Possession
Who or what does it belong to?
المعنى
Possession shows who or what someone or something belongs to or is closely connected with. It can link an object to its owner, a child to a parent, or a book to its writer. Languages use endings, separate words, or word order, and some have no possession endings. Part and whole focuses on pieces or members of something, while Possession also covers ownership and other close connections.
طريقة التعرّف عليه
Look for a link that identifies whose something is or who it is closely connected with, even when no one owns it.
في اللغة الأم
Modern Standard Arabic links a thing to its owner with an iḍāfa: the thing comes first without an article, followed by the owner. Pronoun suffixes attached to nouns express meanings such as 'my' and 'her.' To say that someone has something, Arabic commonly uses عند or لِـ with the owner.
مفتاحُ الشقةِ في حقيبتي. (Miftāḥu al-shaqqati fī ḥaqībatī.)
The first noun has no article; the following noun identifies whose key it is.
نسيتُ هاتفي في المكتبِ. (Nasītu hātifī fī al-maktab.)
The suffix ـي means 'my.'
عندي دراجةٌ صغيرةٌ. (ʿIndī darrājatun ṣaghīra.)
عند with a pronoun suffix expresses having something.
في اللغة قيد التعلم
English often places the owner before the noun, as in my bag or Emma's bag. Forms such as mine and hers stand without a following noun, while of links many other connections, as in the name of the street. Have expresses possession in a sentence, as in I have a bike.
This is my seat.
My comes before the noun; the is not used with it.
Emma's brother lives nearby.
The 's marks a family connection, not ownership.
That blue bag is mine.
Mine stands on its own without a following noun.
Learners whose language marks possession on the owned noun may put 's on the wrong noun or leave out my/your. Learners whose language uses one form both before a noun and on its own may confuse my and mine.