Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
ضَمِير مُتَّصِل
damir muttasil
Attached pronoun
Nahw · syntaxPronoun typecore term22,118+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Damir · Dameer · Damaa'ir · Pronouns
In one line
An attached pronoun — a suffix that joins the end of a verb, noun or particle.
Classical definition
الضَّمِيرُ المُتَّصِلُ مَا لَا يُبْتَدَأُ بِهِ وَلَا يَقَعُ بَعْدَ إِلَّا، بَلْ يَتَّصِلُ بِآخِرِ الكَلِمَةِ.
“The attached pronoun is one that speech cannot begin with and that cannot follow إِلَّا; it joins to the end of a word.”
(بتصرف من الألفية)
Key words in the Arabic
لَا يُبْتَدَأُ بِهِspeech cannot begin with it
يَتَّصِلُ بِـit attaches to
Understand it
An attached pronoun cannot stand alone — it joins onto the end of a noun, verb or particle, like the ـهُ of كِتَابُهُ (“his book”) or بِهِ (“with it”). These small suffixes do an enormous amount of work in the Quran, carrying “his, her, their, my, your” and the objects of verbs, all in a letter or two.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Look at word-endings: a final ـهُ، ـهَا، ـكَ or ـي carrying “his / her / your / my” is a muttasil.
In the Qur'an
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ
Al-Baqara 2:2 — “That is the Book — there is no doubt in it”
فِيهِ ends with the attached pronoun ـهِ: one letter carrying the whole word “it”.
Related terms
ضَمِير مُسْتَتِر · damir mustatir
ضَمِير مُنْفَصِل · damir munfasil
ضَمِير الْفَصْل · damir al-fasl
ضَمِير الشَّأْن · damir al-sha'n
▶ Watch the lessons
From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.