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### The Cognate Accusative for Emphasis (المفعول المطلق المؤكد للفعل)

In English, we emphasize that an action truly happened using adverbs like "really" or "totally." Arabic achieves this using the **cognate accusative** (**المفعول المطلق**).

To create a cognate accusative, follow the main verb with its own indefinite verbal noun (**مصدر**).

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### Rules for the Emphatic Cognate Accusative

To use the cognate accusative purely for **emphasis** (**مؤكد للفعل**) to assert the reality of an action:

- **Derivation:** The noun must be the exact verbal noun (**مصدر**) derived from the main verb's root.
- **Case:** It must be in the indefinite accusative case (**منصوب**), typically ending with (ـاً).
- **No Adjectives:** For this specific type of emphasis, the verbal noun must stand alone. Adding an adjective changes the function from emphasizing *that* the action happened to describing *how* it happened.

Notice how the indefinite accusative verbal noun anchors the verb's action to assert its reality:

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You can use this structure multiple times in a single sentence to emphasize a chain of grueling events:

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### Emphasizing Complex Verbs

The cognate accusative works exactly the same way with more complex verbs. Just use the specific verbal noun pattern that corresponds to the verb form. Here, the verb **استنزف** (to drain) pairs with its verbal noun **استنزافا**, and **أنهك** (to exhaust) pairs with **إنهاكا**:

{{item:1158664}}

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Cognate accusative for emphasis

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
to sweat	تعرقta'arraqa
marathon	ماراثونmârâthôn
The athlete really sweated in the marathon.	تعرق الرياضي في الماراثون تعرقا.ta'arraqa ar-riyâdiyyu fî al-mârâthûni ta'arruqan
to pant	لهثlahatha
We ran until we really panted.	ركضنا حتى لهثنا لهثا.rakadnâ hattâ lahathnâ lahathan
to cramp	تشنجtashannaja
to suffer pain	تألمta'allama
My leg really cramped, so I truly suffered.	تشنجت ساقي تشنجا فتألمت تألما.tashannajat sâqî tashannujan fata'allamtu ta'alluman
to drain	استنزفistanzafa
to exhaust	أنهكanhaka
The race totally drained my energy and completely exhausted me.	استنزف السباق طاقتي استنزافا وأنهكني إنهاكا.istanzafa as-sibâqu ṭâqatî istinzâfan wa'anhakanî inhâkan
to struggle	كافحkâfaha
competition (rivalry)	منافسةmunâfasah
The team truly struggled in the competition.	كافح الفريق في المنافسة كفاحا.kaafaha al-fareequ fi al-munaafasati kifaahan.
to cross (traverse, pass through)	اجتازijtâza
If only I had actually crossed the finish line!	ليتني اجتزت خط النهاية اجتيازا!laytani ijtaztu khatta n-nihâyati ijtiyâzan
She is panting and really sweating because of the marathon race.	هي تلهث وتتعرق تعرقا بسبب سباق الماراثون.hiya talhathu wa tata'arraqu ta'arruqan bisababi sibâqi al-mârâthûn
She felt the same thing, so her muscle cramped and she suffered.	أحست نفس الشيء، فتشنجت عضلتها وتألمت.ahassat nafsa ash-shay'i, fatashannajat adalatuhâ wata'allamat.
Did the grueling training drain your strength and exhaust you?	هل استنزف التدريب الشاق قوتك وأنهكك؟hal istanzafa at-tadrîbu ash-shâqqu quwwataka wa-anhakaka?
We are a group that truly struggled and crossed the finish line.	نحن مجموعة كافحت كفاحا واجتازت خط النهاية.nahnu majmûatun kâfahat kifâhan wajtâzat khatta n-nihâyah
The girls participated in a pink marathon competition.	شاركت الفتيات في منافسة ماراثون وردية.shârakati l-fatayâtu fî munâfasati mârâthûnin wardiyyatin
My friend, you truly struggled and got through the marathon.	يا صديقي، لقد كافحت كفاحا واجتزت الماراثون.yâ sadîqî, laqad kâfahta kifâhan wajtazta al-mârâthûn