The five prayers

Adjectival Phrase


الصَّلَوَاتُ الْخَمْسُ


Meaning 


The five prayers



الصَّلَوَاتُ

this word means prayers. It is plural


الْخَمْسُ

this word means five


Together they form an adjectival phrase.

Note that in an adjectival phrase both words have Alif Laam at the beginning. This is because the noun must agree with its adjective in definiteness. If the noun has Alif Laam so must the adjective. If the noun does not have Alif Laam, then the adjective cannot have Alif Laam.


Also note that they both have dammah on the last letter. The adjective and noun must agree with one another in state. A word which has dammah on the last letter is said to be in the nominative case. The adjective has to be in the nominative case if the noun is in the nominative case.

If the noun is in the genitive case so must the adjective, and if the noun is in the accusative case so must the adjective.