Grammar term · I'rab · The followers — al-tawābi'
What are the followers (al-tawābi')?
al-tawābi'
اَلتَّوَابِع
I'rabThe followers — al-tawābi'core term
Also written: Tawabi · Tawaabi · Followers · Dependents · Appositives
In one line
A tābi' (تَابِع) takes its i'rab from the word before it rather than earning one of its own — which is why the followers are counted apart from the twenty-two roles.
Definition
اَلتَّابِعُ هُوَ اسْمٌ يَتْبَعُ الِاسْمَ قَبْلَهُ فِي إِعْرَابِهِ، وَالْعَامِلُ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُ فِي الْمَتْبُوعِ يَعْمَلُ فِي التَّابِعِ.
“A tabi' is a noun that follows the noun before it in its i'rab; and the governing word that acts upon the matbu' acts upon the tabi' as well.”
(بتصرف من تسهيل النحو)
Key words in the Arabic
يَتْبَعُ الِاسْمَ قَبْلَهُfollows the noun before it
فِي إِعْرَابِهِin its i'rab
الْعَامِلُthe governing word — what causes the case
Understand it
Every role you have met so far earns its state from the job it is doing. A تَابِع does not. It simply copies whatever the word in front of it is wearing.
جَاءَ الرَّجُلُ الطَّوِيلُ — both marfū'. رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ الطَّوِيلَ — both manṣūb. مَرَرْتُ بِالرَّجُلِ الطَّوِيلِ — both majrūr. الطَّوِيل never chose; it followed.
The word being followed is the مَتْبُوع (matbū'); the one following is the تَابِع.
The followers
A follower has no i'rab of its own. It copies the word before it — which is why the followers sit outside the twenty-two roles.
Whatever governs the matbū' governs the tābi' too.1 That is the whole rule, and it is why a follower can turn up in any of the three states without belonging to any of the three lists.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A word whose ending matches the word before it in every sentence you try. If it copies rather than chooses, it is a tābi'.
Related terms
اَلنَّعْت · na't (ṣifa)
اَلتَّوْكِيد · tawkīd
اَلْبَدَل · badal
عَطْفُ الْبَيَان · 'aṭf bayān
عَطْفُ النَّسَق · 'aṭf nasaq
الْإِعْرَاب · al-i'rab
Next in the guideاَلنَّعْتWhat is the adjective (na't)? →
Notes
- The books count the followers as either five or four. The five are نَعْت، تَوْكِيد، بَدَل، عَطْف بَيَان، عَطْف نَسَق, and that is what this guide uses. The four-count drops عَطْف بَيَان, treating what it covers as a kind of بَدَل. ↩
- اَلْآجُرُّومِيَّة goes further and folds the whole set into each case-list as one item — which is exactly why its totals come to seven, fifteen and three where this guide gives eight, twelve and two. ↩