Restriction (إنّما)

Let's look at some foundational vocabulary for discussing art and craftsmanship:

The Restrictive Particle (إنّما) and Suspended Governance

To express "only," "merely," or absolute essence in Arabic, use the restrictive particle إنما. It is formed by attaching ما to the emphatic particle إن.

This addition of ما triggers a grammatical shift. Normally, إن forces the subject of a nominal sentence into the accusative case. However, when ما attaches to form إنما, it acts as a barrier that suspends this case governance. The subject reverts to its default nominative state.

Look at this sentence, which uses both particles to contrast their effects:

Notice how the noun following إن takes the accusative case (العمل), but the phrase following إنما operates as a regular nominative clause.

Here are more examples of إنما restricting a nominal sentence to an absolute truth or essence:

Using (إنّما) with Verbs

Adding ما also allows the particle to enter verbal sentences.

While the base particle إن is strictly limited to nominal sentences, إنما can comfortably precede verbs to emphasize that an action is limited entirely to a specific object or subject.

In these examples, the restrictive particle focuses the action, clarifying that the sculptor crafts nothing but her inspiration, and the artisan sells only pottery.

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:

After إِنَّ the noun is accusative: الإِلْهَامَ, العَمَلَ. After إِنَّمَا it stays nominative, as in any plain sentence: التَّمَاثُلُ الكَامِلُ حُلْمٌ. The last drill has both: إِنَّ العَمَلَ with a fatha, then إِنَّمَا هُوَ شَغَفٌ.