Arabic tamyīz (التمييز) is a specifying noun that resolves an open question left by another expression. عشرون means “twenty”—but twenty what? أكثر means “more”—but more in what respect? ازداد means “increased”—but what dimension increased? Tamyīz supplies the missing category: عشرون طلبًا “twenty applications,” أكثر خبرةً “more experienced,” ازداد وضوحًا “became clearer.”
English often puts the specifying noun directly after a numeral, builds it into an adjective, or chooses a different verb. Arabic uses several sharply defined nominal patterns. The common clause-level pattern is an indefinite accusative, but number and measure constructions also use genitive iḍāfa or من + genitive. There is no single ending that can be attached after every quantity. First identify what creates the semantic gap; then choose the pattern licensed by that governor.
Two families, one specifying function
Traditional grammar commonly distinguishes specification of an entity or quantity (تمييز الذات/الملفوظ) from specification of a relation or sentence (تمييز النسبة/الملحوظ). The terminology matters less than the building decision:
- A numeral, measure, weight, area, or container needs a noun naming the item measured.
- An elative or an underspecified predicate needs a noun naming the respect in which the comparison or change holds.
In either family, tamyīz does not name a patient acted upon. It completes the interpretation of a quantity, degree, or relation.
أصبح التقرير أكثر وضوحا بعد إضافة الرسم البياني.
ʾaṣbaḥa t-taqrīru ʾakthara wuḍūḥan baʿda ʾiḍāfati r-rasmi l-bayāniyy.
The report became clearer after the chart was added.
The full parse is: أصبحَ governs nominative subject التقريرُ and accusative predicate أكثرَ; elative أكثر leaves its dimension unspecified; indefinite accusative وضوحًا is tamyīz naming that dimension; بعدَ إضافةِ الرسمِ البيانيِّ is a time phrase whose nested iḍāfas are internally genitive. The verb does not directly govern وضوحًا, and أكثر does not make the following noun an object.
صار التقرير أوضح بعد إضافة الرسم البياني.
ṣāra t-taqrīru ʾawḍaḥa baʿda ʾiḍāfati r-rasmi l-bayāniyy.
The report became clearer after the chart was added. (Simpler contemporary paraphrase.)
The adjective أوضحَ already contains the dimension “clear,” so no tamyīz is needed. This is often the lighter contemporary choice; the أكثر + maṣdar frame is valuable when no convenient adjective exists or when the writer wants an explicit analytical dimension.
Numbers: the numeral range chooses the form
The counted noun after a numeral is a central type of tamyīz, but its number and case depend on the numeral range. Do not generalize the singular accusative pattern of 11–99 to every number.
| Numeral | Counted noun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 3–10 | plural genitive | خمسةُ طلباتٍ “five applications” |
| 11–99 | singular accusative | خمسةَ عشرَ طلبًا “fifteen applications” |
| 100, 1,000 and their simple multiples | singular genitive | مئةُ طلبٍ “one hundred applications” |
The whole numeral phrase receives its sentence-level case separately. In راجعت خمسةَ عشرَ طلبًا, the number phrase is accusative as direct object and طلبًا is singular accusative tamyīz. In وصل خمسةَ عشرَ طلبًا, the fixed compound numeral is in subject position, but طلبًا remains accusative tamyīz.
استقبل المركز ثمانية متدربين في الأسبوع الأول.
istaqbala l-markazu thamāniyata mutadarribīna fī l-ʾusbūʿi l-ʾawwal.
The center received eight trainees in the first week.
After ثمانية, human plural متدربين is genitive, realized with -īna. It is not accusative merely because the entire number phrase is the verb's object.
وافق اثنان وثلاثون عضوا على التعديل.
wāfaqa thnāni wa-thalāthūna ʿuḍwan ʿalā t-taʿdīl.
Thirty-two members approved the amendment.
The coordinated numeral is nominative as subject; singular عضوًا is accusative tamyīz because 32 belongs to the 11–99 pattern. Number case is visible on اثنان وثلاثون, while the specification keeps its own fixed relation to the numeral. See Number Case and Agreement for the full paradigm.
تلقى الصندوق مئة طلب خلال يومين.
talaqqā ṣ-ṣundūqu miʾata ṭalabin khilāla yawmayn.
The fund received one hundred applications within two days.
Accusative مئةَ is the direct-object head; singular طلبٍ is genitive as its iḍāfa complement. Calling طلبٍ an accusative because English puts “applications” after the number would erase the construction.
Measures and containers: three contemporary frames
With measurement expressions, contemporary MSA has several possible structures. Their choice depends partly on lexical convention and style, not on a universal transformation.
أضاف الفني لترا زيتا إلى الخزان.
