JAMB Arabic syllabus
All 26 topics of the JAMB Arabic syllabus. JAMB's own words are in the grey boxes, because you are examined on them. Our short notes sit under them, marked "Our note".
On this page
The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Arabic is to prepare candidates for admission into tertiary institutions through the Board’s examination. It is designed to test their achievement of the course objectives, which are to:
- answer comprehension questions correctly in standard Arabic;
- translate simple texts from English to Arabic and vice versa;
- apply the rules of Arabic grammar functionally;
- appreciate Arabic literary texts within the contexts of their environment and eras;
- use Arabic as a living world language in communication where necessary.
Our note
UTME Arabic tests you as a user of the language, not just a memoriser of rules: you must read an unseen passage and answer on it, move meaning both ways between Arabic and English, apply grammar in real sentences, and discuss set literary texts in their historical and social setting. Build the habit of reading standard Arabic on everyday subjects such as current affairs, sports, education, politics, economy, health, culture and ethics, since comprehension passages are drawn from that kind of material. Practise grammar by writing and correcting your own sentences rather than reciting definitions, and read the prescribed literature closely enough to talk about its themes and its era.
Section A: Comprehension
Our note
Section A of the UTME Arabic syllabus is the comprehension section: candidates read one short Arabic passage of about 70 words and answer five multiple-choice questions on it. The passage is drawn from everyday, familiar subject areas — current affairs, sports, education, politics, economy, health, culture and ethics — and the questions test whether you grasped the passage's meaning, theme, lesson, suitable title and the sense of particular words.
Overview
- It consists of a passage of seventy (70) words. Five multiple-choice questions are to be set on the passage. The contents should be within the experience of the candidates e.g. current affairs, sports, education, politics, economy, health, culture and ethics.
Candidates should be able to:
- use appropriate words or phrases for specific thought;
- deduce the lesson in the passage;
- determine the main theme of the passage;
- give an appropriate title to the passage;
- interpret the meanings of particular words.
Our note
This is the reading part of the Arabic paper. You are given one short Arabic passage — about seventy words, so roughly a single paragraph — and five multiple-choice questions are set on it. JAMB deliberately keeps the subject matter to things a Nigerian secondary-school leaver already knows about: news and current affairs, sports, school and education, politics, the economy, health, culture and moral or ethical matters. That means the difficulty is in the Arabic itself, not in unfamiliar background knowledge, so the skill to build is reading an ordinary Arabic paragraph quickly and working out what it is really saying.
- The passage is seventy (70) words long and carries exactly five multiple-choice questions.
- Topic areas are limited to what candidates already experience: current affairs, sports, education, politics, economy, health, culture and ethics.
- Questions test choosing appropriate words or phrases for a specific thought.
- You must be able to deduce the lesson (moral/message) of the passage and determine its main theme.
- You must be able to give an appropriate title to the passage.
- You must be able to interpret the meanings of particular words as used in the passage.
Section B: Translation
Our note
This section of the JAMB UTME Arabic syllabus covers translation: ten questions in total, five rendering English into Arabic and five rendering Arabic into English, all based on standard usage in both languages. It tests whether you can carry meaning — including idiomatic expressions and whole ideas — accurately across the two languages rather than translating word by word.
Overview
- This section consists of ten (10) questions. Five of them are on translation from English into Arabic while the other five are on translation from Arabic into English.
- Translation into English includes key words and phrases in a sentence.
- Translated questions are to be based on standard Arabic and English usages.
Candidates should be able to:
- use an appropriate Arabic word or phrase to convey the meaning of an English word or phrase;
- determine an appropriate English word or phrase for an Arabic statement;
- interpret idiomatic expressions in both Arabic and English;
- transfer ideas expressed in Arabic to English and vice versa;
- communicate effectively in Arabic and English.
Our note
This part of the paper asks you to move meaning between Arabic and English in both directions. Ten questions come from this section: five give you English and ask for the correct Arabic, and five give you Arabic and ask for the correct English. The Arabic-to-English questions focus on key words and phrases inside a sentence, so you are usually picking the option that best renders one important word or expression in its sentence context. Everything is set in standard (fus-ha) Arabic and standard English, so slang, dialect forms and overly literal word-for-word choices are the usual wrong answers.
- Section B carries ten (10) questions in total.
- Five questions translate English into Arabic; the other five translate Arabic into English.
- Arabic-to-English items test key words and phrases within a sentence, not whole paragraphs.
- All questions are based on standard Arabic and standard English usage — no dialect or slang.
- You must handle idiomatic expressions in both languages, where a literal translation gives the wrong sense.
- The aim is transferring the idea accurately in either direction, i.e. effective communication in both languages.
