The Most Common Writing Errors — Almohannad Alsbeai

Translator’s note: This article addresses common errors in Arabic writing. The grammar rules and examples below are specific to Arabic script and morphology and have been preserved in their original form alongside their explanations. They will be most useful to readers of Arabic.

Introduction

To fail at writing one’s own mother tongue is truly a sad matter. Hardly a local newspaper, monthly magazine, email, or internal memo is free of writing errors. Some companies and entities that have specialized text editors avoid this. This article summarizes the most common writing errors — by way of example, not limitation. It is educational and very brief, and reading it does not replace consulting specialists.

Many writing errors are directly related to the society’s accent and their differing pronunciation of certain letters. For example, one of the most famous errors of pronunciation and writing in Saudi Arabia is one related to the letter ḍād (ض) — people err in pronouncing and writing it because of their accent, since they pronounce ḍād as ẓā’ (ظ). For example: “ولا الضالين” (wa lā al-ḍāllīn) in Surat al-Fātiḥah is pronounced by many as “ولا الظالين” (wa lā al-ẓāllīn).

Sometimes the opposite occurs — words containing ẓā’ are written with ḍād because they’ve grown accustomed to flipping ḍād to ẓā’. So all Arabs must distinguish between colloquial accent and Classical Arabic when writing anything.

Second: The Hamzas

Hamzas are divided into two types: hamzat al-qaṭ’ (همزة القطع) which is written, and hamzat al-waṣl (همزة الوصل) which is not written. This is one of the most common errors among Arabs these days — a word that needs a hamzat qaṭ’ isn’t given one, and another that requires hamzat waṣl is given one. The rule is very simple here: if you doubt whether a word needs hamzat qaṭ’ or waṣl, use your linguistic instinct by placing the conjunction fā’ or wāw before the word, and notice whether the hamza was pronounced. If the hamza was pronounced, it’s hamzat qaṭ’; if it wasn’t pronounced, it’s hamzat waṣl.

Example: Suppose I’m doubtful about the word (انقلب) — is it with a hamza or without? I place the fā’ before it and pronounce it: “فانقلب” — was the hamza pronounced when read? No. So it’s hamzat waṣl, not written above or below the alif in the word.

Third: Open Tā’ and Round Tā’

Many people confuse open tā’ (ت) with round tā’ (ـة). To differentiate them, there is a rule that also relies on instinct: if you pause at the end of the word with a sukūn and don’t pronounce the tā’ at its end, it’s a round tā’, and you’ll find you pronounce it as a hā’ when pausing on it (such as: مدرسة، شركة). As for the open tā’, apply the same method: you’ll find it pronounced as a vocalized tā’, meaning it’s an open tā’ (such as: عمارات، إشارات، نبات). Practice this method and you won’t confuse them again.

There’s another common error in distinguishing words ending in hā’ (ـه) without dots from words ending in round tā’ (ـة). How do we distinguish them? Simply add tanwīn at the end of the word and notice whether the tā’ is pronounced. Example: مدرسة — add ḍamma tanwīn to it (مدرسةٌ) and read it. Was the tā’ pronounced? Yes. So it’s a round tā’. What about these words: الله، فرسه، قوسه، سهمه، أدركه، أتعبه — none of these can take tanwīn, so they’re a hā’ without dots above.

Fourth: Wāw al-Jamā’a

Many also err in distinguishing wāw al-jamā’a (the plural wāw) from the wāw that’s part of the word’s root. You’ll find them ending every word ending in wāw with a stretched alif — even if that wāw isn’t wāw al-jamā’a. Example: “أرجو” — there’s no stretched alif after it because it doesn’t fall under wāw al-jamā’a. What about its plural (نرجو)? Also no alif after it, because the root of the verb (رَجَوَ) is derived from the verb (رجا) which ends in a weak letter, and since alif suits the fatḥa best, this wāw was flipped to an alif — and when derivation occurs, this alif returns to its original wāw. In short: the wāw here is from the verb’s root and isn’t wāw al-jamā’a, so no alif is added after it. Likewise, the word (يدعو) — no alif is added after it for the same reason.

To distinguish whether the wāw is wāw al-jamā’a or an original wāw from the verb’s root, the rule states: if you remove the wāw from the end of the verb and the verb becomes incomplete, it’s an original wāw — for example, يدعو — if the wāw were removed, the verb would become (يدع), and this only happens in the jussive case. But the extra wāw al-jamā’a may be removed with the verb remaining complete in its original letters — for example, (خرجوا ـ اخرجوا) — if we remove the wāw, the verb remains in its original form: (خرجَ ـ اخرجْ). So try not to fall into this error again.