ʾaḍāfa l-fanniyyu litran zaytan ʾilā l-khazzān.
The technician added a liter of oil to the tank. (Accusative specification.)
Both nouns are accusative but for different reasons: لترًا is the direct-object measure phrase, while زيتًا specifies its contents. This fully inflected pattern is grammatical (formal).
أضاف الفني لتر زيت إلى الخزان.
ʾaḍāfa l-fanniyyu litra zaytin ʾilā l-khazzān.
The technician added a liter of oil to the tank. (Iḍāfa measure.)
Here accusative construct head لترَ takes genitive زيتٍ. No tanwīn appears on the construct head. This compact iḍāfa is highly common in contemporary factual writing.
أضاف الفني لترا من الزيت إلى الخزان.
ʾaḍāfa l-fanniyyu litran mina z-zayti ʾilā l-khazzān.
The technician added a liter of the oil to the tank. (Explicit partitive with من.)
من الزيتِ is genitive after the preposition and can make a partitive or identifiable-source reading explicit. It is not syntactically accusative tamyīz, although it satisfies the same communicative need. Do not force all three variants to have identical definiteness: لتر زيتٍ is an iḍāfa, while لترًا من الزيتِ can point to a known supply of oil.
Weight, distance, and area units show the same options, but usage must be checked expression by expression. Modern technical prose often favors a unit plus iḍāfa or من because it remains clear without pronounced case endings.
Elatives: naming the dimension of comparison
An elative such as أكثر، أقل، أشد، أحسن can leave the dimension of comparison open. An indefinite accusative tamyīz supplies it.
هذا النظام أقل استهلاكا للطاقة من النظام السابق.
hādhā n-niẓāmu ʾaqallu stihlākan li-ṭ-ṭāqati mina n-niẓāmi s-sābiq.
This system consumes less energy than the previous system.
استهلاكًا answers “less in what respect?” Its own complement للطاقةِ belongs to the maṣdar استهلاك, while من النظام السابق marks the comparison standard. These governors form nested domains; أقلّ does not govern every following phrase directly.
ليلى أكثر خبرة في إدارة الأزمات من زميلها.
Laylā ʾaktharu khibratan fī ʾidārati l-ʾazamāti min zamīlihā.
Layla is more experienced in crisis management than her colleague.
The tamyīz does not agree with Layla: خبرةً stays a singular indefinite abstract noun. This is a specification relation, not a secondary adjective predicate.
Predicates whose dimension needs unpacking
Verbs of increase, decrease, fullness, goodness, and similar scalar change often combine with an accusative specifying the relevant dimension.
ازدادت المدينة سكانا خلال العقد الماضي.
izdādati l-madīnatu sukkānan khilāla l-ʿaqdi l-māḍī.
The city's population grew during the past decade. (Literally: the city increased in inhabitants.)
Plural سكانًا names the respect in which the city increased; it is not an object “increased” by the city. Contemporary prose may prefer ازداد عدد سكان المدينة “the city's population increased,” especially when a precise count follows. That recasting makes the changing quantity an explicit subject.
امتلأت القاعة حضورا قبل بدء الجلسة.
imtalaʾati l-qāʿatu ḥuḍūran qabla badʾi l-jalsa(h).
The hall filled with attendees before the session began. (Formal.)
Accusative حضورًا specifies what filled the hall. A clearer neutral paraphrase is امتلأت القاعة بالحاضرين with بـ + genitive. Contemporary editorial style often prefers such explicit prepositions when the bare accusative could slow comprehension.
Some famous examples belong to Classical or literary Arabic rather than neutral modern prose. اشتعل الرأس شيبًا “the head blazed with gray hair” is a Quranic image (Classical, literary). It is valuable for recognition, but it should not be presented as the everyday template for saying “his hair turned gray”; neutral MSA can say شاب شعره.
Tamyīz versus ḥāl and exception
A ḥāl describes a participant's state and agrees with that participant. Tamyīz identifies a category or dimension and does not perform controller agreement.
عاد الباحثان أكثر ثقة بالنتائج.
ʿāda l-bāḥithāni ʾakthara thiqatan bi-n-natāʾij.
The two researchers returned more confident in the results.
Accusative أكثرَ is a ḥāl describing the dual researchers, but its form is invariant; ثقةً specifies “more in confidence.” Compare عاد الباحثان واثقين, where dual واثقين itself is the agreeing ḥāl.
The next construction, exception with إلا, can also place singular عضوًا after a larger expression, but its logic is subtraction rather than specification:
حضر عشرون عضوا، وغادر الأعضاء إلا عضوا واحدا قبل التصويت.