Section C: Grammar
Our note
This is the grammar section of the JAMB UTME Arabic syllabus, which lists 22 grammatical features that "Major grammatical features in Arabic to be examined include:" — running from pronouns, gender and noun markers through plurals, verbs and their moods, derivatives and conditional sentences, to numerals and the accusative noun positions. It is the rule-book part of the paper: you are expected not only to name each feature but to recognise it in a sentence and use it correctly in standard Arabic.
1. Demonstrative, relative pronouns, conditional and interrogative.
- أسماء الإشارة والموصولة والشرط والاستفهام.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the various forms of demonstrative and relative pronouns;
Our note
These are the small "pointing", "linking" and "asking" words of Arabic. Demonstratives point at something (this book, those men), relative pronouns join a describing clause to a noun (the man who came), conditional words set up an "if… then" idea, and interrogatives ask questions. Each set has different forms for masculine, feminine, singular, dual and plural, so the form you choose must match the noun you are talking about.
- Demonstratives (أسماء الإشارة): هذا، هذه، هذان، هاتان، هؤلاء for near; ذلك، تلك، أولئك for far.
- Relative pronouns (الأسماء الموصولة): الذي، التي، اللذان، اللتان، الذين، اللاتي.
- Conditional words (أسماء الشرط) such as من، ما، مهما، متى، أينما introduce a condition and its answer.
- Interrogatives (أسماء الاستفهام): من، ما، ماذا، متى، أين، كيف، كم، أيّ.
- Most of these words are مبني (fixed in form); the dual forms هذان and اللذان are the ones that change with case.
2. Gender (Masculine and Feminine).
- المذكر والمؤنث.
Candidates should be able to:
- compare gender markers in Arabic;
Our note
Every Arabic noun and adjective is either masculine or feminine, and the feminine usually carries a visible sign at the end of the word. Masculine is the plain, unmarked form. You need gender because adjectives, verbs, pronouns and demonstratives must all agree with the noun they belong to, and a wrong ending is a wrong answer.
- Feminine markers: التاء المربوطة (ة) as in فاطمة، الألف المقصورة (ى) as in سلمى، الألف الممدودة (اء) as in صحراء.
- Masculine is the default form and carries no added marker.
- Some nouns are feminine by usage although they show no marker: شمس، أرض، نار، عين، يد.
- Paired body parts, names of towns and countries are normally treated as feminine.
- Adjectives, verbs, demonstratives and pronouns must agree in gender with their noun.
3. Characteristics of noun.
- علامات الاسم.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the characteristics of Arabic nouns;
Our note
Arabic words fall into three classes: noun (اسم), verb (فعل) and particle (حرف). علامات الاسم are the tests that show a word is a noun and not one of the other two. If a word can accept any one of these signs, it is a noun.
- A noun can take the definite article ال: الكتاب.
- A noun can take tanwīn: كتابٌ، كتاباً، كتابٍ.
- A noun can be preceded by a preposition and become مجرور: في البيتِ.
- A noun can be the second term of an iḍāfah, or be called with يا (النداء).
- Verbs and particles accept none of these markers.
4. Dual.
- المثنى.
Candidates should be able to:
- differentiate between singular and dual forms of nouns;
Our note
Arabic does not say "two books" the way English does; it has a special form of the noun that means exactly two. You build it by adding a fixed ending to the singular, and that ending changes according to the case of the noun in the sentence. Recognising the dual and getting its ending right is a common UTME question.
- The dual means exactly two and is made from the singular: كتاب → كتابان.
- Nominative takes ـانِ; accusative and genitive take ـيْنِ: رأيت كتابين، في كتابين.
- The nūn of the dual drops in an iḍāfah: كتابا الطالبِ.
- A feminine singular keeps its ة before the ending: معلمة → معلمتان.
- Verbs, adjectives and pronouns referring to a dual noun must also be dual.
5. Plurals:
- الجموع:
- a. sound masculine plural
- أ – جمع المذكر السالم.
- b. sound feminine plural
- ب – جمع المؤنث السالم
- c. broken plural
- ج – جمع التكسير
Candidates should be able to:
- construct plural forms of singular nouns;
Our note
Arabic has three ways of making a plural (three and above). Two of them are "sound": the singular stays whole and an ending is simply added. The third, the broken plural, rearranges the letters of the singular into a new pattern and must largely be memorised word by word.
- Sound masculine plural (جمع المذكر السالم): ـون in the nominative, ـين in accusative and genitive — مسلمون / مسلمين.
- Sound feminine plural (جمع المؤنث السالم): add ـات — مسلمة → مسلمات; in the accusative it takes kasrah, not fatḥah.
