Let's look at exceptions when discussing attendance and events.
| The secretary (f) organized a seminar about the club's activity. | نظمت السكرتيرة ندوة عن نشاط النادي.nazzamati s-sikritîratu nadwatan 'an nashâti n-nâdî |
Exceptions in Complete Negative Sentences
In Arabic, the grammatical rules for the word "except" (إلا) depend on the structure of the sentence. A "complete negative" sentence has two features:
- It begins with a negative particle (like ما or لم).
- The larger group being excluded from is explicitly mentioned before إلا.
When using إلا in this type of sentence, you have two valid options for the grammatical case of the noun that follows it.
Option 1: The Accusative Case
The first option is to place the noun after إلا in the accusative case (منصوب). Notice how the exceptions in these sentences take the accusative endings—such as a double fatha (ـًا) for singular nouns or the suffix ـين for the dual.
| The students were not absent from the seminar except one student. | لم يتغيب الطلاب عن الندوة إلا طالبا واحدا.lam yataghayyabi at-tullâbu ani an-nadwati illâ tâliban wâhidan |
| The participants did not leave the seminar except two participants. | ما انصرف المشاركون من الندوة إلا مشاركين.mâ insarafa al-mushârikûna mina an-nadwati illâ mushârikayni |
Option 2: Apposition (البدل)
The second option is to treat the exception as an apposition (بدل). This means the noun after إلا simply copies the grammatical case of the larger group.
In the examples below, the larger groups (المعلمون, المهندسون, and الطبيبات) are the subjects of the sentences, which means they are in the nominative case (مرفوع). Therefore, the exception after إلا also takes the nominative case, using a damma (ـٌ) for singular nouns or the suffix ـان for the dual.
| The teachers were not absent from the activity except one teacher. | لم يتغيب المعلمون عن النشاط إلا معلم واحد.lam yataghayyabi al-muallimûna ani an-nashâti illâ muallimun wâhid |
| The engineers did not leave the activity except two engineers. | ما انصرف المهندسون من النشاط إلا مهندسان.mâ insarafa al-muhandisûna min an-nashâti illâ muhandisân |
| The female doctors did not leave except two female doctors. | لم تنصرف الطبيبات إلا طبيبتان.lam tansarifi at-tabibatu illa tabibatani |
This structure gives you the flexibility to express identical meanings in two completely correct ways.