How it works. The tamyīz ("specification") is a single noun in the accusative (with tanwīn fatḥ: -an) that tells you what kind of increase, comparison, or quantity is meant. English uses a preposition ("more in X") where Arabic uses the bare accusative.
The three classic uses:
Another example in this passage:
How it works (recap from Lesson 1). Arabic builds the passive voice by flipping the vowels of the verb. The doer disappears, and the thing acted upon takes the role of subject — the nāʾib fāʿil, in the nominative case.
In our quote, two passives sit side by side as a parallel pair:
Two more examples in this passage:
Why this line is striking. The writer puts two passive verbs in a balanced pair (fajwa tumlaʾu / arḍ tuzraʿu) — same syntactic shape, opposite meanings. The passive lets him focus on free time as a thing being acted upon, not on the person doing it.
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
تَصِفُ مَريَم طَريقَةَ قَضائِها لِوَقتِ الفَراغِ بِالصَّراحَةِ التّامَّةِ، فَتَعتَرِفُ أنَّها تَقضي الجُزءَ الأكبَرَ من يَومِها أمامَ شاشَةِ هاتِفِها، تَتَصَفَّحُ ساعَةً وَراءَ ساعَةٍ حتى تَزدادَ تَعَبًا وقَلَقًا. وبَعدَ مُنتَصَفِ اللَّيلِ تَكتَشِفُ أنَّها لم تُحَقِّق شَيئًا ذا قيمَةٍ، فَتَشعُرُ بِالنَّدَمِ. غَيرَ أنَّ هذا النَّدَمَ لا يَمنَعُها — كَما تَقولُ — من الرُّجوعِ إلى السُّلوكِ نَفسِهِ في الأُسبوعِ التّالي، وهو ما يَكشِفُ عن دَورَةٍ مُتَكَرِّرَةٍ يَعجَزُ المُراهِقُ عن كَسرِها وَحدَهُ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ٥–٧
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
يَرى الأُستاذُ عادِل أنَّ الهاتِفَ صُمِّمَ — منذُ البِدايَةِ — تَصميمًا مَدروسًا يَجعَلُهُ مَحبوبًا إلى نَفسِ صاحِبِهِ. ولِذلِكَ لَيسَ من العَجيبِ أن يَستَهلِكَ الوَقتَ استِهلاكًا كَبيرًا دونَ أن يَشعُرَ المُستَخدِمُ بِالأمرِ. ويُحَذِّرُ الأُستاذُ من النَّتيجَةِ بِعِبارَةٍ صارِمَةٍ: مَن تَنازَلَ عن وَقتِهِ كُلِّهِ لِلشّاشَةِ، فَقد تَنازَلَ عن نِصفِ حَياتِهِ. فَالمَسألَةُ — في نَظَرِهِ — لَيسَت مَسألَةَ ضَعفِ إرادَةٍ لَدى الفَردِ، بَل مَسألَةُ جيلٍ بِأكمَلِهِ يَعيشُ في مُحيطٍ مُصَمَّمٍ لِجَذبِ انتِباهِهِ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ٨–١٠
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
اقتَرَحَ الأُستاذُ ثَلاثَ خُطُواتٍ بَسيطَةٍ يَستَطيعُ أيُّ شابٍّ تَطبيقَها:
الخُطوَةُ الأولى: أن يُنَظِّمَ الشّابُّ وَقتَهُ تَنظيمًا واضِحًا في بِدايَةِ كُلِّ أُسبوعٍ، فَيُخَصِّصَ ساعَتَينِ يَوميًّا لِلهِوايَةِ، وساعَةً لِلقِراءَةِ، ونِصفَ ساعَةٍ لِلرِّياضَةِ.
الخُطوَةُ الثّانِيَةُ: أن يَستَبدِلَ بَعضَ وَقتِ الشّاشَةِ بِنَشاطٍ جَسَدِيٍّ، كَالمَشيِ أو السِّباحَةِ أو لُعبَةٍ جَماعِيَّةٍ مع الأصدِقاءِ.
