Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
مَعْطُوف
ma'tuf
Conjoined element (ma'tuf)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term3,028+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The conjoined element — a follower joined by a connector (و، ف، ثم…) and sharing the case.
Classical definition
المَعْطُوفُ تَابِعٌ يَتَوَسَّطُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ مَتْبُوعِهِ أَحَدُ حُرُوفِ العَطْفِ، فَيَتْبَعُهُ فِي إِعْرَابِهِ.
“The ma'tuf is a follower with one of the conjunction particles between it and the word it follows; it copies that word's i'rab.”
(بتصرف من الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
تَابِعa follower — agrees with what precedes
يَتَوَسَّطُcomes between
مَتْبُوعthe word being followed
Understand it
Arabic chains equals with connectors: X and Y, X then Y, X or Y. The second element — the ma'tuf — borrows its case from the first, so the case-ending travels down the chain: جَاءَ زَيْدٌ وَعَمْرٌو، رَأَيْتُ زَيْدًا وَعَمْرًا. When you meet a long Quranic list, find the case of the first item and you have parsed the whole list.
How to spot it
Recognition test
What comes after a connector like و and copies the case of the word before it is the ma'tuf.
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