Connecting a text
B2 أَدَواتُ الرَّبْطِ في النَّصّ 66 / 70
In short
You can now build any single Arabic sentence you like. This lesson is about the joints between sentences: the words that turn five separate statements into one paragraph that argues, concedes, explains and concludes. Arabic leans on these joints far harder than English does - a serious MSA paragraph has a connector at the head of almost every sentence, and a text without them reads as a pile of notes. The set is small and closed, and it sorts into six jobs: adding, contrasting, giving a cause, announcing a result, ordering steps, and restating.
The meanings are easy; the grammar attached to them is what this lesson buys you. Each connector belongs to a government class, and the class - not the meaning - decides what may follow it and what ending that word takes. لٰكِنَّ pulls the next noun into the accusative, بِسَبَبِ demands a genitive, and أَيْضًا is itself an accusative and governs nothing at all. Mixing the classes produces sentences that are perfectly intelligible and unmistakably foreign.
The rule
1. Six jobs, one toolbox. Fix the functional map first: addition (وَ، أَيْضًا، كَذٰلِكَ، بِالإِضافَةِ إِلى، فَضْلًا عَنْ), contrast (لٰكِنَّ، بَلْ، غَيْرَ أَنَّ، إِلّا أَنَّ، بَيْدَ أَنَّ، في المُقابِلِ), cause (لِأَنَّ، بِسَبَبِ، نَظَرًا لِـ، إِذْ), result (لِذٰلِكَ، وَبِالتّالي، وَمِنْ ثَمَّ، فَـ), sequence (أَوَّلًا… ثانِيًا… وَأَخيرًا), restatement (أَيْ، بِعِبارَةٍ أُخْرى). Cause and result are one relation seen from opposite ends: لِأَنَّ puts the reason after the fact, لِذٰلِكَ puts the fact after the reason.
2. Class one - the أَنَّ family: the following noun is مَنْصوب. Every connector built on أَنَّ - لٰكِنَّ، غَيْرَ أَنَّ، إِلّا أَنَّ، بَيْدَ أَنَّ، بِما أَنَّ، رَغْمَ أَنَّ، مَعَ أَنَّ، لِأَنَّ - is إِنَّ وأَخَواتُها (lesson 44) wearing a connector’s coat. The noun behind it takes the fatḥa and its predicate stays مَرْفوع:
لٰكِنَّ الطّالِبَ مُجْتَهِدٌ. / غَيْرَ أَنَّ الطَّريقَ طَويلٌ. / إِلّا أَنَّ الأَسْعارَ مُرْتَفِعَةٌ.
A pronoun subject attaches, exactly as it did to إِنَّ: لٰكِنَّهُ، غَيْرَ أَنَّها، بَيْدَ أَنَّني. And because a noun or pronoun is obligatory, none of these words may sit directly in front of a verb. غَيْرَ أَنَّ، إِلّا أَنَّ and بَيْدَ أَنَّ all say “however, except that”; بَيْدَ أَنَّ is the most formal, at home in editorials.
3. Class two - prepositional connectors: the following noun is مَجْرور. بِسَبَبِ، نَظَرًا لِـ، بِالإِضافَةِ إِلى، عَلى الرَّغْمِ مِنْ، فَضْلًا عَنْ، في المُقابِلِ end in a preposition or in the first term of an إِضافَة, so what follows carries a kasra and is a noun, usually a مَصْدَر:
بِسَبَبِ المَطَرِ / عَلى الرَّغْمِ مِنَ المَطَرِ / نَظَرًا لِارْتِفاعِ الأَسْعارِ / فَضْلًا عَنْ ذٰلِكَ
None of them may take a clause. Whenever the English has “because of / in view of / despite”, the Arabic slot behind it holds one genitive noun and nothing else.
4. Class three - accusative adverbials: they govern nothing. أَيْضًا، أَوَّلًا، ثانِيًا، أَخيرًا، عِلاوَةً، فَضْلًا، نَظَرًا، إِذًا are nouns frozen in the accusative and used as adverbs (lesson 31). Their whole grammar is the ending they wear: tanwīn fatḥa, written ـًا. They do nothing to the next word - نَجَحَ في الاِمْتِحانِ أَيْضًا is an ordinary sentence with an adverb stuck on the end. Two of them, فَضْلًا and نَظَرًا, always drag a preposition behind them.
5. Class four - the light particles, which govern nothing and demand nothing. وَ، فَـ، ثُمَّ، بَلْ، لٰكِنْ، أَيْ، إِذْ take whatever comes next, verb or noun, and change no ending.