الخُطوَةُ الثّالِثَةُ: أن يُجَرِّبَ — ولَو مَرَّةً واحِدَةً في الشَّهرِ — هِوايَةً جَديدَةً كُلِّيًّا، فَإنَّ من جَرَّبَ أمرًا جَديدًا، فَتَحَ لِنَفسِهِ بابًا لم يَكُن يَعلَمُ بِوُجودِهِ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ١٢–١٥
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
شَبَّهَ الأُستاذُ في خاتِمَةِ كَلامِهِ وَقتَ الفَراغِ بِشَيئَينِ مُتَقابِلَينِ في صورَةٍ مُتَوازِنَةٍ: نَفى أن يَكونَ «فَجوَةً تُملَأُ»، وأَكَّدَ أنَّهُ «أرضٌ تُزرَعُ». ولِكُلِّ صورَةٍ أثَرٌ بَلاغِيٌّ مَقصودٌ: فَالفَجوَةُ شَيءٌ سَلبِيٌّ يَنقُصُ ويُملَأُ بِلا فائِدَةٍ، أمّا الأرضُ فَهي شَيءٌ خِصبٌ يَنمو ويُعطي ثَمَرَةً بِشَرطِ العَمَلِ. وبِاستِخدامِ الفِعلَينِ المَجهولَينِ (تُملَأُ / تُزرَعُ) يُحَوِّلُ الكاتِبُ الانتِباهَ عن الفاعِلِ إلى الفِعلِ نَفسِهِ، فَيَجعَلُ القارِئَ يَشعُرُ أنَّ المَسألَةَ مَسألَةُ اختِيارٍ: كَيفَ تَستَخدِمُ وَقتَكَ؟ هل تَملَؤُهُ، أم تَزرَعُهُ؟
الشَّواهد: السَّطر ١٦
A problem, a person, and a plan. The article has a very clean three-part shape: paragraph 1 raises the question (free time — blessing or curse?); paragraphs 2–3 give us two witnesses (Maryam the student who's lost in the problem; Ustādh ʿĀdil the coach who diagnoses it); paragraph 4 gives three concrete steps; and paragraph 5 closes with a single striking metaphor (free time as land, not gap).
Why do you think the writer ends with a metaphor instead of just repeating the three steps as a summary? What does "land that is planted" do for the reader that "step 1, step 2, step 3" doesn't?
Top-band answers explain why the metaphor is doing more work than a summary:
This kind of question — analysing the writer's use of metaphor and parallel structure — sits squarely in Paper 1 Question 8 territory (10 marks). Top-band answers always name the technique AND explain its effect on the reader.
Ustādh ʿĀdil says: «الهاتف صُمِّم تصميما يجعله محببا إلى النفس» — "the phone was designed in a way that makes it loved by the self". In other words, he says the problem isn't just willpower — it's that the device is engineered to keep you hooked.
Do you agree? Do you think a teenager today can really break free of screen time on their own, or do they need help — from family, school, or even from the apps themselves (e.g. screen-time limits)?
Try writing two short Arabic sentences in answer: one starting with صُمِّمَ الهاتفُ (the phone was designed …) — passive verb; one with the structure أَزدادُ X-an كُلَّما Y (I grow more X-ly whenever Y) using a tamyīz. The first uses Grammar Note 2; the second uses Grammar Note 1.
40–55 minutes for a self-study learner. Can be split into two sessions (read text + vocab + translation in session 1; grammar + questions + craft in session 2).
The learner should already understand the elative pattern (afʿal "more X") since the tamyīz often follows it. The passive voice was introduced in Lesson 1 — this lesson reinforces it with a stronger and more rhetorical example (parallel passives). Lesson 2's cognate accusative is also helpful — the tamyīz and the cognate accusative look similar (both are nouns in the accusative) but are not the same: the cognate accusative is a masdar of the same verb; the tamyīz is an independent noun that names the kind of increase or comparison.
The text is written in the same house style as the Pearson Sample Assessment Materials Text 2 / Text 3 (practical / advice register). Anonymous-byline modern MSA article, ~295 words, with embedded direct speech from two named people. The two grammar notes target structures examiners flag year after year: the tamyīz (complex structure, three distinct uses regularly tested) and the passive voice (complex structure, examiner-flagged weak area).
This lesson closes Topic 1 (Youth Matters). Topic 2 (Education) — covered in the next lesson, Distance Learning, Between Benefit and Challenge — moves to the educational register and adds inna and its sisters as the basic-structure focus.