Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Addressing an Unspecified Person

You already know that the particle **يا** is used to address someone directly. However, Arabic grammar rules change depending on *who* you are addressing.

When calling out to a general, unspecified person—such as addressing "any driver" rather than a specific driver standing right in front of you—the noun is treated as an unintended indefinite (**النكرة غير المقصودة**).

### The Accusative Vocative

When the vocative noun addresses an unspecified person, it must be put into the **accusative case** (**منصوب**).

For singular nouns, you mark this accusative state by adding the *tanwin fatha* ending, which is written with an extra alif (ـًا) at the end of most words.

{{item:1158791}}

{{item:1158798}}

### Public Campaigns and Warnings

Because this grammatical structure speaks to a broad, general audience, it is the standard way to write public safety campaigns, civic warnings, and street signs. You will often see it paired with imperative verbs (commands) to urge citizens toward safety.

{{item:1158800}}

{{item:1158802}}

{{item:1158808}}

Accusative vocative for undefined persons (يا)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
alert	تنبيهtanbîh
reckless person	مستهترmustahtir
consequence	عاقبة'âqiba
The police issued an alert: Reckless driver, you will not escape the consequence of speeding.	أصدرت الشرطة تنبيها: يا مستهترا، لن تهرب من عاقبة السرعة.asdarati ash-shurtatu tanbîhan: yâ mustahtiran, lan tahruba min aaqibati as-surati.
warning	تحذيرtahdhîr
heedless person	غافلghâfil
prevention	وقايةwiqâya
Fatima heard a warning on the radio: Heedless person, stay indoors for protection from the storm.	سمعت فاطمة تحذيرا في المذياع: يا غافلا، ابق في المنزل للوقاية من العاصفة.samiat fâtimatu tahdhîran fî al-midhyâi: yâ ghâfilan, ibqa fî al-manzili lilwiqâyati mina al-âsifati.
swimmer	سباحsabbâh
drowning person	غريقghariiq
Maryam read a warning on the beach: Swimmer, do not swim here lest you drown.	قرأت مريم تحذيرا على الشاطئ: يا سباحا، لا تسبح هنا لئلا تصبح غريقا.qara'at maryamu tahdhiran 'alâ ash-shâti'i: yâ sabbâhan, lâ tasbah hunâ li'allâ tusbiha ghariqan.
smoker	مدخنmudakhkhin
Smoker, quit this bad habit for protection from the consequence of the disease.	يا مدخنا، اترك هذه العادة السيئة للوقاية من عاقبة المرض.yâ mudakhkhinan, utruk hâdhihi l-'âdata s-sayyi'ata lilwiqâyati min 'âqibati l-maradi.
passerby	مارmârr
Passerby on this street, read every alert and write down your notes.	يا مارا في هذا الشارع، اقرأ كل تنبيه واكتب ملاحظاتك.yâ mârran fî hâdhâ ash-shâri, iqra' kulla tanbîhin waktub mulâhazâtika.
The nurse could have saved fifteen drowning people if she had published an early warning.	كان يمكن أن تنقذ الممرضة خمسة عشر غريقا لو نشرت تحذيرا مبكرا.kâna yumkinu an tunqidha al-mumarridatu khamsata 'ashara ghariqan law nasharat tahdhiran mubakkiran
Reckless driver, when you drive fast, you harm every passerby.	يا مستهترا، عندما تقود بسرعة، تؤذي كل مار.yâ mustahtiran, indamâ taqûdu bisurâtin, tu'dhî kulla mârrin.
You who are heedless of the weather, do not be a swimmer today because the weather is stormy.	يا غافلا عن الطقس، لا تكن سباحا اليوم لأن الجو عاصف.yâ ghâfilan 'ani attaqsi, lâ takun sabbâhan alyawma li'anna aljawwa 'âsifun
Smoker, did you see twenty warnings on the box?	يا مدخنا، هل رأيت عشرين تنبيها على العلبة؟yâ mudakhkhinan, hal ra'ayta ishrîna tanbîhan ala l-ulbah?
The manager ignored the warning, and when the fire happened, she bore the consequence.	تجاهلت المديرة التحذير، ولما حدث الحريق، تحملت العاقبة.tajâhalat al-mudîratu at-tahdhîra, wa lammâ hadatha al-harîqu, tahammalat al-'âqibata.
Citizen, be responsible and do not be heedless of the warning.	يا مواطنا، كن مسؤولا ولا تكن غافلا عن التحذير.yâ muwâtinan, kun mas'ûlan wa lâ takun ghâfilan 'ani t-tahdhîr.