Clitics with Infinitival and Control-Like Structures | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

English says “I want to see him,” with an infinitive whose subject is understood from the main clause. Modern Standard Arabic often uses a finite subordinate clause instead: أريد أن أراه. The object suffix stays on أرى “I see,” the verb that actually selects “him.” It does not move upward to أريد merely because English or another learned language places pronouns differently.

Arabic also has genuine constructions in which a suffix belongs to the higher verb: أريده أن يشارك “I want him to participate.” Here “him” is an object of أريد and the understood controller of the embedded subject. The difference is structural and meaningful, not a free choice of where the suffix sounds best.

Arabic has no ordinary infinitive to host a climbing pronoun

The particle أن plus a subjunctive imperfect often translates an English to-infinitive, but the Arabic verb is finite: it carries person, gender, and number marking. In أن أساعدك, أساعد means “I help,” and ـك is its object.

أريد أن أساعدك في إعداد العرض يا خالد.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾusāʿidaka fī ʾiʿdādi l-ʿarḍ yā khālid.

I want to help you prepare the presentation, Khalid.

أريد أن أساعدك في إعداد العرض يا مريم.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾusāʿidaki fī ʾiʿdādi l-ʿarḍ yā maryam.

I want to help you prepare the presentation, Maryam.

The two unvocalized targets look identical, but the embedded object is -ka for one man and -ki for one woman. The main verb and embedded verb both mark an unspoken first-person subject; Arabic does not need أنا twice—or even once—unless contrast requires it.

The default mapping is simple:

Meaning	Arabic structure	Suffix host
I want to see him	أريد أن أراه	embedded verb أرى
I tried to contact her	حاولت أن أتصل بها	embedded preposition بـ
I began reviewing it	بدأت أراجعه	embedded verb أراجع
I want to review it	أريد مراجعته	verbal noun مراجعة

The familiar person-gender-number inventory remains visible even when the suffix is embedded several words below the selecting verb:

Referent	Independent subject form	Embedded object form	Example frame
me	أنا	ـني	يريد أن يقابلني
you, masculine singular	أنت	ـكَ	أريد أن أقابلك
you, feminine singular	أنت	ـكِ	أريد أن أقابلك
you two	أنتما	ـكما	أريد أن أقابلكما
them, masculine or mixed plural	هم	ـهم	أريد أن أقابلهم
them, feminine plural	هنّ	ـهنّ	أريد أن أقابلهنّ

Independent forms can be subjects—هم سيشاركون “they will participate”—but the lower verb requires its attached object in أريد أن أقابلهم “I want to meet them.” The two series are not interchangeable abbreviations.

The suffix's pronunciation also depends on its host. Compare منه minhu after a consonant with بهم bihim, where preceding i selects the -him variant. First-person object ـني, as in يراني “he sees me,” likewise differs from possessive ـي, as in كتابي “my book.” These host-conditioned shapes do not license a suffix to move to a different word.

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Find the word that licenses the pronoun's semantic role. If “him” is the one seen, attach ـه to أرى; if “her” is the person contacted with اتصل بـ, attach ـها to بـ. Distance from the main verb is irrelevant.

Attachment changes meaning

Compare two superficially similar sentences:

أريد أن أراه غدا.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾarāhu ghadā.

I want to see him tomorrow.

أريده أن يراني غدا.

ʾurīduhu ʾan yarānī ghadā.

I want him to see me tomorrow.

In the first, ـه is the object of embedded أرى; both verbs have the unspoken subject “I.” In the second, ـه is the object of matrix أريد and controls the unspoken subject of يرى, while ـني is the embedded object “me.” Moving the suffix has reversed who sees whom.

This is why calling every higher attachment “clitic climbing” is misleading. In languages with productive climbing, an object belonging semantically to an infinitive may surface on a higher verb without changing its role. Formal Arabic normally keeps the suffix in the clause or nominal expression that selects it. When a higher verb carries the suffix, that suffix is ordinarily a real argument of the higher verb.

Control-like patterns with a higher object

Some Arabic predicates allow a person to be expressed with the higher verb and understood as the subject of the following أن clause. أراد provides the clearest contrast:

أردتك أن تشارك في الاجتماع يا خالد.

ʾaradtuka ʾan tushārika fī l-ijtimāʿ yā khālid.

I wanted you to participate in the meeting, Khalid.

أردتك أن تشاركي في الاجتماع يا مريم.

ʾaradtuki ʾan tushārikī fī l-ijtimāʿ yā maryam.

I wanted you to participate in the meeting, Maryam.

The higher object suffix and the embedded verb both preserve addressee gender: -ka ... tushārika for one man, -ki ... tushārikī for one woman. The embedded subject is not an overt independent pronoun, but its agreement identifies the controller.

Other selecting verbs use prepositions rather than a direct higher object:

طلبت منه أن يراجع النسخة الأخيرة.

ṭalabtu minhu ʾan yurājiʿa n-nuskhata l-ʾakhīra(h).

I asked him to review the final version.

سمحت لها بأن تغادر مبكرا.

samaḥtu lahā bi-ʾan tughādira mubakkirā.

I allowed her to leave early.

English uses a bare object after “ask” and “allow,” but Arabic requires the complement pattern of the Arabic verb: طلب من and سمح لـ. The suffix therefore attaches to a preposition. Do not force it onto the verb as though every English object were an Arabic direct object.

With verbs such as بدأ “begin” and حاول “try,” the object of the following action stays with the lower verb or its preposition.

بدأت أراجعه في القطار، لكنني لم أنهه.

badaʾtu ʾurājiʿuhu fī l-qiṭār, lakinnanī lam ʾunhih.

I began reviewing it on the train, but I did not finish it.

حاولنا أن نتصل بهم قبل بدء الجلسة.

