المُطَابَقَة — Agreement Between Mubtadaʾ/Khabar and Naʿt/Manʿūt
المُطَابَقَة (al-muṭābaqa) is the rule of grammatical agreement in gender and number between a مبتدأ (subject) and its خبر (predicate), and between a منعوت (described noun) and its نعت (adjective/attribute).
The Basic Rule
The خبر and نعت must agree with their مبتدأ and منعوت in: 1. Gender (مُذَكَّر / مُؤَنَّث) 2. Number (مُفرَد / مُثَنَّى / جَمع)
When Agreement Is OBLIGATORY — الأوصاف الأربعة
Agreement is required only when the خبر/نعت is one of the four types of attribute (وَصف):
| # | Term | Arabic | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active participle | اسم الفاعل | قَائِمٌ / قَائِمَةٌ |
| 2 | Passive participle | اسم المفعول | مَكتُوبٌ / مَكتُوبَةٌ |
| 3 | Resemblant adjective | الصِّفَة المُشَبَّهَة | كَرِيمٌ / كَرِيمَةٌ |
| 4 | Comparative/superlative | اسم التَّفضِيل | أَكبَرُ / كُبرَى |
These four carry an internal pronoun that refers back to the مبتدأ — and that pronoun must agree in gender and number.
When Agreement Is NOT Required
When the خبر/نعت is one of these types, agreement is not obligatory:
| Type | Arabic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Instrument noun | اسم الآلة | مِفتَاح (key — masculine) can be خبر of a feminine مبتدأ |
| Noun of time/place | اسم الزَّمان والمكان | مَدرَسَة (school — feminine) can be خبر of a masculine مبتدأ |
| Verbal noun (maṣdar) | مصدر | مَصدَر is singular; can be خبر of plural مبتدأ |
| Primitive noun | جامد | not derived from any verb (e.g., فَرَس = horse); no inherent gender markers |
Practical Examples
| Sentence | Why no agreement? |
|---|---|
| بَيتِي مَدرَسَةٌ (My house is a school) | مَدرَسَة = اسم مكان; not one of the four |
| الشَّبَابُ مَصدَرُ قُوَّتِنَا (Youth is our source of strength) | مصدر = place noun; singular OK with plural مبتدأ |
| اللُّغَةُ العَرَبِيَّةُ مِفتَاحُ فَهمِ القُرآنِ | مِفتَاح = اسم الآلة; masculine with feminine مبتدأ OK |
Demonstrative Pronoun Mismatch
When a demonstrative pronoun (اسم الإشارة) does NOT agree in gender with the noun that follows it, this is a signal that the demonstrative is pointing to an omitted noun (محذوف) — not to the stated noun.
Quranic example:
هَـٰذَا بَصَائِرُ مِن رَّبِّكُم (al-Aʿrāf 7:203) هَذَا (masculine) + بَصَائِر (feminine plural) → هَذَا points to القُرآن (omitted), not to بَصَائر Meaning: "This (Quran) is insights from your Lord."
This is a powerful analytical tool for understanding Quranic sentences.
Session References
- Selected Ayaat of Surah al-Israa Session 6: Full explanation with examples; applied to the Quranic ayaat هَذَا بَصَائِرُ to identify the omitted مبتدأ (القُرآن); أُولَئِكَ vs. تِلكَ discussion.