- Broken plural (جمع التكسير) changes the internal shape of the word: كتاب → كتب، رجل → رجال، ولد → أولاد.
- Sound plurals keep all the letters of the singular; broken plurals do not.
- The nūn of the sound masculine plural drops in an iḍāfah: معلمو المدرسة.
6. Construct phrase.
- المضاف والمضاف إليه.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify construct phrases and their usages;
Our note
The iḍāfah is how Arabic says "the door of the house" or "the teacher's book" — two nouns placed side by side, the first (المضاف) possessed and the second (المضاف إليه) the possessor. The construction has strict rules: the first noun loses ال and tanwīn, and the second is always in the genitive case.
- An iḍāfah joins مضاف + مضاف إليه: بابُ البيتِ.
- The مضاف never takes ال or tanwīn, and loses the nūn of the dual and sound masculine plural.
- The مضاف إليه is always مجرور (genitive).
- The مضاف takes whatever case its position in the sentence requires.
- It expresses possession, material (خاتم ذهبٍ) or specification.
7. Separable and inseparable pronouns.
- الضمائر المنفصلة و المتصلة
Candidates should be able to:
- differentiate between separable and inseparable pronouns;
Our note
Arabic pronouns come in two shapes. Separable pronouns are independent words that stand alone, like أنا and هو. Inseparable pronouns are short forms glued to the end of a noun, verb or particle, like the ـي in كتابي. Which one you use depends on where the pronoun sits in the sentence.
- Separable (منفصلة) pronouns stand alone: أنا، نحن، أنتَ، أنتِ، هو، هي، هم.
- Inseparable (متصلة) pronouns attach to a word: كتابي، كتابك، كتابه، كتابنا.
- Attached to a noun, the pronoun shows possession and the noun becomes an iḍāfah.
- Attached to a verb, it may be the doer (كتبتُ) or the object (ضربه).
- Attached to a particle or preposition it is in the genitive: له، عليه، إنّه.
8. Appendants:
- التوابع:
- a. adjective.
- أ – النعت.
- b. conjunction.
- ب – العطف.
- c. the permutative.
- ج – البدل.
- d. emphasis
- د – التوكيد.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify correct usage of adjectives, conjunctions, permutative and emphasis in Arabic sentences;
Our note
التوابع are "followers": words that copy the case ending of the word standing just before them. There are four of them — the adjective, the conjoined word, the substitute and the emphasiser. Once you know the case of the first word, the follower automatically takes the same case, so these are easy marks if you spot them.
- A تابع always takes the same case as the word it follows.
- النعت (adjective) agrees with its noun in case, number, gender and definiteness: الطالبُ المجتهدُ.
- العطف joins words with و، ف، ثم، أو، لكن، بل.
- البدل replaces the word before it and gives its real identity: جاء أخوك عليٌّ.
- التوكيد emphasises using نفس، عين، كل، جميع، أجمع, or by repeating the word.
9. Prepositions.
- حروف الجر والنصب والجزم
Candidates should be able to:
- apply correct preposition particles in a given sentence;
Our note
Note that the Arabic heading here is wider than the English one: it covers particles of jarr, naṣb and jazm together. حروف الجر come before nouns and put them in the genitive, while حروف النصب and حروف الجزم come before the imperfect verb and change its ending. Learning which particle governs which is the key to getting the final vowel right.
- The Arabic heading covers three sets of particles: حروف الجر والنصب والجزم.
- حروف الجر (من، إلى، عن، على، في، ربّ، الباء، الكاف، اللام) put the following noun in the genitive.
- حروف النصب (أن، لن، كي، إذن، حتى) put the imperfect verb in the subjunctive.
- حروف الجزم (لم، لمّا، لام الأمر، لا الناهية) put the imperfect verb in the jussive.
- With حروف النصب and حروف الجزم the نون of the five verbs drops: لن يكتبوا، لم يكتبوا.
10. Transitive & Intransitive verbs.
- الفعل اللازم والفعل المتعدي.
Candidates should be able to:
- differentiate between transitive and intransitive verbs and use them in sentences;
Our note
An intransitive verb (لازم) makes complete sense with its doer alone — "the student sat". A transitive verb (متعدٍ) needs an object to complete the meaning — "the student wrote the lesson". Some Arabic verbs even take two or three objects, and an intransitive verb can be turned transitive by a preposition or a change of pattern.
- An intransitive verb (لازم) needs only a doer: جلس الطالبُ.
- A transitive verb (متعدٍ) needs an object in the accusative: كتب الطالبُ الدرسَ.
- Some verbs take two objects (أعطى، ظنّ، منح) and a few take three (أعلم، أرى).
- An intransitive verb becomes transitive with a preposition: ذهب بالكتاب.
