Today and yesterday

[Tanweer]

I am familier with the use of Today and Yesterday as "zarfu zaman."

For Example:

قَرَأْتُ القُرآنَ اليَومَ / أمسِ

But how do I use Today and Yesterday as (1) Mubtada or as (2) Mudaf ilaihi ?

I want to say "Today / Yesterday is / was cold"

Is the following correct ?

اليَومُ / كانَ الأمسِ بارِدٌ

I want to say "Today's lesson is easy"

is the following correct ?

دَرْسُ اليَومِ سهلٌ

Also, does Al-yaoma always come with "Al" ?

[benss]

Originally Posted by Tanweer

I am familier with the use of Today and Yesterday as "zarfu zaman."

For Example:

قَرَأْتُ القُرآنَ اليَومَ / أمسِ

But how do I use Today and Yesterday as (1) Mubtada or as (2) Mudaf ilaihi ?

I want to say "Today / Yesterday is / was cold"

Is the following correct ?

اليَومُ / كانَ الأمسِ بارِدٌ

I want to say "Today's lesson is easy"

is the following correct ?

دَرْسُ اليَومِ سهلٌ

Also, does Al-yaoma always come with "Al" ?

Salâmou'aleikoum wa rahmatoullâh wa barakâtouh,

hope you're doing well.

Yes indeed, the word يَوْمٌ can be used as any other ism, so that it can be mubtada, khabar, mudaf, or any thing else asu any usual ism.

References from the Holy Qur'an:

• In Sourate Al-Fâthia, verse 4 as MuDâf ilaihi:

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

• In Sourate Al-Barqara, verse 8 as Ism majrour:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِي

• In Sourate al baqara, verse 48 as Maf3ouloun bihi:

وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَنْ نَفْسٍ شَيْئًا

• In Sourate Al-Sâffat, verser 20-21 as Khabâr:

وَقَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا هَٰذَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ

هَٰذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ

• In Sourate Ibrâhim, verse 31 as Fâ3il:

مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لَا بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلَا خِلَالٌ

etc, etc, ... there are plenty of examples...However, I did not find it as Mubtada.
But, I'm almost sure (i may be wrong) that it can also be used as Mubtadaor Khabar kâna (why not ??), as in your example (reminder: be careful khabar kana is mansoub):
كانَ اليَومُ بارًا

والله أعلم

[Tanweer]

Walaikumus salam, brother benss.

As you know, the words "day" and "today" are not the same.

I wanted to know the use of "Today" as a mubtada and as a mudaf ilaihi, (and also the use of "Yesterday").

The Quranic examples you provided deal with "day" (yaom), not "today".

Thanks.

[irf2k]

waalaikum Assalam

I may be wrong but I always considered "Today" اليَوْمَ as an adverb of time (ظَرفٌ) and not as a noun like "the day" اليَوْمُ and as such it could not be mubtada.

Here is an example of 'today' from the Holy Qur'an 5:5

الْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ
Today lawful is made for you the good things.

الْيَوْمَ - ظرف زمان منصوب متعلق بأحلّ
أُحِلَّ - فعل ماض مبني لغير الفاعل
لَكُمُ - جار ومجرور متعلق بأحلّ
الطَّيِّبَاتُ - نائب فاعل مرفوع بالضمة

Wasaalam

[icarus]

Assalamu alaikum Tanweer. As you know, al-yowma meaning today in Arabic is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi which must be manSoob. As such, it cannot be also mubtada' or muDaaf ilayhi. In such cases, other ways need to be found to express it in Arabic.

Here are my suggestions. Please feel free to correct me.

A. To translate your sentence Today is cold:

1. Haadha al-yowmu baaridun (This day is cold). Today is translated as Haadha al-yowmu where Haadha is mubtada' and al-yowmu is badal for the mubtada' and therefore marfoo3. Here, today is not translated as al-yowma and so is not a Zarf in Arabic.

2. Huwa baaridun al-yowma (It is cold today). Today is translated as al-yowma which is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi which is manSoob. Huwa is mubtada', baaridun is khabar.

3. Al-hawaa'u baaridun al-yowma (The weather is cold today). Today is translated as al-yowma which is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi which is manSoob. Al-hawaa'u is mubtada', baaridun is khabar.


B. To translate Today was cold:
1. Kaana baaridan al-yowma (It was cold today). Today is translated as al-yowma which is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi which is manSoob. ismu kaana is Dameer mustatir, khabaru kaana is baaridan.

2. Kaana al-hawaa'u baaridan al-yowma (The weather was cold today). Today is translated as al-yowma which is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi which is manSoob. ismu kaana is al-hawaa'u, khabaru kaana is baaridan.


C. To translate Yesterday was cold:
1. Kaana baaridan amsi (It was cold yesterday). ismu kaana is Dameer mustatir, khabaru kaana is baaridan and amsi is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi.

2. Kaana al-hawaa'u baaridan amsi (The weather was cold yesterday). ismu kaana is al-hawaa'u, khabaru kaana is baaridan and amsi is Zarf zamaan maf3oolun feehi.


D. To translate Today's lesson is easy:
Darsu haadha al-yowmi sahlun (The lesson of this day is easy). Today is translated as haadha al-yowmi where haadha is muDaaf ilayhi and al-yowmi is badal for the muDaaf ilayhi and is therefore majroor.

I welcome any corrections/comments to the above.

[Tanweer]

@ irf2k

Many thanks.

@ icarus

All your alternative solutions look correct to me. Hopefully other brothers will also comment.

For sentence D [Darsu haadha al-yowmi sahlun], why do we need haadha ? Can we not simply say " Darsu al-yowmi sahlun" ?

Many thanks.

[benss]

Salâmou'aleikoum wa rahmatoullâh wa barakâtouh brother,

thanks a lot for such a fruitful discussion.
Sorry brother tanween for not having hitting the spot.

After reading your post-reply and in the same wave as icarus and irf2k, I thought that (I know it won't help you al lot for you questions):

1) the word "Today" in arabic must be an adverb (Dharf), for instance you can't find it at the begining of a sentence like "al-yawmou" rather "al-yawma".

2) the only way to say "today", I humbly can see (or i've came across), is to make it preceded by the ism ishâra : "hadha al-yamou", that is literally speaking "this day" **.
(I've asked a native arabic speaker about this last question of whether "al-yawmi" must be or not be preceded by "hadha"...this person told me that both sounds correct for him. However, he might be wrong since, He seems to me to not being very sure I know many Arabs (as in for english speaker or in any other language speakers) make such small mistakes from habit that are can be not originally and grammatically correct. I mean here that any Arab will understand what you meant but the real question is which one is correct).

Need for a "good" native speaker, or at least someone who's sure of what the correct answer.
This is my small contribution.

** in my last post I meant: كان هذا اليومُ باردًا
and not:

كانَ اليَومُ بارًا

.

[icarus]

Assalaamu alaikum.

Br. Tanweer, if you say Darsu al-yowmi sahlun, it means the lesson of the day is easy. This does not specify that the day is today. It could mean any day. Darsu haadha al-yowmi sahlun means the lesson of this day (this present day/today) is easy.