كِتَابٍa book

Example sentences

• وَغَيْرُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ كُلِّ كِتَابٍ أَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ،

  and other things from every book I can handle.

  كتاب — book. The noun counted by 'every', in the singular and genitive as that quantifier requires. Arabic pairs 'every' with a singular noun where English might expect a plural sense. It is the item the all-inclusive sweep ranges over.

  From: A Life of Reading and Writing →

• وَقَدْ تَجَاوَزَ عَدَدُ مُؤَلَّفَاتِهِ أَرْبَعَ مِئَةٍ كِتَابٍ

  The number of his authored works exceeded four hundred books.

  كِتَابٍ — books. The counted noun closing the number phrase, and Arabic puts the thing counted after 'hundred' in the singular even though the sense is plural — 'four hundred book', read as 'books'. The word's singular shape is dictated by the number grammar, not the meaning.

  From: A Life of Reading and Writing →