- The أفعل and فعّل patterns also make an intransitive verb transitive: جلس → أجلس.
11. The perfect verb.
- الفعل الماضي
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the perfect verbs and their forms;
Our note
الماضي is the verb of completed action — something that already happened. Its basic third-person masculine singular form ends in fatḥah, and it never changes its ending for grammatical reasons because it is مبني. What does change are the subject endings you attach for each person, gender and number.
- The perfect verb shows an action already completed: كتبَ، جلسَ، ذهبَ.
- It is مبني (indeclinable) — it is not affected by ناصب or جازم.
- Third-person masculine singular ends in fatḥah: كتبَ.
- It takes attached subject pronouns: كتبتُ، كتبتَ، كتبتِ، كتبنا، كتبوا، كتبن.
- It is negated with ما, or with لم + the imperfect jussive: لم يكتبْ.
12. The imperfect verb:
- فعل المضارع:
- a. the indicative.
- أ – المرفوع
- b. the subjunctive.
- ب – المنصوب
- c. the jussive.
- ج – المجزوم.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the imperfect verbs and their grammatical words in sentences;
Our note
المضارع is the verb of present and future action, and it always begins with one of the four letters أ، ن، ي، ت. Unlike the perfect, its ending changes according to the particle in front of it: nothing before it leaves it marfūʿ, a naṣb particle makes it manṣūb, and a jazm particle makes it majzūm. Spotting the governing particle tells you the ending.
- The imperfect begins with أ، ن، ي or ت and shows present or future time.
- المرفوع (indicative) is the default: يكتبُ; the five verbs keep their نون (يكتبون، تكتبين).
- المنصوب comes after أن، لن، كي، حتى، إذن: لن يكتبَ; the نون drops (لن يكتبوا).
- المجزوم comes after لم، لمّا، لا الناهية، لام الأمر and conditional particles: لم يكتبْ.
- A weak-ending verb (الفعل المعتل) loses its final weak letter in the jussive: لم يدعُ، لم يرمِ.
13. The imperative verb.
- فعل الأمر.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the imperative verbs and their forms;
Our note
فعل الأمر is the command form — "write!", "sit!". You make it from the imperfect by removing the prefix letter and, if the word would then start with a sukūn, adding a hamzat waṣl at the front. It is always مبني, and its endings follow the pattern of the jussive.
- The imperative gives a command and is always مبني.
- It is built from the imperfect: يكتب → اكتبْ، يجلس → اجلسْ.
- Add hamzat al-waṣl when the stem would otherwise begin with a sukūn.
- Its endings follow the jussive: اكتبوا، اكتبي، اكتبا (the نون drops).
- A weak-ending verb loses its final weak letter: ادعُ، ارمِ، اسعَ.
14. The modifiers:
- النواسخ:
- a. Kana and its associates
- أ – كان و أخواتها
- b. Inna and its associates
- ب – إن و أخواتها
- c. Zanna and its associates
- ج – ظن و أخواتها
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the kinds of modifiers and apply them in Arabic usage;
Our note
النواسخ are words that enter a nominal sentence (mubtadaʾ + khabar) and "cancel" its normal case endings. There are three families, and each one changes the cases in a different way. Questions on this topic usually give you a sentence with kāna, inna or ẓanna and ask which word is now accusative.
- النواسخ enter a nominal sentence and change the cases of المبتدأ والخبر.
- كان وأخواتها (أصبح، أمسى، ظلّ، صار، ليس، ما زال) keep the subject nominative and put the predicate in the accusative: كان الطالبُ مجتهداً.
- إنّ وأخواتها (أنّ، كأنّ، لكنّ، ليت، لعلّ) put the noun in the accusative and the predicate in the nominative: إنّ الطالبَ مجتهدٌ.
- ظنّ وأخواتها (حسب، زعم، رأى، وجد، علم) make both المبتدأ والخبر accusative as two objects: ظننت الطالبَ مجتهداً.
- ظنّ وأخواتها are verbs that need two objects, so they belong with the transitive verbs too.
15. Trilateral and derived verb.
- الفعل الثلاثي المجرد و المزيد فيه.
Candidates should be able to:
- differentiate between trilateral and derived verbs;
Our note
Most Arabic verbs are built on three root letters. When nothing is added to those three letters the verb is مجرد; when extra letters are added it becomes مزيد فيه, and the addition usually changes the meaning — making it causative, reciprocal, reflexive or a request. Knowing the pattern (الوزن) lets you strip a word back to its root and work out its meaning.
- الثلاثي المجرد has exactly three root letters with nothing added: كَتَبَ، فَعَلَ.
- المزيد فيه adds one, two or three letters to the root.
