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### The Possessive Construction (إضافة)

In English, we can show possession by saying "the car's engine" or "the engine of the car." In Arabic, you link two nouns together to show possession or relationship using a structure called إضافة.

The formula is simple: **Possessed Noun + Possessor Noun**.

There is one crucial rule for making this combination:
- The first word (the thing being possessed) NEVER takes the prefix ال (the).
- The second word (the possessor) takes ال if it is specific.

Even though the first word doesn't have ال, the whole phrase is treated as definite because it is attached to a specific noun. Let's look at this structure using the words محرك (engine) and لون (color).

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### Asking Questions with Possessive Phrases

You can treat the entire إضافة phrase as a single chunk when building questions with words like أين (where), هل (is/are), or ما (what). 

Here are some examples using new vocabulary for car parts: إطار (tire) and سعر (price).

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### People as Possessors

The possessive construction works the exact same way when the possessor is a person. The word order remains the same: the thing possessed comes first, followed by the person who owns it.

Let's apply this to a person using سائق (driver) and رخصة (license).

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### Chaining Nouns Together

You can link more than two nouns together to create longer descriptive phrases, such as "the car's plate number" (literally: the number of the plate of the car). 

In this longer chain, the rule remains consistent: only the **very last word** takes the definite article ال. The words before it in the chain drop it.

Watch how رقم (number) and لوحة (plate) combine with السيارة (the car) to form a three-noun chain.

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Noun possession

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)

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)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
engine	محركmuharrik
The car's engine is strong.	محرك السيارة قوي.muharriku as-sayyârati qawiyy
Is the car's engine new?	هل محرك السيارة جديد؟hal muharriku ssayyârati jadîd?
color	لونlawn
What is the car's color?	ما لون السيارة؟mâ lawnu s-sayyârah?
seat	مقعدmaq'ad
The seat's color is beautiful.	لون المقعد جميل.lawnu al-maq'adi jamîlun
tire	إطارitâr
Where is the car's tire?	أين إطار السيارة؟ayna itâru s-sayyârah?
The car's tire is here.	إطار السيارة هنا.itâru as-sayyârati hunâ.
price	سعرsi'r
What is the tire's price?	ما سعر الإطار؟mâ si'ru al-'itâr?
Is the car's price excellent?	هل سعر السيارة ممتاز؟hal si'ru as-sayyârati mumtâz?
driver	سائقsâ'iq
The driver's seat is wide.	مقعد السائق واسع.maq'adu s-sâ'iqi wâsi'un
This is the driver's seat.	هذا مقعد السائق.hâdhâ maq'adu s-sâ'iq
license	رخصةrukhsa
Where is the driver's license?	أين رخصة السائق؟ayna rukhsatu s-sâ'iqi?
glass	زجاجzujâj
The license is on the car's glass.	الرخصة على زجاج السيارة.ar-rukhsatu alâ zujâji as-sayyârati.
The car's glass is clean.	زجاج السيارة نظيف.zujâju as-sayyârati nazhîfun
plate / board, panel	لوحةlawha
The car's plate is clean.	لوحة السيارة نظيفة.lawhatu s-sayyârati nazîfatun
number	رقمraqm
What is the car's plate number?	ما رقم لوحة السيارة؟mā raqmu lawḥati s-sayyārati
What is the phone number?	ما رقم الهاتف؟mâ raqmu l-hâtif?