Grammar term · I'rab · Role — al-majrūrāt (the two)

What are the majrūrāt (al-majrūrāt)?

al-majrūrāt
اَلْمَجْرُورَات
I'rabRole — al-majrūrāt (the two)core term
Also written: Majrooraat · Majrurat · Makhfudat · Words always in jar
In one line
The majrūrāt (اَلْمَجْرُورَات) are the roles that put an ism into jarr — and there are only two of them.
The two, in the classical wording
اَلْمَقْصَدُ الثَّالِثُ: فِي الْمَجْرُورَاتِ. اَلْأَسْمَاءُ الْمَجْرُورَاتُ وَهِيَ عَلَى قِسْمَيْنِ: اَلْمَجْرُورُ بِحَرْفِ الْجَرِّ، وَالْمُضَافُ إِلَيْهِ.
“The third aim: the nouns in jarr. They are of two kinds only: the noun made majrūr by a particle of jarr, and the mudaf ilayh.”
(بتصرف من الهداية في النحو)
Key words in the Arabic
عَلَى قِسْمَيْنِof two kinds — and no more
اَلْمَجْرُورُ بِحَرْفِ الْجَرِّmade majrūr by a particle
اَلْمُضَافُ إِلَيْهِthe second word of a possessive
Understand it

This is the shortest list in Arabic grammar, and the most worth memorising outright.1

The two, in order
1حَرْف جَرّ(after a ḥarf jarr)2مُضَاف إِلَيْه(muḍāf ilayh)

Two roles, and no third. Everything else in jarr is a follower copying one of these.

An ism is in jarr for exactly two reasons: a حَرْف جَرّ stands before it, or it is the مُضَاف إِلَيْه — the second word of a possessive.

Anything else you meet in jarr is a تَابِع, a follower2: an adjective, an emphasis, a substitute or a word joined by a conjunction, taking its kasra from the word in front of it rather than earning it in its own right.

Related terms
Next in the guideاَلِاسْم الْمَجْرُورWhat is a noun made majrūr by a preposition? →
Notes
  1. اَلْهِدَايَة فِي النَّحْو states it as plainly as it can be stated: اَلْأَسْمَاءُ الْمَجْرُورَاتُ وَهِيَ عَلَى قِسْمَيْنِ — the nouns in jarr, and they are of two kinds.
  2. اَلْآجُرُّومِيَّة uses the older name خَفْض (khafḍ) for this state and counts three kindsmajrūr by a particle, majrūr by iḍāfa, and the follower of a majrūr. The difference is only that it treats a follower as a role in its own right; this guide does not.
Draft · awaiting final review. This page is being rewritten and checked against the source books.