JAMB Arabic Studies 2020
Questions & Answers

Students might mistakenly select فتحة or كسرة by confusing the nominative case with the accusative or genitive cases. An indefinite singular noun in the nominative case takes ضمة with tanwin, such as كتابٌ. Meanwhile, فتحة indicates the accusative case, كسرة denotes the genitive case, and سكون represents a vowelless letter. Common mistake: confusing noun case endings with verb vowel markers.

Students might mistakenly select هذا or في by confusing relative pronouns with demonstrative pronouns or prepositions. The word الذين functions as a relative pronoun specifically for plural masculine nouns. In contrast, هذا is a demonstrative pronoun, في is a preposition, and لأن serves as a conjunction. Common mistake: mixing up relative pronouns and demonstrative pronouns.

Students might pick negation or emphasis by misinterpreting the contextual particle usage. The particle لـ indicates either possession or purpose, such as expressing to or for. It does not function as a negating, emphasizing, or contrasting particle. Common mistake: misidentifying the contextual function of prepositional prefixes.

Students might select الطالب by confusing the subject of the sentence with the direct object. In the sentence الطالب يحفظ القرآن, القرآن is the direct object because it receives the action of the verb يحفظ, which means memorizes. Common mistake: identifying the doer of the action as the direct object.

Students might choose only one case or the nominative option by forgetting that sound masculine plurals share a single oblique suffix. The ending ـين indicates both the accusative and genitive cases for sound masculine plural nouns, as seen in لمدرسين, whereas ـون is reserved for the nominative case. Common mistake: assuming each grammatical case has a completely unique plural suffix.

Students might mistakenly pick بيتان or أبيات due to confusion over dual forms or unrelated vocabulary. The irregular plural form of بيت meaning house is بيوت meaning houses. Meanwhile, بيتان represents the dual form, and أبيات refers to verses. Common mistake: confusing broken plurals with dual noun endings.

Students might pick كتب or other sound verbs by misunderstanding the definition of weak and defective verb classes. A defective verb ends with a weak letter such as و or ي, making دعا a defective verb because it ends with ا derived from و, whereas the others are sound verbs. Common mistake: failing to recognize weak letter endings in root verbs.

Students might select رأين or رأون by confusing gender and plural suffixes in weak verbs. The past tense third person plural masculine form of the verb رأى is رأوا meaning they saw. Alternatively, رأت is singular feminine, رأين is plural feminine, and رأون is incorrect. Common mistake: applying incorrect conjugation suffixes to defective verbs.

Students might select إن or لكن by confusing conditional particles with emphasis or contrast markers. The particle إذا expresses condition in Arabic sentences. Meanwhile, لكن means but, و means and, and إن is used for emphasis. Common mistake: mixing up conditional particles with coordinating conjunctions.

Students might pick the subject or a prepositional phrase by misidentifying sentence components. In رسمت الرسم على الورق meaning I drew the drawing on the paper, الرسم acts as the direct object receiving the action of the verb رسمت meaning drew. Common mistake: confusing the direct object with the prepositional phrase location.

Students might choose مدرسة or مكتبة by confusing basic vocabulary related to public and institutional buildings. The Arabic word مسجد translates to mosque. For comparison, مدرسة means school, سوق means market, and مكتبة means library. Common mistake: mixing up common urban building terms.

Students might pick basketball or tennis by mistranslating specific sports terminology in the phrase. The sentence أنا ألعب كرة القدم translates to I play football, where ألعب means play and كرة القدم means football. Common mistake: misinterpreting specific noun compounds for sports.

Students might select sky or sea by confusing fundamental nature vocabulary terms. The word أرض translates to earth, while sky is سماء, sea is بحر, and star is نجم. Common mistake: confusing earth with sky vocabulary.

Students might pick open or other adjective options by confusing contrasting states of objects. The phrase The door is closed translates to الباب مغلق, where مغلق means closed. The other terms mean open, new, and old respectively. Common mistake: confusing closed and open adjectives.

Students might select قصير or خفيف by confusing opposites of size with length or weight dimensions. The opposite of صغير meaning small is كبير meaning big. Meanwhile, قصير means short, طويل means tall or long, and خفيف means light. Common mistake: confusing size antonyms with length antonyms.

Students might choose happy or sad by confusing physical state vocabulary with emotional states. The phrase I am hungry translates to أنا جائع. The other given choices mean happy, fatigued, and sad. Common mistake: confusing physical needs vocabulary with emotions.

Students might pick walking or reading by confusing basic physical action verbs. The verb تكلم translates to to speak. For comparison, the other actions are مشى for walk, كتب for write, and قرأ for read. Common mistake: mixing up verbal communication actions with movement verbs.

Students might select garden or room by ignoring contextual logic within a shopping scenario. The word طعامًا meaning food logically completes the sentence اشتريت ___ من المتجر meaning I bought food from the store, as the other items are implausible purchases. Common mistake: ignoring contextual semantics when completing sentences.

Students might select kitchen or garden by confusing room names within a house. The sentence The mirror is in the bathroom translates to المرآة في الحمام, where الحمام means bathroom, making the other locations incorrect. Common mistake: confusing household room vocabulary.

A student might incorrectly select options like B or D because they mistake the dual form or a rare variant for the standard plural. When examining the term for 'hand' in Arabic, option A is the correct choice because it represents an irregular plural form of the noun. Common mistake: confusing the dual form 'يدان' with the proper broken plural 'أيدي'.