Another case where an alif is added after the word: in fatḥa tanwīn. Example: (رأيت شبحاً، شاهدت قرداً). But this rule doesn’t apply if the word ends in a hamza. Example: سماءً — written without adding an alif, and the tanwīn is placed above the hamza.

Fifth: Uses of Yā’ al-Mukhāṭaba

When addressing the gentle sex, we miss that yā’ al-mukhāṭaba (the addressing yā’) is attached only to a command verb or a present-tense verb.

Wrong examples: “كيف حالكي ؟ من أنتي ؟ عليكي، منكي، إليكي”

Correct: “حالكِ، أنتِ، عليكِ، منكِ، إليكِم”

Whereas yā’ al-mukhāṭaba is added in command verbs and the present-tense verb.

Example: “اشربي، ادرسي، اذهبي، اقرأي” — or the present-tense verb.

Example 2: “متى تخلصي لله تؤجري”

Sixth: Not Removing the Yā’ of al-Ism al-Manqūṣ When It Takes Tanwīn

Al-Ism al-Manqūṣ is any noun ending in a yā’ provided this yā’ is not doubled. When manqūṣ nouns take tanwīn, the yā’ at their end must be removed. Examples: قاضٍ، محامٍ، العمل جارٍ، تسال.

This rule doesn’t apply when the manqūṣ noun is added (in iḍāfa), as in: محامي الدفاع.

It also doesn’t apply when the manqūṣ noun is preceded by al- (the definite article), as in: القاضي.

Finally, the rule excludes manqūṣ nouns whose yā’ is yā’ al-nisba (the relative yā’), such as: علي، عربي، ماسي.

Weak letters are also removed from the end of command verbs such as: استح، اُدن.

Seventh: Not Removing Weak Letters From Present-Tense Verbs Preceded by a Jussive Particle

The jussive conditional particles and tools: إنْ، إذْ، ما، منْ، (ما ـ مهما)، (متى ـ أيّان)، (أين ـ أينما ـ حيثما ـ أنّى)، كيفما، أيّ.

These tools jussify two verbs by removing the weak letter from the end of both.

Example: “إن تسعى إلى الخير تلقاه أمامك.”

Example 2: ”{ من يهد الله فهو المهتدي }” — the yā’ was removed from the verb يهدي.

As for (لم، لما، لام الأمر، لا الناهية), they jussify a single verb.

If these tools precede a present-tense verb ending in a weak letter, the weak letter must be removed.

Example 1: “لا تسقي الزرع فقد سقيته قبل قليل.”

Example 2: “لا تدنُو من النار كي لا تحترق.”

Eighth: Not Removing the Nūn of Dual and Sound Masculine Plural in Iḍāfa

The rule stipulates removing them in iḍāfa. Example: “مشرفون المعرض أكفاء في عملهم.”

Another example removing the nūn of dual: “حافظان القرآن أثبت ذاكرة عن بقية الطلاب.”

Ninth: Formatting Errors

(1) Using the foreign-language comma (,) instead of the Arabic comma (،) — the latter is the correct one.

(2) Placing a space before the comma. The correct way: don’t leave a space before it, only after. Example: “دخل فصل الصيف، وكانت الحرارة ملتهبة.”

(3) Placing a space between wāw al-‘aṭf (the conjunction wāw) and the word following it. This formatting error may push the wāw to the end of the line and the conjoined word to the start of the next line. Better not leave a space between wāw al-‘aṭf and the following word.

Closing

What’s been mentioned is only a very small part of many writing errors. My focus was on the most common ones — inspired by what I read from time to time. There are many other errors, and there’s no harm in a person erring and learning. Note that Arabic is classified among the five hardest languages in the world — but it remains up to those whose mother tongue it is to be more vigilant than others in preserving and caring for their language.

Additional Sources for Further Reading

(1) Al-Faseeh Network for Arabic Language Sciences — www.alfaseeh.com

(2) A book that collected many common linguistic errors as photos taken from here and there, titled: Man Dha Alladhi Qadda al-Bayān by the Kuwaiti writer Hayat al-Yaqout — find the book at this link.

(3) Jāmi’ al-Durūs al-‘Arabiyya by Mustafa al-Ghulayini.

If I have erred, that is from me; if I have gotten it right, that is from God.

To God belongs the right path.

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