ABSTRACT
The kernel or basic sentence in Arabic is either subject + predicate or verb + agent. The terms 'subject' and 'predicate' will be used when dealing with predication generally, and 'topic' and 'comment' when the emphasis is on the three -member structure, contrasting with the two-member 'equational sentence ('Arabic has no specific term for the latter: it falls under 'nominal sentence'). In the case that the subject and predicate are the same word, English uses a dummy replacement ('one') for the second occurrence, but in Arabic the noun is repeated. Predicates agree in number and gender with their subjects and the agreement rules are the same as those for adjectival modifiers regarding human, non-human plurals and collectives. The topic is a noun with the same required definiteness as the subject of an equational sentence. Inversion with verbal sentences is rare and mostly restricted to preposing of direct and other objects or phrases in highly rhetorical contexts.
