7 Grammar: the iDaafa (possessive construct)
One of the ways of expression possession in Arabic is known as the iDaafa إضافة, (literally “adding”), a technical grammatical term for the “possessive construct).
The iDaafa consists of one noun following immediately after other noun. The second term possesses the first term. Thus to say “the book of the professor” or “the professor’s book” in Arabic is
“kitaab al-Ustaaz”. كتاب الأستاذ
Notice that the definite article (“al-“) only goes on the last term, even though the first term is definite.
This is a rule: in an iDaafa, only the last term can take the definite article (al-). It is the last term being definite that makes the sense of the entire construction as being definite.
Examples
| the student’s name | ism aT-Taalib | اسم الطالب |
| the university of Oregon | gaami3at Awragaan | جامعة اورغان |
| the city of Cairo | madiinat al-Qaahira | مدينة القاهرة |
| the professor’s (f.) book | kitaab al-ustaaza | كتاب الأستاذة |