6. Heavy لٰكِنَّ against light لٰكِنْ. Same three letters, two words, and the shadda is the whole difference. لٰكِنَّ belongs to the إِنَّ family and must be followed by an accusative noun or an attached pronoun - لٰكِنَّ الوَقْتَ قَصيرٌ، لٰكِنَّها رَفَضَتْ. لٰكِنْ (sukūn, no shadda) is a bare coordinator and usually has a verb behind it - حاوَلْتُ الاِتِّصالَ بِهِ لٰكِنْ نَسيتُ الرَّقْمَ. Both are commonly preceded by وَ with no change of meaning, and in unvocalized print both appear as لكن, so when reading you decide from what follows: a noun means heavy, a verb means light.
7. وَ، فَـ، ثُمَّ - three speeds of “and”. وَ merely adds and says nothing about order or cause. فَـ, written joined to the next word, says “and then at once” or “and therefore” - the shortest result connector in the language: سَمِعَ الخَبَرَ فَاتَّصَلَ بي. ثُمَّ says “then, after a gap”. A paragraph built only on وَ reads like a list; alternating the three makes Arabic prose move.
8. Cause, four ways. لِأَنَّ takes a clause with an accusative subject (lesson 38); بِسَبَبِ takes one genitive noun; نَظَرًا لِـ is the formal register of بِسَبَبِ and also takes a noun - نَظَرًا لِسوءِ الأَحْوالِ الجَوِّيَّةِ. إِذْ is the odd one out: a light particle that hangs a whole explanatory clause onto a finished sentence, close to “since, as, given that” - لَمْ نُسافِرْ، إِذْ كانَتِ الأَسْعارُ مُرْتَفِعَةً. It never opens a paragraph and never takes a bare noun.
9. Result, four ways. لِذٰلِكَ (“so, that is why”) is the everyday one and heads its sentence. وَبِالتّالي (“consequently”) and وَمِنْ ثَمَّ (“hence”) are the written registers of the same idea; مِنْ ثَمَّ is frozen - ثَمَّ here is the old word for “there”, not the ثُمَّ of sequence. The fourth is the bare فَـ, which does the same work in one letter.
10. Sequence: the ـًا series. أَوَّلًا، ثانِيًا، ثالِثًا، وَأَخيرًا number the steps of an argument or a set of instructions. They head their sentence, usually with a following «،», and only the last normally carries the وَ. Inside one sentence the same job is done by ثُمَّ and بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ, and a wrap-up by وَفي النِّهايَةِ.
11. Restatement. أَيْ is “that is, i.e.” and simply precedes the rephrasing: يَصِلُ الوَفْدُ غَدًا، أَيْ قَبْلَ المُؤْتَمَرِ بِيَوْمٍ. For a fuller restatement use بِعِبارَةٍ أُخْرى or بِمَعْنًى آخَرَ, each followed by a «،» and a complete sentence. Note the endings: أُخْرى is مَقْصور and shows no case, while آخَرَ is a diptote (lesson 41) with a fatḥa where you expect a kasra.
12. أَمّا … فَـ - the topic frame, and the فَ is not optional. أَمّا announces a topic, “as for X”. The noun after it is a مُبْتَدَأ and stays مَرْفوع; the comment must begin with فَـ:
أَمّا زَيْدٌ فَمُسافِرٌ. / أَمّا الطُّلّابُ الجُدُدُ فَيَبْدَؤُونَ الدِّراسَةَ غَدًا. / أَمّا في المَساءِ فَنَبْقى في البَيْتِ.
Dropping the فَ is the classic learner error here; the frame is broken without it. أَمّا is the main tool for spreading a comparison over two sentences, and it pairs with في المُقابِلِ.
13. Concession: رَغْمَ أَنَّ … فَإِنَّ, and never a لٰكِنَّ on top. With رَغْمَ أَنَّ، بِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ أَنَّ or مَعَ أَنَّ in front, the main clause is regularly introduced by فَـ, often as فَإِنَّ: رَغْمَ أَنَّهُ مَريضٌ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ. What you may not do is mark the contrast twice - *رَغْمَ أَنَّهُ مَريضٌ لٰكِنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ. One marker per sentence: either رَغْمَ أَنَّ … فَـ, or two sentences joined by لٰكِنَّ.