- One-letter additions: أفعل، فعّل، فاعل (أكرم، علّم، شارك).
- Two-letter additions: انفعل، افتعل، تفاعل، تفعّل (انكسر، اجتمع، تعاون).
- Three-letter addition: استفعل (استغفر، استخرج) — often means asking or seeking.
- The added letters change the meaning: causative, reciprocal, reflexive or requesting.
16. Verbal noun.
- المصدر.
Our note
المصدر is the noun that names the action itself, without tying it to any time — "writing", "sitting", "hitting". It is the source from which the other derivatives are formed. For plain trilateral verbs the maṣdar patterns are irregular and must be learned, but for derived verbs each pattern has its own fixed maṣdar.
- The maṣdar names the action itself with no time attached: كتابة، جلوس، ضرب.
- Trilateral verbs have many maṣdar patterns learned from usage: فَعْل، فُعُول، فِعَالة.
- Derived verbs have regular maṣdar patterns: أكرم → إكرام، علّم → تعليم، استغفر → استغفار.
- The maṣdar is a noun, so it takes ال, tanwīn and all noun cases.
- It can be used as مفعول مطلق for emphasis: ضربته ضرباً شديداً.
17. Derivatives:
- المشتقات:
- a. active participle.
- أ - اسم الفاعل.
- b. passive participle.
- ب - اسم المفعول.
- c. comparative/superlative.
- ج - اسم التفضيل.
- d. noun of instrument.
- هـ - اسم الآلة.
- e. nouns of time and place.
- و - اسما الزمان و المكان.
- f. relative adjective.
- ز - اسم النسبة.
- g. hyperbole noun.
- ح - اسم المبالغة
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the types of derivatives;
Our note
المشتقات are nouns carved out of the verb root, each on its own fixed pattern and each with its own job: naming the doer, the thing acted upon, the tool, the place, the time, and so on. If you know the pattern you can both recognise a derivative in a passage and build one yourself. Note that JAMB labels the sub-items a–g in English but uses the Arabic letters أ، ب، ج، هـ، و، ز، ح.
- All derivatives are formed from the root/maṣdar, each on a fixed pattern (وزن).
- اسم الفاعل names the doer: كاتب، جالس، مُعلِّم; اسم المفعول names the one acted upon: مكتوب، مُعلَّم.
- اسم التفضيل uses the pattern أفعل to compare: أكبر، أحسن، أجمل.
- اسم الآلة names a tool: مفتاح، مِبرد، مِنشار.
- اسما الزمان والمكان name the time or place of the action: موعد، مكتب، مجلس.
- اسم النسبة adds ـيّ (نيجيريّ، مصريّ); اسم المبالغة exaggerates the doer: علّام، صبور، غفّار.
18. Conditional sentence.
- الجملة الشرطية
Candidates should be able to:
- apply the rules governing conditional sentences, identify, construct and differentiate them in normal sentences;
Our note
A conditional sentence has three parts: the conditional tool, the condition verb, and the answer. Some tools put both verbs in the jussive and some do not, so the first thing to check is which tool is used. This objective asks you not only to spot conditional sentences but to build them and tell them apart from ordinary sentences.
- Structure: أداة الشرط + فعل الشرط + جواب الشرط.
- Jussive tools (إن، من، ما، مهما، متى، أينما، كيفما) put both verbs in the jussive: إنْ تجتهدْ تنجحْ.
- Non-jussive tools (إذا، لو، لولا، لمّا) do not change the endings of the verbs.
- The answer is joined with الفاء when it cannot itself be a condition verb — a nominal sentence, a command, or a verb with قد / السين.
- إن is a particle of condition; من، ما، متى، أين are nouns of condition.
19. Numeral (1 – 1000).
- العدد (1 – 1000) فقط
Candidates should be able to:
- recognise and count Arabic numerals from 1 to 1000 and identify the intricacies involved in their usage;
Our note
Arabic numbers are famous for their tricky agreement rules, which is why the objective mentions "the intricacies involved in their usage". Numbers 1 and 2 agree with the counted noun, but 3 to 10 take the opposite gender, and each band of numbers governs its تمييز (the counted noun) in a different case and number. Note that the Arabic heading limits the syllabus to 1–1000 only (فقط).
- The Arabic heading limits the range to 1–1000 only (فقط).
- واحد and اثنان agree in gender with the counted noun and come after it: كتابٌ واحدٌ.
- 3–10 take the opposite gender to the counted noun, which is plural genitive: ثلاثةُ رجالٍ، ثلاثُ نساءٍ.
- 11–19 are built on fatḥah and their تمييز is singular accusative: أحد عشر طالباً.
