Apposition (البدل)
In Arabic, when you refer to someone by their title, rank, or profession followed immediately by their proper name—such as "Doctor Mahmoud" or "Commander Tariq"—this grammatical structure is called apposition (البدل).
The rule for apposition is simple but strict: the proper name (the appositive) must copy the grammatical case of the title preceding it. The title determines the role in the sentence, and the name simply follows suit.
Nominative Apposition (Subjects)
If the title is the subject of the sentence, it takes the nominative case. Because of apposition, the proper name following it will also be in the nominative case.
| Prince Khaled withdrew from the treaty. | انسحب الأمير خالد من المعاهدة.insahaba al-amîru khâlidun mina al-mu'âhadati |
| The commander Tariq set off to the north. | انطلق القائد طارق إلى الشمال.intalaqa al-qâ'idu târiqun ilâ ash-shamâl. |
Genitive Apposition (After Prepositions)
When the title is in the genitive case—for instance, when it directly follows a preposition—it takes a kasra. The proper name following it must inherit this genitive case and take a kasra (or double kasra if fully declinable) as well.
| I listened to Doctor Mahmoud at the conference. | استمعت إلى الدكتور محمود في المؤتمر.istama'tu ilâ ad-duktûri mahmûdin fî al-mu'tamari |
Accusative Apposition (Objects)
Similarly, if the title is the direct object of a verb, it is in the accusative case. The proper name matching it will also take the accusative case. For fully declinable masculine names, remember that the accusative tanween (double fatha) requires adding an alif (ا) at the end of the name.
| Did you meet Prince Tariq? | هل قابلت الأمير طارقا؟hal qâbalta al-amîra târiqan? |
| We waited for the commander Ali at the center. | انتظرنا القائد عليا في المركز.intazarnâ al-qâ'ida aliyyan fî al-markaz. |
Bringing It Together
This case-matching behavior applies universally to rulers, historical figures, and everyday professionals alike. Notice in the following example how both the nominative subject pairing and the genitive prepositional pairing perfectly match their respective cases within a single sentence:
| Sultan Ali listened to the genius Khaled. | استمع السلطان علي إلى العبقري خالد.istama'a as-sultânu 'aliyyun ilâ al-'abqariyyi khâlidin |
Seeing the endings
This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is something you hear in the audio but never see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:
| as written | fully vocalized | case |
|---|---|---|
| انسحب الأمير خالد من المعاهدة. | اِنْسَحَبَ الأَمِيرُ خَالِدٌ مِنَ المُعَاهَدَةِ. | nominative (subject) |
| هل قابلت الأمير طارقا؟ | هَلْ قَابَلْتَ الأَمِيرَ طَارِقًا؟ | accusative (object) |
| استمعت إلى الدكتور محمود في المؤتمر. | اسْتَمَعْتُ إِلَى الدُّكْتُورِ مَحْمُودٍ فِي المُؤْتَمَرِ. | genitive (after إلى) |
The name copies the case of the title in front of it. Only the accusative can be seen, as the alif of طارقا. The nominative خَالِدٌ and the genitive مَحْمُودٍ are heard but not written.