14. إِذًا is not إِذا. إِذًا (also written إِذَنْ) is the accusative adverb “so then, in that case”, drawing a conclusion from what was just said: لَنْ يَحْضُرَ، إِذًا نَبْدَأُ بِدونِهِ. إِذا with a plain alif and no tanwīn is the conditional “if” of lesson 56 - the tanwīn is the only visible difference.
15. Where the endings hide. In pause a final short vowel is dropped, so the fatḥa of لٰكِنَّ الطّالِبَ is audible only mid-sentence; the ـًا words are the exception, since their tanwīn fatḥa is pronounced as a long ā. And unvocalized print writes none of these endings: لكن الطالب مجتهد shows you nothing. You still owe them, and a careful reader still says them aloud.
16. Not in this lesson. When بِسَبَبِ takes a مَصْدَر that keeps its own subject and object - بِسَبَبِ إِهْمالِ الشَّرِكَةِ الصِّيانَةَ - that is lesson 67. The dense connectors of news writing - إِثْرَ، بِشَأْنِ، في ظِلِّ - belong to the press register, lesson 69.
Forms & patterns
The toolbox by function. The middle column is the one to memorize with the word.
| الوَظيفَة | الأَداة | What follows | مِثال |
|---|---|---|---|
| addition | أَيْضًا | nothing (adverb) | وَهُوَ رَخيصٌ أَيْضًا |
| addition | كَذٰلِكَ | anything | وَكَذٰلِكَ تُقَدِّمُ دُروسًا مَسائِيَّةً |
| addition | بِالإِضافَةِ إِلى / فَضْلًا عَنْ | اسم مَجْرور | فَضْلًا عَنِ التَّكاليفِ |
| contrast | لٰكِنَّ | اسم مَنْصوب / ضَمير | لٰكِنَّ الوَقْتَ قَصيرٌ |
| contrast | بَلْ | anything (after a negative) | بَلْ طَلَبَ مُهْلَةً |
| contrast | غَيْرَ أَنَّ / إِلّا أَنَّ / بَيْدَ أَنَّ | اسم مَنْصوب / ضَمير | غَيْرَ أَنَّ التَّنْفيذَ صَعْبٌ |
| contrast | في المُقابِلِ | nothing (phrase) | وَفي المُقابِلِ تَزْدَحِمُ صَيْفًا |
| cause | لِأَنَّ | اسم مَنْصوب / ضَمير | لِأَنَّ الطَّقْسَ بارِدٌ |
| cause | بِسَبَبِ | اسم مَجْرور | بِسَبَبِ الاِزْدِحامِ |
| cause | نَظَرًا لِـ | اسم مَجْرور | نَظَرًا لِارْتِفاعِ الأَسْعارِ |
| cause | إِذْ | a whole clause | إِذْ كانَتِ الأَبْوابُ مُغْلَقَةً |
| result | لِذٰلِكَ | a whole clause | لِذٰلِكَ أَجَّلْنا الرِّحْلَةَ |
| result | وَبِالتّالي / وَمِنْ ثَمَّ | a whole clause | وَمِنْ ثَمَّ أُلْغِيَ الاِجْتِماعُ |
| sequence | أَوَّلًا… ثانِيًا… وَأَخيرًا | a whole clause each | أَوَّلًا نَجْمَعُ البَياناتِ |
| restatement | أَيْ | a word or a phrase | أَيْ بَعْدَ أُسْبوعَيْنِ |
| restatement | بِعِبارَةٍ أُخْرى | a whole clause | بِعِبارَةٍ أُخْرى، القَرارُ نِهائِيٌّ |
Government: the classes. Everything above sorts into these rows, and the row is what you actually have to know.
