Grammar term · I'rab · Position
Without grammatical position
la mahall lahu min al-i'rab
لَا مَحَلّ لَهُ مِنَ الْإِعْرَاب
I'rabPositionadvanced term
In one line
“No place in i'rab” (لَا مَحَلَّ لَهُ مِنَ الإِعْرَاب) describes a sentence that fills no slot at all — commentary, connection or a fresh start, not a building block.
Classical definition
الجُمَلُ الَّتِي لَا مَحَلَّ لَهَا مِنَ الإِعْرَابِ هِيَ الَّتِي لَا تَقَعُ مَوْقِعَ المُفْرَدِ، كَالاسْتِئْنَافِيَّةِ وَالصِّلَةِ وَالاعْتِرَاضِيَّةِ.
“The sentences that have no place in i'rab are those that do not stand where a single word could stand — like the fresh-start sentence, the sila and the parenthesis.”
Key words in the Arabic
الاسْتِئْنَافِيَّةthe fresh-start sentence
الصِّلَةthe relative's link-sentence
الاعْتِرَاضِيَّةthe parenthesis
Understand it
Some sentences are load-bearing — khabar, hal, quoted speech — and some simply begin afresh, link a mawsul, or interject. Those carry no mahall. The definition hides a beautifully simple test: could you swap the sentence for one word? If no single word could stand in its position, the sentence has no i'rab place.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Opening sentences, sila clauses, parentheses, oath-answers — the swap-one-word test fails, so la mahall laha.
Related terms
فِي مَحَلّ جَرّ · fi mahall jarr
فِي مَحَلّ جَزْم · fi mahall jazm
فِي مَحَلّ نَصْب · fi mahall nasab
فِي مَحَلّ رَفْع · fi mahall rafa
Common questions
How can a sentence have no place in i'rab at all?
By filling no slot. An opening sentence, one joined to another like it, or a relative clause completing a relative noun — none of these is doing a noun's job, so there is no case for them to be in, even notionally.
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