Grammar term · I'rab · i'rab
نَكِرَة
nakira
Indefinite noun (nakira)
I'rab · i'rabDefinitenesscore term5+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Ma'rifah and Nakirah · Definite and indefinite · Marifah
In one line
An indefinite noun — one referring to something general, often with tanwin.
Classical definition
وَالنَّكِرَةُ كُلُّ اسْمٍ شَائِعٍ فِي جِنْسِهِ لَا يَخْتَصُّ بِهِ وَاحِدٌ دُونَ آخَرَ.
“The indefinite is every noun spread across its whole kind, no one member having more claim to it than another.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
شَائِع فِي جِنْسِهِspread across its kind
لَا يَخْتَصُّ بِهِ وَاحِدٌno single one is specially meant
Understand it
Say رَجُلٌ and you have said “some man — any man”: the word ranges over its whole kind. Ibn Ajurrum adds a practical shortcut: if ال will fit on it (رَجُل → الرَّجُل), it was a nakira. In the Quran the choice is always deliberate — a nakira can mark an unknown individual, or magnify: عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ, “a punishment” beyond naming.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A general noun that accepts “a/an” in English and often carries tanwin is nakira.
Related terms
▶ Watch the lessons
From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.