D: Prepositions with Pronoun Suffixes

Well, guess what. Those same pronoun suffixes which we have used for possession (non-demonic) and as direct object pronouns can also be written with prepositions. The combining of these pronouns with prepositions is very common since many verbs have their objects attached to prepositions. When prepositions are written with pronoun suffixes, some changes occur in certain situations. Therefore, I am now going to present you with a few charts. At first it will seem to be a lot. But once you do the drills, you will see that it is not difficult to learn the combinations and the resulting changes.

 

The Prepositions عَن and مِن

When the pronouns are attached to these prepositions, no changes are made except for the pronoun ي. When the ي is added, the ن is written with a shadda. Here is the chart for the مِن below. عَن works exactly the same way.

 

 

منّي منْكَ مْنْكِ منْكُما منْهُ منْها منْهما منّا منْكم منْكن منْهم منْهُنَّ

The only change here is when we add ي to either of these two prepositions. When we do so we add a shadda over the ن of these two words. This shadda will usually be omitted in most newspaper articles and books. Note that when we add نا to these two words we indicate the presence of two ن’s by also writing a shadda.

 

The Prepositions في and ب


Look at the chart below.

 

فيّ فيكَ فيكِ فيكُما فيهِ فيها فيهِما فينا فيكُنَّ فيهِم فيهِنَّ

 

Notice first that the combination of ي and في gives us فيَّ pronounced “fiyya.” Also note that the pronoun suffixes which begin with the letter ه and are followed by a dhamma have their dhamma changed to a kasra.

 

The preposition بِ works just like في except that we need no shadda or fatha over the ي when we add it to ب. See below.

 

بي بكَ بكِ بكُما بهِ بِها بهِما بنا بِكْم بكُنَّ بهِم بِهِنَّ

 

The Prepositions علي and إلى

These two prepositions both end in an alif magsuura. When a pronoun suffix is attached to them, the alif maqsuura becomes a ي which is preceded by a fatha. That is why the phrase السلام عليكم is written and pronounced the way it is. Also, when we add ي to على or إلى we get a ي with a shadda followed by a fatha. For example, ي plus على. Becomes عَلًيَّ and is pronounced “alayya.” Below is the chart for على and إلى

 

علَيَّ علَيَّكَ علَيَّكِ علَيَّكُما علَيَّهِ علَيْها علَيْنا علَيْكُم علَيكُنَّ علَيهِم علَيْهِنَّ

إلَيَّ إلَيْكَ إلَيْكِ إلَيْكُما إلَيْهِ إلَيْها إلَيْنا إلَيْكُم إلَيْكُنَّ إلَيْهِم إلَيْهِنَّ

Note that those suffixes with ه and a dhamma have the dhamma changed to a kasra with these two prepositions.

 

The Preposition لِ

This preposition, when used with verbs, usually has the meaning of “to” as in “I listened to the radio.” It also has an independent meaning which is discussed in part E of this chapter. With one exception, whenever this preposition has a pronoun suffix, the vowel of the preposition changes from a kasra to a fatha. See the chart below.

 

لي لَكَ لَكِ لكُما لَهِ لَها لَهُما لَنا لَكْم لَكُنَّ لَهُم لَهُنَّ

When ي is added to لِ the result is pronounced “lii,” just as happened with the preposition بِ

5 responses to “D: Prepositions with Pronoun Suffixes”

  1. chris Avatar
    chris

    لَي or لِي and also how come لَهِ the ه takes a kasra but لَهُما etc keep the dhamma

    1. Addie Byrum Avatar
      Addie Byrum

      For preposition لِ (which changes to لَ when a pronoun suffix is attached, except for أنا because the ending is ي):
      -For أنا it’s لِي (lii).
      -For هو it’s actually لَهُ (lahu). It does not take a kasra.

      For prepositions ends with kasra or yaa’/alif maqSuura:
      The DHamma only changes to a kasra if the preposition ends with a kasra (like بِ) or a yaa’/alif maqSuura (like في وإلى و على), and only for the pronoun suffixes beginning with a ه (except ها for هي since it ends with an alif). Examples: فِيهِ, فِيهِما, فِيهِم, عَلَيْهِ, عَلَيْهِما, عَلَيْهِم

      (See “A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic” by Karin Ryding)

  2. ilan Avatar
    ilan

    Hello,

    I m not sure but some slight corrections are needed ?
    a) In the list of منْ , there’s a shadda missing in : منْكن
    b) The header : “The Prepositions علي and إلى – the علي is written with ي instead of alif maqsura
    c) The list for علي shows too many cases of shaddas, and is not consistent with the list for إلى
    علَيَّ **علَيَّكَ ** علَيَّكِ *** علَيَّكُما ** ( shaddas appear in you singular masculine/ feminine, he and dual , while in the other it is only for I : إلَيَّ
    d) The dual for third person is missing in علي and إلى ?

    Thank you

  3. Mohamed Avatar
    Mohamed

    Hi,
    I am sorry to disagree but the following is incorrect
    علَيَّكَ علَيَّكِ علَيَّكُما علَيَّهِ
    The shadda should not appear on Yaa

    Thank you

  4. stefano Avatar

    there’s magsuura instead of maqsuura
    🙂 thanx for the fantastic job you did

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