ḥāwalnā ʾan nattaṣila bihim qabla badʾi l-jalsa(h).

We tried to contact them before the session began.

In نتصل بهم, the verb's lexical pattern is اتصل بـ. The matrix verb حاولنا cannot host ـهم without acquiring a different and generally unintended object relation. Similarly, impersonal يجب “it is necessary” does not host the person who is helped:

يجب أن نساعدها قبل نهاية اليوم.

yajibu ʾan nusāʿidahā qabla nihāyati l-yawm.

We must help her before the end of the day.

The verbal-noun alternative

Arabic can replace an أن clause with a verbal noun when the syntax and style allow it. A pronoun then attaches to that noun as its genitive dependent, even when English interprets it as the action's object.

أريد مقابلتها قبل المؤتمر.

ʾurīdu muqābalatahā qabla l-muʾtamar.

I want to meet her before the conference.

نحاول تحسينه من دون زيادة التكلفة.

nuḥāwilu taḥsīnahu min dūni ziyādati t-taklifa(h).

We are trying to improve it without increasing the cost.

The suffixes in مقابلتها and تحسينه are hosted by nouns, not by infinitives—Arabic has no direct equivalent of English to meet or to improve. This often produces compact (formal/academic) prose. The finite-clause alternatives أريد أن أقابلها and نحاول أن نحسنه are also normal and may sound less nominal.

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Arabic offers two legitimate lower hosts: a finite verb in an أن clause and a verbal noun. Compare أريد أن أقابلها with أريد مقابلتها. Neither licenses moving ـها onto أريد with the same meaning.

Focused objects remain in the lower domain

When the embedded object is contrastively focused, a detached إيا phrase can occupy the embedded object's position. It still does not become an object suffix on the higher verb.

أريد أن أقابل إياك أنت، لا مساعدك.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾuqābila ʾiyyāka ʾanta, lā musāʿidak.

I want to meet you yourself, not your assistant. (Addressing one man.)

Neutral أريد أن أقابلك uses attachment; contrastive إياك أنت is independent. Both are objects of أقابل, not of أريد.

Relative antecedents locate the suffix

An object antecedent must be resumed where its role is interpreted, even inside a lower clause. The broader structural rules appear on Resumptive Pronouns.

هذه هي المقالة التي أريد أن أقرأها الليلة.

hādhihi hiya l-maqālatu llatī ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaqraʾahā l-layla(h).

This is the article that I want to read tonight.

The feminine ـها belongs on embedded أقرأ because the article is what gets read. Attaching it to أريد would change the higher verb's object and would not fill the reading verb's object position.

أما التقريران، فسأحاول أن أراجعهما اليوم.

ʾammā t-taqrīrāni, fa-sa-ʾuḥāwilu ʾan ʾurājiʿahumā l-yawm.

As for the two reports, I will try to review them today.

The dual suffix resumes the topic at the embedded object site. Its distance from التقريران does not weaken the grammatical link.

Common Mistakes

Climbing an embedded object onto the higher verb

❌ أريده أن أرى غدا.

Incorrect for ‘I want to see him tomorrow’ — attaching ـه to أريد makes him the higher object and leaves أرى without the intended object.

✅ أريد أن أراه غدا.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾarāhu ghadā.

I want to see him tomorrow.

Losing second-person gender

❌ أريد أن أقابلك يا مريم.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾuqābilaka yā maryam

Incorrect reading — a single female object requires -ki.

✅ أريد أن أقابلك يا مريم.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾuqābilaki yā maryam.

I want to meet you, Maryam.

Separating a bound suffix or copying English possessor order

❌ حاولت أن أساعد ك.

Incorrect — ordinary object ـك attaches to the lower verb.

✅ حاولت أن أساعدك.

ḥāwaltu ʾan ʾusāʿidak.

I tried to help you.

❌ أريد أن أراجع هم تقرير.

Incorrect for ‘I want to review their report’ — possessor ـهم follows and joins the noun.

✅ أريد أن أراجع تقريرهم.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾurājiʿa taqrīrahum.

I want to review their report.

Copying an English preposition pattern

❌ حاولت أن أتصل هم.

Incorrect — اتصل selects بـ, so the pronoun must attach to that preposition.

✅ حاولت أن أتصل بهم.

ḥāwaltu ʾan ʾattaṣila bihim.

I tried to contact them.

Omitting or misplacing a relative resumptive

❌ هذه هي الخطة التي أريدها أن أناقش.

Incorrect for ‘the plan that I want to discuss’ — the higher suffix changes the structure, and the embedded object link is missing.

✅ هذه هي الخطة التي أريد أن أناقشها.

hādhihi hiya l-khuṭṭatu llatī ʾurīdu ʾan ʾunāqishahā.

This is the plan that I want to discuss.

The same section can be grammatical yet referentially unclear:

❌ وضع المدير التقرير قرب العقد ثم أراد أن يراجعه.

Potentially unclear — embedded ـه may retrieve either the report or the contract.

✅ وضع المدير التقرير قرب العقد ثم أراد أن يراجع التقرير.

waḍaʿa l-mudīru t-taqrīra qurba l-ʿaqdi thumma ʾarāda ʾan yurājiʿa t-taqrīr.

The director put the report near the contract and then wanted to review the report.

Key Takeaways

Arabic أن + imperfect clauses contain finite verbs, so put an object suffix on the verb or preposition that selects it.
Higher attachment is legitimate when the pronoun is a real argument of the higher predicate: أريده أن يشارك.
Moving a suffix between higher and lower verbs changes participant roles; it is not free clitic climbing.
A verbal noun can host a suffix in compact formal style: أريد مقابلتها.
Resume a relative or topicalized object at its actual position inside the lower clause.

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