هو لا يفهم العربية

[Karim]

assalamu allaikum
in this sentence in the title, is this yafham or yafhamu, mudaria marfu or mudaria majsum. as i learned it is majsum when it is a order like, la taqul lahu, or la idjlis huna.

[Aaishah]

Originally Posted by Karim

assalamu allaikum
in this sentence in the title, is this yafham or yafhamu, mudaria marfu or mudaria majsum. as i learned it is majsum when it is a order like, la taqul lahu, or la idjlis huna.

wa 'alaykumus salaam wa raHmatullaah

هو لا يَفْهَمُ العربيةَ،

This Laa is Laa al-naafiyatu - the one where the verb after it, is marfuu ' .

It is not Laa al-naahiyatu - the one where the verb after it, is majzuum.

We can tell one Laa from the other, by observing the clear signs. E.g.

A) the meaning of the statement

B) the context of the situation

(e.g. what was said by the speaker before this statement?)

(what did the speaker hear being said, before this statement? Etc)

C) the grammatical signs

(is the verb marfuu ' or mazjuum ?)

So the signs indicate that the above statement is Laa al-Naafiyah, and it means :

هُوَ لاَ يَفْهَمُ العربيةَ

"He does not understand Arabic".

Lesson 15, Madinah Book 2 will revise your knowledge of this subject.

The Arabic side of this lesson contains a diagram which is a visual explanation of both these Laa's, and serves as an excellent summary and quick reference for seeing the difference between them.

Wassalaam