- 20–90 keep one form for both genders; their تمييز is singular accusative: عشرون طالباً.
- مائة and ألف take a singular genitive تمييز: مائةُ كتابٍ، ألفُ طالبٍ.
20. Active and passive voice.
- الفاعل و نائب الفاعل.
Candidates should be able to:
- distinguish between doer and doer-substitute and apply them in sentences;
Our note
In the active voice the doer (الفاعل) is mentioned and is always in the nominative. In the passive, the doer is deleted, the verb itself changes its vowels, and the old object steps up to take the doer's place as نائب الفاعل, also in the nominative. The exam usually gives you a sentence and asks you to convert it or to name the نائب الفاعل.
- الفاعل (doer) comes after its verb and is always مرفوع: كتبَ الطالبُ الدرسَ.
- In the passive the verb changes shape: كُتِبَ (perfect), يُكتَبُ (imperfect).
- The object then becomes نائب الفاعل and takes the nominative: كُتِبَ الدرسُ.
- The original doer is deleted and is never mentioned after the passive verb.
- الفاعل may be a visible noun or a hidden/attached pronoun: كتبتُ، كتبوا.
21. Subject and predicate.
- المبتدأ والخبر.
Our note
A nominal sentence (الجملة الاسمية) starts with a noun, المبتدأ, and is completed by المتخبر — the information given about it. Both are normally in the nominative case, and there is no verb "to be" in the present tense, so الطالبُ مجتهدٌ simply means "the student is diligent". This is the base structure that the نواسخ later modify.
- A nominal sentence begins with المبتدأ and is completed by الخبر.
- Both are normally مرفوع (nominative): الطالبُ مجتهدٌ.
- المبتدأ is normally definite; الخبر is normally indefinite.
- There is no present-tense verb "to be" — the two nouns stand together.
- The خبر may be a single word, a whole sentence, or a shibh jumlah (preposition + noun, or ظرف): الطالبُ في الفصل.
22. Nouns in the accusative
- منصوبات الأسماء:
- a. direct object.
- أ – المفعول به.
- b. adverbs of place and time.
- ب – المفعول فيه (ظرف).
- c. adverb of circumstance.
- ج – الحال.
- d. the exempted with illa.
- د – المستثنى بإلا.
- e. the specification.
- هـ - التمييز.
- f. the vocative.
- و – المنادى.
Candidates should be able to:
- identify different types of adverbial clause, the exempted, specification and the vocative and use them in standard Arabic;
Our note
منصوبات الأسماء is the list of noun positions that carry the accusative case (fatḥah or its substitutes). Six of them are named here: the direct object, the adverb of time/place, the circumstantial adverb, the excepted noun after إلا, the specification, and the called noun. Recognising which slot a noun is filling tells you immediately what its ending should be.
- منصوبات الأسماء are the noun positions that take the accusative case.
- المفعول به is the direct object: قرأتُ الكتابَ.
- المفعول فيه (ظرف) gives time or place: سافرتُ يومَ الجمعةِ، جلستُ أمامَ البيتِ.
- الحال describes the state of the doer or object and is indefinite: جاء الطالبُ مسرعاً.
- المستثنى بإلا is accusative in a complete affirmative sentence: حضر الطلابُ إلا زيداً.
- التمييز removes ambiguity (اشتريتُ رطلاً عسلاً); المنادى follows يا and is accusative when it is مضاف or indefinite non-specific.
Section D: Composition
Our note
Section D is the essay-writing part of the Arabic UTME paper: five questions drawn from everyday life and the candidate's environment, covering areas like education, culture, health, politics, economy, sports and current affairs. It tests whether you can actually write connected, natural Arabic — choosing the right words, using genuine Arabic idioms and proverbs, and getting your ideas across clearly.
Overview
- This section consists of five (5) questions on subjects relating to the lives and environment of the candidates, e.g. education, culture, health, politics, economy, sports and current affairs.
Candidates should be able to:
- use appropriate words for specific thoughts;
- use correct idiomatic expressions in Arabic;
- communicate effectively in Arabic;
- express ideas clearly in Arabic;
- demonstrate the use of common Arabic idioms and proverbs;
Our note
This is the composition (essay) section of the Arabic paper. Unlike the grammar section, where you are picking the correct form of a word, here you are judged on whether you can put Arabic together yourself and be understood. The five questions are deliberately drawn from things you already know about — school life, your culture, health matters, politics, the economy, sport, and things currently in the news — so the difficulty is the Arabic, not the subject matter. Practising by writing short pieces on these familiar themes, and building a stock of everyday vocabulary plus a few well-known idioms and proverbs, is the most direct way to prepare.
- Section D carries five (5) questions.
- The subjects come from the candidates' own lives and environment.