| Class | Members | What it does to the next word | مِثال |
|---|---|---|---|
| أَنَّ family | لٰكِنَّ، غَيْرَ أَنَّ، إِلّا أَنَّ، بَيْدَ أَنَّ، بِما أَنَّ، رَغْمَ أَنَّ، مَعَ أَنَّ، لِأَنَّ | noun → النَّصْب; pronoun attaches | لٰكِنَّ الطّالِبَ مُجْتَهِدٌ / لٰكِنَّهُ مُجْتَهِدٌ |
| prepositional | بِسَبَبِ، نَظَرًا لِـ، بِالإِضافَةِ إِلى، عَلى الرَّغْمِ مِنْ، فَضْلًا عَنْ، في المُقابِلِ | noun → الجَرّ; no clause allowed | بِسَبَبِ المَطَرِ / عَلى الرَّغْمِ مِنَ المَطَرِ |
| accusative adverbial | أَيْضًا، أَوَّلًا، ثانِيًا، أَخيرًا، عِلاوَةً، إِذًا | nothing - it is itself مَنْصوب with tanwīn | وَصَلَ أَخي أَيْضًا |
| light particle | وَ، فَـ، ثُمَّ، بَلْ، لٰكِنْ، أَيْ، إِذْ | nothing at all | لٰكِنْ نَسيتُ الرَّقْمَ |
لٰكِنَّ against لٰكِنْ
| لٰكِنَّ | لٰكِنْ | |
|---|---|---|
| shape | shadda + fatḥa | sukūn, no shadda |
| what may follow | a noun or an attached pronoun only | anything, a verb included |
| effect | the noun goes مَنْصوب | none |
| مِثال | لٰكِنَّ الرِّحْلَةَ كانَتْ كامِلَةً | لٰكِنْ لَمْ أَجِدْ مَقْعَدًا |
The three speeds of joining
| الأَداة | Meaning | مِثال |
|---|---|---|
| وَ | plain addition, no order | دَرَسْتُ وَكَتَبْتُ التَّقْريرَ |
| فَـ | at once / therefore, written joined | سَمِعَ الخَبَرَ فَاتَّصَلَ بي |
| ثُمَّ | then, after an interval | دَرَسْتُ ثُمَّ نِمْتُ |
The أَمّا frame
| Shape | مِثال | English |
|---|---|---|
| أَمّا + اسم مَرْفوع + فَ + خَبَر | أَمّا زَيْدٌ فَمُسافِرٌ | As for Zayd, he is away |
| أَمّا + اسم مَرْفوع + فَ + جُمْلَة فِعْلِيَّة | أَمّا الطُّلّابُ فَيَبْدَؤُونَ غَدًا | As for the students, they start tomorrow |
| أَمّا + شِبْه جُمْلَة + فَ + جُمْلَة | أَمّا في المَساءِ فَنَبْقى في البَيْتِ | In the evening, we stay at home |
Examples
| العربية | English |
|---|---|
| السَّكَنُ قَريبٌ مِنَ الجامِعَةِ، وَهُوَ رَخيصٌ أَيْضًا. | The flat is close to the university, and it is cheap as well. |
| وَبِالإِضافَةِ إِلى ذٰلِكَ، فَتَحَتِ الشَّرِكَةُ فَرْعًا في الشَّمالِ. | In addition to that, the company opened a branch in the north. |
| حاوَلْتُ أَنْ أَحْجِزَ مَقْعَدًا، لٰكِنَّ الرِّحْلَةَ كانَتْ كامِلَةً. | I tried to book a seat, but the flight was full. |
| لَمْ يَرْفُضِ العَرْضَ، بَلْ طَلَبَ مُهْلَةً لِلتَّفْكيرِ. | He did not turn the offer down; rather he asked for time to think. |
| الفِكْرَةُ مُمْتازَةٌ، غَيْرَ أَنَّ تَنْفيذَها يَحْتاجُ إِلى سَنَواتٍ. | The idea is excellent, except that carrying it out needs years. |
| المَدينَةُ هادِئَةٌ في الشِّتاءِ، وَفي المُقابِلِ تَزْدَحِمُ في الصَّيْفِ. | The city is quiet in winter; by contrast it gets crowded in summer. |
| نَظَرًا لِارْتِفاعِ الأَسْعارِ، أَجَّلْنا شِراءَ السَّيّارَةِ. | In view of the rise in prices, we put off buying the car. |
| لَمْ نُسافِرْ هٰذا العامَ، إِذْ كانَتِ الأَحْوالُ الجَوِّيَّةُ سَيِّئَةً. | We did not travel this year, since the weather conditions were bad. |
| أُغْلِقَ الطَّريقُ، وَلِذٰلِكَ فاتَنا القِطارُ. | The road was closed, and that is why we missed the train. |
| لَمْ تَصِلِ الأَوْراقُ في مَوْعِدِها، وَمِنْ ثَمَّ أُلْغِيَ الاِجْتِماعُ. | The papers did not arrive on time, and hence the meeting was cancelled. |
| أَوَّلًا نَجْمَعُ البَياناتِ، وَثانِيًا نُحَلِّلُها، وَأَخيرًا نَكْتُبُ التَّقْريرَ. | First we collect the data, secondly we analyse it, and finally we write the report. |
| أَمّا الطُّلّابُ الجُدُدُ فَيَبْدَؤُونَ الدِّراسَةَ في الأُسْبوعِ القادِمِ. | As for the new students, they begin their studies next week. |
| رَغْمَ أَنَّهُ مَريضٌ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ حَتَّى المَساءِ. | Although he is ill, he works every day until the evening. |
Common mistakes
- لٰكِنَّ الطّالِبُ مُجْتَهِدٌ -> لٰكِنَّ الطّالِبَ مُجْتَهِدٌ - a sister of إِنَّ: the noun behind it takes the fatḥa while the predicate keeps its ḍamma.
