- Ma’rifa Definite noun - defined/specified
- for e.g. her son, his daughter
- a definite noun is either
- a ‘name’ (e.g. Muhammad) or
- a thing with ‘al’ (the) before it (e.g. the pen).
- specific noun is called ‘ma’rifa’
- Nakira - Indefinite - undefined/unspecified
- a man, a woman
- the tanwin at the end of a word (fathatain, kasratain, dhammatain) at the end of the word
- this is equivalent to the letter ‘a’ before a word in english