ḥaḍara ʿishrūna ʿuḍwan, wa-ghādara l-ʾaʿḍāʾu ʾillā ʿuḍwan wāḥidan qabla t-taṣwīt.
Twenty members attended, and all the members except one left before the vote.
The first عضوًا answers “twenty what?” and is tamyīz. The second names the member excluded from a stated set and belongs to the exception construction. Identical surface case does not create identical syntax.
A formal-genre example
سجل البرنامج خلال الربع الأخير نموا قدره خمسة عشر في المئة، فأصبح أكثر جاذبية للمؤسسات وأقل اعتمادا على التمويل المؤقت.
sajjala l-barnāmaju khilāla r-rubʿi l-ʾakhīri numuwwan qadruhu khamsata ʿashara fī l-miʾa(h), fa-ʾaṣbaḥa ʾakthara jādhibiyyatan lil-muʾassasāti wa-ʾaqalla ʿtimādan ʿalā t-tamwīli l-muʾaqqat.
During the last quarter, the program recorded growth of fifteen percent, becoming more attractive to institutions and less dependent on temporary funding. (Formal report.)
After أصبح, coordinated accusative predicates أكثرَ and أقلَّ each open their own dimension. جاذبيةً specifies attractiveness and takes للمؤسسات as its complement; اعتمادًا specifies dependence and selects على التمويل. The parallel surface shape must not be misparsed as one long complement chain.
Common Mistakes
Assigning case from English order
❌ استلم المكتب خمس رسائل.
Incorrect analysis if رسائل is called accusative because it follows “five”; after 3–10 the counted noun is plural genitive inside the number phrase.
✅ استلم المكتب خمس رسائل خلال الصباح.
istalama l-maktabu khamsa rasāʾila khilāla ṣ-ṣabāḥ.
The office received five messages during the morning. (رسائل is diptote genitive in fatḥa.)
Missing accusative on a clause-level specification
❌ أصبحت الخطة أكثر وضوح.
Incorrect—the abstract noun specifying أكثر is indefinite accusative: وضوحا.
✅ أصبحت الخطة أكثر وضوحا بعد مراجعة الأمثلة.
ʾaṣbaḥati l-khuṭṭatu ʾakthara wuḍūḥan baʿda murājaʿati l-ʾamthila(h).
The plan became clearer after the examples were reviewed.
Merging nested governors
❌ الجهاز أقل استهلاكا الطاقة من سابقه.
Incorrect—استهلاكا is tamyīz of أقل, but الطاقة needs the maṣdar's own complement marker لـ.
✅ الجهاز أقل استهلاكا للطاقة من سابقه.
al-jihāzu ʾaqallu stihlākan li-ṭ-ṭāqati min sābiqihi.
The device consumes less energy than its predecessor.
Treating a Classical image as neutral wording
اشتعل الرأس شيبا.
ishtaʿala r-raʾsu shaybā.
The head blazed with gray hair. (Classical, Quranic image; literary rather than neutral administrative wording.)
✅ ازداد الشيب في شعر المدير هذا العام.
izdāda sh-shaybu fī shaʿri l-mudīri hādhā l-ʿām.
The gray in the director's hair increased this year. (Neutral contemporary wording.)
Key Takeaways
- Tamyīz supplies the missing item, measure, or dimension after a numeral, quantity, elative, or underspecified predicate.
- Clause-level and elative specifications are commonly indefinite accusative; number ranges independently determine whether the counted noun is plural genitive, singular accusative, or singular genitive.
- Measures can use accusative specification, an iḍāfa with genitive complement, or من + genitive; the alternatives are not mechanically identical in definiteness or style.
- Tamyīz specifies a relation and does not agree with a controller like ḥāl.
- Parse nested governors separately, and prefer an explicit contemporary paraphrase when a traditional bare accusative would obscure the intended relation.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Adverbial AccusativesB1 — Distinguish the major accusative adjunct families: time, place, manner, specification, exception, and the absolute object.
- Case across Complex NumeralsA2 — Track exactly which component changes for nominative, accusative, and genitive case in twelve, decades, coordinated numbers, and large-number phrases.
- Numbers 3–10 and Gender PolarityA2 — Build 3–10 phrases by choosing the numeral opposite the singular noun’s gender, then using a plural genitive counted noun.
- 21–99: Coordinating Units and DecadesA2 — Build Arabic numbers from 21 to 99 in unit-first order, choosing the unit for gender and inflecting both parts for case.
- The Ḥāl Circumstantial AccusativeB2 — Describe a participant's temporary state with an indefinite accusative ḥāl, control its agreement, and choose clear phrase or clause alternatives.
- Exception with إلاB2 — Build complete positive, complete negative, and emptied exceptions with إلا, choosing case from the sentence type rather than from word order.