Each noun in Arabic can either be Definite (مَعْرِفَة) or Indefinite (نَكِرَة).
(a) (مَعْرِفَة) :
- a word that is used for a specific, known noun.
- Laam Ta'reef (ال) is prefixed to the word
- In translation : "the" , "all" are added.
- there are several types of nouns which will always be () :
+ Noun made proper by laam (اِسْم مُعْرَّف بِالام)
e.g. اَلرَّجُل
+ Proper name (اِسْم عَلَم )
e.g. عَائِشَة
+
Relative noun (اِسْم مَوْصُوْل) e.g. اَلَّذِيْنَ , اَلَّتِى
+ Demonstrative noun (اِسْم اِشَارَة)
e.g. ذَالِكَ , تِلْكَ
+ Pronoun (اِسْم ضَمِيْر)
e.g. هُوَ , هُم
+ Vocative noun (اِسْم مُنَادى)
e.g يَا يُّهَا
(b) نَكِرَة:
- a word that is used for unspecific or unknown noun.
- Tanween () is suffixed to the word
- In translation : "any" , "any one" , "some" , "a" are added.
e.g. رَجُلٌ