter waw and the letter alif. Let's look at them and see how they are used.
Damma is the common sign of nominative
We have alredy learned the most common sign of nominative: the vowel Damma. Tne ending u is used for definite form nominative and the ending un is used for indefinite form nominative. That is true for singular words, broken plural and regular plural feminine.
We have already seen examples using the Arabic word for rabbit. Now we will look at another word. The Arabic word for bridge is pronounced jisr without case endings.
Since bridge is singular, the vowel Damma is the sign of nominative. The word ends in u in definite form and un in indefinite form.
The Arabic word for bridges (i.e. plural of bridge) is pronounced jusuur without case endings. That is broken plural.
Since it is broken plural, the vowel Damma is the sign of nominative. The word ends in u in definite form and un in indefinite form.
Regular plural feminine
Words in regular plural feminine ends in aat. For example many photographers that are all women is muSawwiraat in Arabic.
Damma is the sign of nominative also for regular plural feminine. The word ends in u in definite form and un in indefinite form.
Waw is the sign of nominative of many men
Words in regular plural masculine end in uuna in nominative. Regular plural masculine is used for groups of people where at least one of them is a man. For example, many photographers that are men is muSawwiruuna in nominative.
As mentioned, regular plural masculine has the ending uuna in nominative. It is the Arabic letter waw that indicates nominative case. The letter is pronounced as a long u when it follows the vowel Damma.
Alif is the sign of nominative in dual
When there is two of something, we can use dual. Masculine dual ends in aani in nominative. For example two photographers that are men.
Feminine dual ends in ataani in nominative. For example two photographers that are women.
Thus, words in masculine dual end in aani in nominative case and words in feminine dual end in ataani in nominative case. It is the Arabic letter alif that indicates nominative case. The letter is pronounced as a long a when it follows the vowel fatHa.
Conclusion
Nominative is the default case. If nothing affects a word, it has nominative case. Nominative is also used if the word has any of the following functions in a sentence:
- Subject in a verbal sentence (faa3il).
- Subject in i nominal sentence (mubtada') or predicative in a nominal sentence (khabar).
- Kaana's subject (ismu kaana) or the subject of any of kaana's sister verbs.
- Inna's predicative (khabaru 'inna) or the predicative of any of 'inna's sister particles.
The following endings indicate that a word has nominative case:
- u for definite form and un for indefinite form is used for words in singular and broken plural.
- aatu for definite form and aatun for indefinite form is used for regular plural feminine.
- uuna is used for regular plural masculine.
- aani is used for masculine dual and ataani is used for feminine dual.