- Named example areas: education, culture, health, politics, economy, sports and current affairs.
- You must pick words that fit the exact idea you are expressing, not just any near-synonym.
- Correct Arabic idiomatic expressions are required — not word-for-word translation from English or a local language.
- Common Arabic idioms and proverbs must be shown in use, so learn a handful and where they fit.
- The overall test is clear expression and effective communication in Arabic.
Section E: Arabic Literature
Our note
Section E is the literature paper: ten questions on named Arabic writers and the specific poems, speeches, letters and books listed against each historical period. It runs from a general introduction to Arabic literature, through the Pre-Islamic, Islamic and Modern periods, and ends with Arabic literature written in West Africa.
Overview
- This section consists of ten (10) questions on notable literary figures and their works cutting across the various periods which include the following:
- a. أ – المدخل إلى الأدب العربي. Introduction to Arabic literature.
- - الأدب تعريفه وأقسامه وفنونه.
- - العصور الأدبية.
- - الشعر تعريفه وأنواعه وأغراضه.
- - النثر تعريفه وفنونه
- a. ب – العصر الجاهلي (حوالى 500 – 610 م ). The Pre-Islamic Period (500 – 610 C.E.).
- - الشنفرى ولاميته "أقيموا بني أمي صدور مطيكم # ".
- - أكثم بن الصيفي التميمي وخطبته عند كسرى "إن أفضل الأشياء...".
- b. ج – العصور الإسلامية (610 – 1798م). The Islamic Periods (610 – 1798 C.E.).
- - الحجاج بن يوسف الثقفي وخطبته الوعظية "أيها الناس قد أصبحتم في.".
- - علي بن أبي طالب وخطبته في الجهاد بالإخلاص
- - عبدالله بن المقفع ورسالته في معاملته الصديق وبدايتها "أبذل لصديقك ".
- - جرير بن عطية وقصيدته في مدح الخليفة عمر بن عبدالعزيز.
- c. د – العصر الحديث (1798م إلى اليوم). The Modern Period (1978 to date).
- - أحمد شوقي وقصيدته " العلم والتعليم وواجب المعلم"
- - جبران خليل جبران وقصيدته الموكب "الخير في الناس مصنوع ..."
- - عباس محمود العقاد وكتابه "اللغة الشاعرة"
- d. هـ - الأدب العربي في غرب إفريقيا. Arabic Literature in West Africa .
- - أسماء بنت الشيخ عثمان بن فودي وقصيدتها "أعيني جودا وابكيا لحبيبتي "
- - علي عبدالقادر العسلي وكتابه قصة عبث الطفولة"
- - محمد الأمين سامبوا غساما وقصيدته "الافتخار بالقارة الإفريقية العريقة "
- -آدم يحيى الفلاني وكتابه "أهل التكرور"
Candidates should be able to:
- identify the essence of Arabic literature; poetry, prose and their periods.
- identify pre-Islamic Arabic poetic and prosaic traditions and conventions;
- identify and analyse the style of figurative expressions contained in a given Islamic literature;
- describe the aesthetic features in literary texts and assess their modern cultural values;
- evaluate areas of successful use of Arabic as a medium of West African novel and drama, analyse their contents and describe their major characteristics and plots.
Our note
This is the literature part of the Arabic paper, and it is worth ten questions. Unlike the grammar sections, it is not about rules you apply — it is about specific named authors and specific named works that JAMB has listed, so the marks go to candidates who actually know who wrote what, when they lived, and what the piece is about. The section is organised by historical era: first a general introduction (what literature is, its branches, the literary ages, poetry and prose), then the Pre-Islamic age, then the Islamic ages, then the Modern age, and finally Arabic writing produced in West Africa. Treat the dashed lines under each era as your reading list, because the examiner draws questions from exactly those texts.
- Section E carries ten (10) questions, all on notable literary figures and their listed works.
- Five divisions: introduction to Arabic literature; the Pre-Islamic Period (500–610 C.E.); the Islamic Periods (610–1798 C.E.); the Modern Period (1798 to date); and Arabic Literature in West Africa.
- The introduction covers الأدب (definition, divisions, genres), العصور الأدبية (the literary ages), الشعر (definition, types, purposes) and النثر (definition, genres).
- Pre-Islamic set texts: al-Shanfara's Lamiyyah beginning "أقيموا بني أمي صدور مطيكم", and the speech of Aktham b. al-Sayfi al-Tamimi before Kisra beginning "إن أفضل الأشياء".
- Islamic period set texts: al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi's admonitory sermon "أيها الناس قد أصبحتم في", Ali b. Abi Talib's sermon on jihad with sincerity, Ibn al-Muqaffa's epistle on dealing with a friend "أبذل لصديقك", and Jarir b. Atiyyah's panegyric on Caliph Umar b. Abd al-Aziz.