- لٰكِنَّ نَسيتُ الرَّقْمَ -> لٰكِنْ نَسيتُ الرَّقْمَ - a verb can only follow the light لٰكِنْ. With the heavy one you must attach the pronoun: لٰكِنَّني نَسيتُ.
- بِسَبَبِ أَنَّ الطَّريقَ مُغْلَقٌ -> لِأَنَّ الطَّريقَ مُغْلَقٌ - بِسَبَبِ governs a noun, never a clause. Either switch to لِأَنَّ or nominalize: بِسَبَبِ إِغْلاقِ الطَّريقِ.
- بِسَبَبِ المَطَرُ -> بِسَبَبِ المَطَرِ - the same kasra is owed after عَلى الرَّغْمِ مِنْ، نَظَرًا لِـ، بِالإِضافَةِ إِلى.
- رَغْمَ أَنَّهُ مَريضٌ لٰكِنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ -> رَغْمَ أَنَّهُ مَريضٌ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْمَلُ - one concession marker per sentence. رَغْمَ أَنَّ is answered by فَـ, not by a second “but”.
- أَمّا الطُّلّابُ يَبْدَأونَ غَدًا -> أَمّا الطُّلّابُ فَيَبْدَؤُونَ غَدًا - the فَـ is the second half of the أَمّا frame and is compulsory, however long the topic phrase is.
- أَمّا زَيْدًا فَمُسافِرٌ -> أَمّا زَيْدٌ فَمُسافِرٌ - أَمّا governs nothing; the word after it is an ordinary مُبْتَدَأ and stays مَرْفوع. It is not a member of the أَنَّ family.
- أَيْضًا نَحْتاجُ إِلى مُتَرْجِمٍ -> نَحْتاجُ أَيْضًا إِلى مُتَرْجِمٍ - Arabic does not open a sentence with أَيْضًا the way English opens one with “also”. To start it, use وَكَذٰلِكَ.
- أَوَّلا نَجْمَعُ البَياناتِ -> أَوَّلًا نَجْمَعُ البَياناتِ - these adverbs are their accusative ending. Without the tanwīn fatḥa the word is not an adverb at all.
- إِذا لَنْ نَنْتَظِرَهُ -> إِذًا لَنْ نَنْتَظِرَهُ - “so then, in that case” is إِذًا with a tanwīn (or إِذَنْ). Plain إِذا is the conditional “if” and needs a whole condition after it.
Tips
- Learn every connector as word + slot: “لٰكِنَّ + accusative noun”, “بِسَبَبِ + genitive noun”, “أَيْضًا + nothing”. The gloss alone will get the ending wrong.
- One quick test covers most of the set: if the word ends in ـنَّ, the next noun takes a fatḥa. If it ends in a preposition, the next noun takes a kasra. If it ends in ـًا, it takes nothing.
- When you are unsure whether a clause is allowed, nominalize instead. بِسَبَبِ تَأَخُّرِ القِطارِ is safe, idiomatic and shorter than the clause you were about to attempt.
- Build the habit of starting sentences with a connector when you write Arabic. English tolerates bare succession; MSA reads as unfinished without وَ، فَـ، لِذٰلِكَ، أَمّا at the head.
- Read a news paragraph and mark only the connectors. Unvocalized text hides the endings, but the connectors are the visible skeleton of the argument.
- Watch the two shadow pairs: لٰكِنَّ / لٰكِنْ and إِذًا / إِذا. Both look identical in ordinary print, and in both the difference is decided by what follows.
- Keep pairs for the same idea in two registers - بِسَبَبِ / نَظَرًا لِـ، لِذٰلِكَ / وَبِالتّالي، لٰكِنَّ / بَيْدَ أَنَّ - and choose by how formal the text is, not for variety’s sake.
- Do not chase the newspaper connectors yet (إِثْرَ، بِشَأْنِ، في ظِلِّ). The twenty words here already carry a full argument.