Causal adjectives (النعت السببي)

In Arabic, when you want to describe a specific feature of a noun, you use an advanced structure called the Causal Adjective (النعت السببي). In English, this is often expressed using "whose," as in "a meal whose taste is authentic."

Agreement Rules

Unlike standard adjectives that agree completely with the noun they follow, the causal adjective acts as a bridge between two nouns: the main noun before it, and the specific feature after it.

It follows strict agreement rules:

• Definiteness and Case: Matches the noun before it (the main noun).
• Gender: Matches the noun after it (the specific feature).
• Number: Remains singular, regardless of whether the surrounding nouns are plural.

Additionally, the second noun (the feature) always has a pronoun suffix attached to it that refers back to the first noun.

Indefinite Causal Adjectives

In the sentence below, "meal" (وجبة) is feminine, but its "taste" (مذاق) is masculine. The causal adjective "authentic" (أصيل) is masculine to match the second noun, but remains indefinite to match the first noun.

Definite Causal Adjectives

If the main noun is definite, the causal adjective must also be definite. Notice how "dazzling" (الباهر) takes الـ to match "the restaurant" (المطعم), but remains masculine to match "decor" (ديكور).

Plural Nouns

The causal adjective stubbornly remains singular even if the noun it describes is plural. Here, "restaurants" (المطاعم) is plural, but the adjective "appetizing" (الشهي) stays singular.

Feminine Features

If the feature you are describing is feminine—or a non-human plural, which Arabic treats as feminine singular—the causal adjective will be feminine. Here, "meals" (وجبات) is a non-human plural, so the adjective "varied" (متنوعة) takes the feminine marker (ة).

Case Agreement

Because the causal adjective takes the grammatical case of the noun before it, its ending changes depending on that noun's role in the sentence. In this example, "dessert" (حلوى) is the direct object (accusative case). Therefore, the causal adjective "rich" (دسما) takes the accusative marker (ا), even though "cheese" (جبنها) is nominative.

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 usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:

The adjective copies the case of the noun before it: وَجْبَةٌ أَصِيلٌ, الحَسَاءَ المُتَنَوِّعَةَ, المَطْعَمِ المُتَنَوِّعَةِ. The noun after it is always nominative: مَذَاقُهَا, تَوَابِلُهُ, وَجَبَاتُهُ. In these drills, only an indefinite masculine accusative lets you see the case, as the alif of دسما.