THE GRAMMAR OF الإضافة

There are three grammatical conditions that an إضافة must meet.

1.      The مضاف must be light

2.      The مضاف cannot have an ال

3.      The مضاف إليه must be in the جر status

Also know that nothing can come between a مضاف and مضاف إليه .

**Remember, there are times when a partly-flexible word can be made fully flexible by showing a كسرة in the جر form. A partly-flexible word can be made fully-flexible in two ways:

1.      by adding an ال

2.      by making it a مضاف

Remember that the إيله مضاف must be جر. Let’s look back at the different ways the جر status shows itself:

Let us look at a few examples.

رَسُوْلُ اللهِ

The Prophet of Allah

 وَجُنُوْدُ إَبْلِيْسَ

The soldiers of Iblis

قَومُ مُوْسَى

The people of Musa

Note that when a partly or non-flexible word is preceded by a word that is light and has no ال, it is likely an إضافة, even if the status of the word is not clear.

رَبَّنا

Our Master

Note that a pronoun attached to an اسم always makes an إضافة.

مُسْلِمُوْ مَكَّةَ

The Muslims of Mecca

Recall that there are very few reasons to make something light. If you see an اسم that is light with noال  followed directly by another اسم, chances are it is an إضافة, even if you cannot be completely sure that the word after it is in the جر status. This is the second of two reasons for a word to be in جر status.

You may also recall that the إضافة construction was referenced in passing a few times in previous chapters. Now that you know what an إضافة is, let us reiterate and relearn these rules.

1.      One of the four scenarios in which a word is made light is when it is a مضاف

2.      One of the scenarios in which a partly-flexible word is made fully-flexible is when it is a مضاف