- Modern period set texts: Ahmad Shawqi's "العلم والتعليم وواجب المعلم", Gibran Khalil Gibran's الموكب ("الخير في الناس مصنوع"), and Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad's book "اللغة الشاعرة".
- West African set texts: Asma bint Shaykh Uthman b. Fodio's poem "أعيني جودا وابكيا لحبيبتي", Ali Abd al-Qadir al-Asali's "قصة عبث الطفولة", Muhammad al-Amin Sambo Ghassama's "الافتخار بالقارة الإفريقية العريقة", and Adam Yahya al-Fulani's "أهل التكرور".
- Note the syllabus's own printing slip: the Modern Period is dated 1798م in the Arabic line but "(1978 to date)" in the English line — the Arabic date, 1798, is the one that fits the Islamic Periods ending in 1798.
Books JAMB recommends for Arabic
JAMB's own list, as its syllabus gives it.
- بشير أحمد محيي الدين و المرضي مختار المرضي٬ المطالعة الواضحة٬ ٬ كنو- نيجيىريا٬ شركة طن لامى وأبنائه.
- سيد حمرة مالك(2005م)٬ الإنشاء العربي المتوسط (للمدارس الثانوية)٬ إبادن٬ مطبعة الجامعة ب. ل. س.
- عبد الفتاح صبري وعلي عمر بك٬ القراءة الرشيدة٬ الجزء 1 – 4 ٬ القاهرة٬ دار المعارف.
- عبد الله الطيب٬ سمير التلاميذ٬ الجزء 1 – 2 ٬ الخرطوم٬ مكتب النشر.
- غرب ط. زاريا(1999م)٬ كيف تكتب الإنشاء٬ كنو- نيجيىريا٬ مطبعة جامعة بايرو.
- محمد الأول أبوبكر والآخرون٬ العربية الميسرة الجديدة للمرحلة الثانوية٬ إبادن٬ دار سبكترم للطباعة والنشر.
- محمد بديع شريف و سليم حكيم و الحاج حسين آدمو: العربية الجديدة فى نيجيريا٬ الكتاب 1-3 ٬ إكيجا- لاغوش٬ لونغمان.
- Adekilekun, A. L. A.: Learning Arabic Language, Ilorin.
- Balogun, I. A. B. and Oseni Z. I. (1982) A Modern Arabic Course Book 1 Lagos: Islamic Publications Bureau.
- Haywood, J. A. and Nahmad, H. M. (1965), A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language, London: Lund Humphries.
- Malik, S. H. A. (1982) A Guide to Arabic Composition, Books I & II, Lagos I.P.B.
- Arabic newspapers, magazines and journals.
- علي الجارم و مصطفى أمين٬ النحو الواضح لمدارس المرحلة الأولية٬ الجرء 1 – 3٬ القاهرة٬ دار المعارف٬.
- محمد أجروم الصنهاجي٬ متن الأجرومية٬ القاهرة.
- محمد محيي الدين عبد الحميد٬ التحفة السنية بشرح المقدمة الأجرومية٬ بيروت٬ دار الفكر.
- Haywood, J.A and Nahmad, H.M (1965), A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language, London: Lund Humphries.
- أحمد الاسكندري والآخرون٬ المفصل في تاريخ الأدب العربي٬ القاهرة٬ المعارف العمومية.
- زكريا حسين(2004م)٬ المأدبة الأدبية للطلاب العربية في أفريقيا٬ أوتثي٬ دار النور.
- عبد الله بن محمد بن فودي تزيين الورقات٬ إبادن٬ مطبعة جامعة إبادن.
- عبد الوهاب دنلاد شئث(2009م)٬ الشعر العربي النيجيري بين الماضي والحاضر٬ ولاية نيجر- نيجيريا٬ مطبعة بيك المحدودة.
- عيسى ألبي أبوبكر(الدكتور) ٬ ديوان الرياض٬ مدينة إيوو- نيجيريا٬ النهار.
- مرتضى بدماصي(1997م)٬ مستقبل اللغة العربية في نيجيريا٬ لاغوس٬ دار النشر الإسلامية .
- صديق فاروق أبو الرضا٬ مختارات من توجيهات المنبر للشيخ آدم عبد الله الإلوري٬ القاهرة٬ مطبعة المعرفة.
- محمد ثالث مي أنغو(2006م)٬ لماذا يكرهوننا٬ ط2 ٬ كنو٬ مطبعة سمباش .
JAMB's own copy of this syllabus is on its IBASS site. Practise JAMB Arabic past questions.