An agreement error repeats because the wrong pattern feels natural. The repair is to place the right and wrong versions side by side and change only one thing at a time.
This lesson is part of the SPM Arabic subject guide. It builds on ordering a verbal sentence clearly.
Which error do you repeat?
Go through three of your marked Arabic sentences and sort each error into one row.
| Type of error | Wrong | Right |
|---|---|---|
| Verb and doer gender | ذَهَبَ الطالبةُ | ذَهَبَتِ الطالبةُ |
| Noun and adjective gender | طالبةٌ مجتهدٌ | طالبةٌ مجتهدةٌ |
| Noun and adjective number | طالبانِ مجتهدٌ | طالبانِ مجتهدانِ |
| Verb form for a plural doer | ذَهَبُوا الطلابُ | ذَهَبَ الطلابُ |
Circle the row that appears most in your own work. That row is your repair target.
Worked example: one pair, one change
Take the error in row two. A learner writes: هذه طالبةٌ مجتهدٌ.
- Find the noun: طالبةٌ. It is feminine, shown by the ة.
- Find the adjective: مجتهدٌ. It has no ة, so it is masculine.
- Change one thing only: add ة to get مجتهدةٌ.
Corrected: هذه طالبةٌ مجتهدةٌ. “This is a hardworking girl.”
Now make a contrast pair so the memory sticks. Write both beside each other: طالبٌ مجتهدٌ (boy) and طالبةٌ مجتهدةٌ (girl). Only the ة changed, and the meaning changed with it.
A common mistake in the repair itself
Some learners fix the error by memorising the corrected sentence. That repairs one sentence and nothing else.
A better check is to swap the noun while keeping the structure. Replace طالبةٌ with معلّمةٌ, then ask what the adjective must do. Then replace it with a masculine noun, معلّمٌ, and ask again. That shows you the rule, not just one sentence.
Three-step repair routine
- Write your wrong sentence exactly as it appeared in your work.
- Write the right sentence under it and underline the one changed part.
- Compose a new sentence with a different noun, using the same fix.
Keep these in a short mistake log. Review the log before each writing task.
Check yourself
Find the error and correct it: ذَهَبَ الطالبةُ إلى المكتبةِ. Then write one new sentence using the same fix.
Answer
The doer الطالبةُ is feminine, but the verb ذَهَبَ is masculine. Correct it to ذَهَبَتِ الطالبةُ إلى المكتبةِ. “The female student went to the library.”
The verb comes before its doer, so it stays singular, but it must match the doer’s gender.
A new sentence could be: كَتَبَتِ المعلّمةُ الدرسَ. “The female teacher wrote the lesson.” The fix is the same: ـَتْ on the verb for a feminine doer.
What to study next
Test the repair on the verbs and sentence relationships practice set, or move to checking gender and number agreement in worked examples.
If you want a teacher to find the cause behind your repeated error, see online one-to-one Arabic tuition.