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Lesson 7: Possession (اَلْإِضَافَة) Next
Lesson 7: ▶ Part 1: Idafa — Basic Possession Part 2: Idafa Rules & Chain Idafa Part 3: Dialogue (Idafa in Conversation) Part 4: Exercises (Idafa) Part 5: Vocabulary (Idafa)

Notice the Combination

How do we say "The teacher's book" or "The door of the house"? In Arabic, we simply smash the two words together! Let's watch what happens when we combine them.

1. The Possession Formula (Idafa)

Item Owned
كِتَابُ
Book (of)
Lost Tanween
+
The Owner
اَلْمُعَلِّمِ
The teacher
Gained Kasra
=
كِتَابُ اَلْمُعَلِّمِ
The teacher's book
(The book of the teacher)
Logic Check: In English we say "The book of the teacher". In Arabic, the word "Book" doesn't need "AL" (The). Simply attaching it to a specific teacher naturally makes the book Definite!

The Grammatical Rules of Idafa

Every possession relationship (Idafa) is built of exactly two halves. Let's look at the strict rules for each half.

Part 1: The Possessed

اَلْمُضَافُ (Mudhaf)

The thing that is being owned (e.g. The Book, The Door).

Two Strict Rules:
  • Never takes "AL" (ال).
  • Never takes Tanween (Double Vowel). It only gets a single Dammah `ُ`.

Part 2: The Owner

الْمُضَافُ إِلَيْهِ (Mudhaf Ilayh)

The person or noun that owns the item (e.g. The Teacher, The Man).

One Strict Rule:
  • It is ALWAYS Majroor.
  • This means it must end with a Kasra `ِ` (just like it came after a preposition!).

3. Common Owners (Mudhaf Ilayh)

Learn these nouns which are frequently used as the "owner" in Arabic phrases.

اَللهُ
Allah (God)
اَلْمُعَلِّمُ
The Teacher
اَلطَّبِيبُ
The Doctor
اَلطَّالِبُ
The Student
اَلرَّجُلُ
The Man
اَلْوَلَدُ
The Boy
اَلْمَسْجِدُ
The Mosque
اَلْبَيْتُ
The House

4. Construction Lab

Read these famous Idafa chains out loud. Notice the first word (Possessed) has only a single Dammah `ُ`, and the second word (Owner) ends in a Kasra `ِ`!

The teacher's book
(The book of the teacher)
كِتَابُ اَلْمُعَلِّمِ
The House of Allah
(The house of Allah)
بَيْتُ اَللهِ
The door of the mosque
(The door of the mosque)
بَابُ اَلْمَسْجِدِ
The student's pen
(The pen of the student)
قَلَمُ اَلطَّالِبِ
The boy's room
(The room of the boy)
غُرْفَةُ اَلْوَلَدِ
The man's bed
(The bed of the man)
سَرِيرُ اَلرَّجُلِ
The doctor's desk
(The desk of the doctor)
مَكْتَبُ اَلطَّبِيبِ
The house's key
(The key of the house)
مِفْتَاحُ اَلْبَيْتِ

Idafa Mastered!

You can say "the book of Allah" and "Muhammad's house" — possession the Arabic way!

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