READING:
Read these verses of the Qur’an to practice your pronunciation. We have highlighted the pronouns in each of these verses, and we will be covering them later in the lesson.
The terms below will be studied in Fawakih beginner levels. We wanted to give you a sneak preview, so that you can be ahead of the game!
For our purposes currently, practice your reading skills using these terms (over the next two lessons). The vocabulary is not necessary, but feel free to familiarize yourself with them (highlight the approximately 15 words that they should learn and prioritize; the rest, gray them out).
When you read the Quran, you will see that pronouns are very commonly used. Learning the pronouns below will give you a leg up in accessing the Quran and familiarizing yourself with its language. Moreover, in Fawakih Level 1, these pronouns will be used in order to conjugate (which is a fancy word for changing verbs to match the doer).
A few notes:
1.) The word هُوَ often has a spiritual component, as it can indicate “God.” In fact, even the letter (ـهُ), which is the same pronoun but in an attached form, also has spiritual significance.
2.) You will see a pattern here, in which the letter (هـ) (which you’ve seen is one of the letters of the throat), is used for third person (“he,” “she,” “,they”), which simply means you are speaking about someone, not to someone. It is interesting to note that the letter makhraj (where it exits from) is further away from the mouth and is deeper. Perhaps this can help you remember that the person is fruther away from the speaker.
3.) The letter (ت) is pronounced from the tip of the tongue, very close to the exit of the mouth. Interestingly, you will note that the (ت) indicates speaking to someone directly (as in pronouns for “you” and “you all”). Perhaps this can help you remember that, like the letter is in front of the mouth, the person is also in front of you.
4.) The letter (نّ) (nun with a shaddah) indicates a group of females, as opposed to the (ن) (nun without a shaddah) in a pronoun, which indicates “we.” As you may recall, a nun with a shadda has two counts and nasalization, just like a mim with a shaddah. When pronouncing the feminine plural pronouns, make sure to give them two counts.
(Color code and highlight the pronouns in the exercise below, to make it easier for the students to translate the vocabulary:)
Carefully read each one of the verses below out loud, to work on reading fluency and pronunciation. Then, write out the translation of the pronoun in the blank line.
ANSWER KEY:
