I’rab Cases: Marfuʻ, Mansub, Majrur

What is I’rab?

I’rab (إِعْرَاب) is the Arabic system of case endings. Every noun, adjective, and present-tense verb in classical Arabic carries a small vowel mark — or longer suffix change — at its end, signalling its role in the sentence. That ending is its case.

Arabic is a word-order-flexible language. The same three words can be reordered without changing who did what to whom — because the case endings themselves carry the role information. Once you can read I’rab, you stop relying on word order and start reading the language the way it was designed to be read.

Nouns and adjectives use three cases: Marfuʻ (nominative), Mansub (accusative), and Majrur (genitive). Verbs use a parallel three-case system — Marfuʻ (indicative), Mansub (subjunctive), and Majzum (jussive) — covered in the verb-mood lessons.

The three cases at a glance

Need every case ending across singular, dual, and plural in one place? See the Case Endings Chart.

Marfuʻ — the case of the subject

Marfuʻ (مَرْفُوع, "raised") marks the actor or topic of a sentence. Use it for:

• The mubtada’ (subject) and khabar (predicate) of a nominal sentence — both are Marfuʻ.
• The fāʿil (subject) of a verbal sentence.
• The ism kāna — the noun governed by kāna and her sisters.
• The khabar inna — the predicate of inna and her sisters.

Marfuʻ is signalled by a ḍamma in the singular, by ـَانِ in the dual, and by ـُونَ in the sound masculine plural. Walk through the full pattern in L2.04: The Nominative Case (Marfuʻ).

Mansub — the case of the object

Mansub (مَنْصُوب, "set up") marks the receiver of an action and a handful of specialized roles. Use it for:

• The direct object (mafʿūl bihi) of a verb.
• The khabar kāna — the predicate after kāna and her sisters.
• The ism inna — the noun after inna and her sisters.
• The ḥāl (circumstantial accusative) and tamyīz (specification).
• The mafʿūl muṭlaq (absolute object) and mafʿūl li-ajlih (causal accusative).

Mansub is signalled by a fatḥa in the singular, ـَيْنِ in the dual, and ـِينَ in the sound masculine plural. The accusative is the workhorse of Arabic syntax — see L2.05: The Accusative Case (Mansub) and the advanced accusatives in Level 4 (Ḥāl, Tamyīz, Mafʿūl Muṭlaq).

Majrur — the case after prepositions and in idafa

Majrur (مَجْرُور, "dragged") marks two things: any noun following a preposition, and the second noun in an idafa (possessive) construction. Use it for:

• Any noun preceded by a preposition (مِن, إِلَى, عَن, عَلَى, في, بِ, كَ, لِ, etc.).
• The muḍāf ilayhi — the second noun in any idafa chain.
• An adjective or apposition following a Majrur noun (case agreement).

Majrur is signalled by a kasra in the singular, ـَيْنِ in the dual, and ـِينَ in the sound masculine plural — note that dual and sound masculine plural use the same form for Mansub and Majrur. Read more in L2.06: The Genitive Case (Majrur), L2.07: Prepositions & the Genitive, and L2.08: Possessive Idafah.

How to read I’rab in any verse

Once you know the triggers, parsing a verse becomes mechanical. Use this 4-step routine on every word:

1. Identify the part of speech — noun, verb, particle, or pronoun. Particles and pronouns don't take I’rab the same way; nouns and verbs do.
2. Find what's governing it — is there a preposition before it? An idafa? Is it the subject of a verb? The object of a verb? Inside an inna structure?
3. Apply the case rule — preposition → Majrur; direct object → Mansub; subject → Marfuʻ. The ending should match.
4. Confirm with the marker — read the actual vowel/suffix on the word. If it matches your prediction, you’ve correctly parsed it.

Practice this in L5.01: Full I’rab Analysis and across the word-by-word surah breakdowns — every word is parsed with its full I’rab justification.

Recommended learning path

1. L1.10: Case Endings Introduction — the gentle first pass at what those vowel marks are doing.
2. L2.04: Marfuʻ — full treatment of the nominative case, with all the markers.
3. L2.05: Mansub — accusative, with all of its triggers.
4. L2.06: Majrur — genitive, plus L2.07 and L2.08 for the two main triggers.
5. L2.10: Inna and her sisters + L2.11: Kāna and her sisters — these particles flip case assignments and are everywhere in the Quran.
6. L5.01: Full I’rab Analysis — the capstone where you combine everything to parse complete verses.