Madinah Book 1 Lesson 2: ذَلِكَ vs هَذَا, “that” and “this”
What Madinah Book 1 lesson 2 adds
Madinah Book 1 lesson 2 introduces a single new grammar word: ذَلِكَ, “that,” to point at something far. The book’s heading says it: اِسْمُ الْإِشَارَةِ لِلْمُفْرَدِ الْمُذَكَّرِ, the demonstrative (the “pointing word”) for a masculine singular, followed by ذَلِكَ. Everything else comes from lesson 1: مَا, مَنْ, the question with أَ, and the answer نَعَمْ or لَا.
The lesson is short: a few pages of illustrated examples, four new nouns and one reading exercise. Below: each example of the book with its translation, the mistakes that come up most, and the exercise answers.
هَذَا or ذَلِكَ: near or far
ذَلِكَ is used exactly like هَذَا, with one difference: what you point at is far. The other two conditions from lesson 1 still hold: a masculine noun, in the singular. ذَلِكَ means “that” or “that one,” for a thing as well as a person.
هَذَا
this: near
ذَلِكَ
that: far
مَا ذَلِكَ؟ ذَلِكَ نَجْمٌ
What is that? That is a star.
مَا ذَلِكَ؟ ذَلِكَ سَرِيرٌ
What is that? That is a bed.
A star is always far away, so the book uses ذَلِكَ. To choose between the two words, look only at distance: near is هَذَا, far is ذَلِكَ. Gender and number stay the same. As with هَذَا, there is no verb “to be”: ذَلِكَ نَجْمٌ means “That is a star.”
Asking questions with ذَلِكَ
Questions work as in lesson 1. مَا ذَلِكَ؟ asks what a far thing or animal is. مَنْ ذَلِكَ؟ asks who a far person is. For a yes/no question, the same small word أَ is joined to ذَلِكَ: you write أَذَلِكَ as one word.
مَنْ ذَلِكَ؟ ذَلِكَ إِمَامٌ
Who is that? That is an imam.
أَذَلِكَ كَلْبٌ؟ لَا، ذَلِكَ قِطٌّ
Is that a dog? No, that is a cat.
أَذَلِكَ قِطٌّ؟ لَا، ذَلِكَ كَلْبٌ
Is that a cat? No, that is a dog.
The lesson 1 rule still holds: after لَا, you give the right answer. And a cat is still an animal: you ask مَا ذَلِكَ؟, never مَنْ.
This and that in one sentence
The book often puts both words together: one thing near, one thing far, linked by وَ (“and”). وَ is joined to ذَلِكَ, which gives وَذَلِكَ.
هَذَا مَسْجِدٌ وَذَلِكَ بَيْتٌ
This is a mosque and that is a house.
هَذَا حِصَانٌ وَذَلِكَ حِمَارٌ
This is a horse and that is a donkey.
مَنْ هَذَا وَمَنْ ذَلِكَ؟ هَذَا مُدَرِّسٌ وَذَلِكَ إِمَامٌ
Who is this and who is that? This is a teacher and that is an imam.
In the last example the question itself is about two people: مَنْ comes twice, once with هَذَا and once with ذَلِكَ. The answer follows the same order.
The four new words in lesson 2
- إِمَامٌ: imam. A person, so you ask مَنْ ذَلِكَ؟.
- حَجَرٌ: stone.
- سُكَّرٌ: sugar.
- لَبَنٌ: milk.
All four are masculine, like every noun so far, so هَذَا and ذَلِكَ work with each of them. “This is sugar” is just هَذَا سُكَّرٌ.
Common mistakes in lesson 2
- Using هَذَا for something far: as soon as it is far, it is ذَلِكَ.
- Writing أَ apart from ذَلِكَ: you write أَذَلِكَ, like أَهَذَا.
- Writing وَ apart from ذَلِكَ: you write وَذَلِكَ as one word.
- Asking مَنْ ذَلِكَ؟ about an animal: for a cat or a dog, use مَا.
Answers to the read-and-write exercise
The lesson ends with four sentences to read and then copy out. Here is what they mean, so you can check you understand what you write:
هَذَا سُكَّرٌ وَذَلِكَ لَبَنٌ
This is sugar and that is milk.
مَنْ ذَلِكَ؟ ذَلِكَ إِمَامٌ
Who is that? That is an imam.
أَذَلِكَ قِطٌّ؟ لَا، ذَلِكَ كَلْبٌ
Is that a cat? No, that is a dog.
مَا هَذَا؟ هَذَا حَجَرٌ
What is this, here? This is a stone.
The last sentence goes back to هَذَا: the stone is here, close by.
Reviewing lesson 2 before lesson 3
To review, pick two objects in the room, one within reach and one across the room, and describe them with the book’s pattern: هَذَا مَسْجِدٌ وَذَلِكَ بَيْتٌ, swapping in nouns from lessons 1 and 2. Then ask yourself the yes/no question with أَذَلِكَ and answer with لَا and the right answer.
If a point from lesson 1 is missing, Madinah Book 1 lesson 1 covers هَذَا, مَا and مَنْ. Lesson 3 introduces the article ال, the sun and moon letters, and the first adjectives.
In Medina Way, an app to learn Arabic based on the Madinah method, lesson 2 is practiced in short exercises: you fill in sentences with هَذَا or ذَلِكَ, rebuild sentences with وَذَلِكَ, type answers on an Arabic keyboard, and the words from lessons 1 and 2 come back in reviews.