JAMB Arabic syllabus.

About this syllabus official

Summarised from the examining body's own published syllabus. 30 topics, verified 2026-10-24.

Current UTME syllabus as served by IBASS on 2026-10-24; JAMB does not print the applicable years in this document.

Structure (sections, topics, contents and objectives) summarised from JAMB's publicly published UTME syllabus, with citation and link. The document itself is not reproduced or redistributed.

Source: https://ibass.jamb.gov.ng/e-syllabus

Source: https://ibass.jamb.gov.ng/static/media/Arabic.233fe7117fc534609a6e.pdf

General objectives

• answer comprehension questions correctly in standard Arabic
• translate simple texts from English to Arabic and vice versa
• apply the rules of Arabic grammar functionally
• appreciate Arabic literary texts within the contexts of their environment and eras
• use Arabic as a living world language in communication where necessary

Topics

1. Comprehension (SS 1-3)

• a passage of seventy (70) words with five multiple-choice questions
• content within the candidates' experience, e.g. current affairs, sports, education, politics, economy, health, culture and ethics

You should be able to:

• use appropriate words or phrases for specific thought
• deduce the lesson in the passage
• determine the main theme of the passage
• give an appropriate title to the passage
• interpret the meanings of particular words

2. Translation (SS 1-3)

• ten questions: five English into Arabic, five Arabic into English
• translation into English includes key words and phrases in a sentence
• based on standard Arabic and English usages

You should be able to:

• use an appropriate Arabic word or phrase to convey the meaning of an English word or phrase
• determine an appropriate English word or phrase for an Arabic statement
• interpret idiomatic expressions in both Arabic and English
• transfer ideas expressed in Arabic to English and vice versa
• communicate effectively in Arabic and English

3. أسماء الإشارة والموصولة والشرط والاستفهام — Demonstrative, relative pronouns, conditional and interrogative (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• identify the various forms of demonstrative and relative pronouns

4. المذكر والمؤنث — Gender (masculine and feminine) (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• compare gender markers in Arabic

5. علامات الاسم — Characteristics of noun (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• identify the characteristics of Arabic nouns

6. المثنى — Dual (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• differentiate between singular and dual forms of nouns

7. الجموع — Plurals (SS 1-3)

• جمع المذكر السالم — sound masculine plural
• جمع المؤنث السالم — sound feminine plural
• جمع التكسير — broken plural

You should be able to:

• construct plural forms of singular nouns

8. المضاف والمضاف إليه — Construct phrase (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• identify construct phrases and their usages

9. الضمائر المنفصلة والمتصلة — Separable and inseparable pronouns (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• differentiate between separable and inseparable pronouns

10. التوابع — Appendants (SS 1-3)

• النعت — adjective
• العطف — conjunction
• البدل — the permutative
• التوكيد — emphasis

You should be able to:

• identify correct usage of adjectives, conjunctions, permutative and emphasis in Arabic sentences

11. حروف الجر والنصب والجزم — Prepositions (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• apply correct preposition particles in a given sentence

12. الفعل اللازم والفعل المتعدي — Transitive and intransitive verbs (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• differentiate between transitive and intransitive verbs and use them in sentences

13. الفعل الماضي — The perfect verb (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• identify the perfect verbs and their forms

14. فعل المضارع — The imperfect verb (SS 1-3)

• المرفوع — the indicative
• المنصوب — the subjunctive
• المجزوم — the jussive

You should be able to:

• identify the imperfect verbs and their grammatical words in sentences

15. فعل الأمر — The imperative verb (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• identify the imperative verbs and their forms

16. النواسخ — The modifiers (SS 1-3)

• كان وأخواتها — Kana and its associates
• إن وأخواتها — Inna and its associates
• ظن وأخواتها — Zanna and its associates

You should be able to:

• identify the kinds of modifiers and apply them in Arabic usage

17. الفعل الثلاثي المجرد والمزيد فيه — Trilateral and derived verb (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• differentiate between trilateral and derived verbs

18. المصدر — Verbal noun (SS 1-3)

19. المشتقات — Derivatives (SS 1-3)

• اسم الفاعل — active participle
• اسم المفعول — passive participle
• اسم التفضيل — comparative/superlative
• اسم الآلة — noun of instrument
• اسما الزمان والمكان — nouns of time and place
• اسم النسبة — relative adjective
• اسم المبالغة — hyperbole noun

You should be able to:

• identify the types of derivatives

20. الجملة الشرطية — Conditional sentence (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• apply the rules governing conditional sentences, identify, construct and differentiate them in normal sentences

21. العدد (1 – 1000 فقط) — Numeral (1–1000) (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• recognise and count Arabic numerals from 1 to 1000 and identify the intricacies involved in their usage

22. الفاعل ونائب الفاعل — Active and passive voice (SS 1-3)

You should be able to:

• distinguish between doer and doer-substitute and apply them in sentences

23. المبتدأ والخبر — Subject and predicate (SS 1-3)

24. منصوبات الأسماء — Nouns in the accusative (SS 1-3)

• المفعول به — direct object
• المفعول فيه (ظرف) — adverbs of place and time
• الحال — adverb of circumstance
• المستثنى بإلا — the exempted with illa
• التمييز — the specification
• المنادى — the vocative

You should be able to:

• identify different types of adverbial clause, the exempted, specification and the vocative and use them in standard Arabic

25. Composition (SS 1-3)

• five questions on subjects relating to the lives and environment of the candidates, e.g. education, culture, health, politics, economy, sports and current affairs

You should be able to:

• use appropriate words for specific thoughts
• use correct idiomatic expressions in Arabic
• communicate effectively in Arabic
• express ideas clearly in Arabic
• demonstrate the use of common Arabic idioms and proverbs

26. المدخل إلى الأدب العربي — Introduction to Arabic literature (SS 1-3)

• الأدب: تعريفه وأقسامه وفنونه
• العصور الأدبية
• الشعر: تعريفه وأنواعه وأغراضه
• النثر: تعريفه وفنونه

You should be able to:

• identify the essence of Arabic literature: poetry, prose and their periods

27. العصر الجاهلي — The Pre-Islamic Period (500–610 C.E.) (SS 1-3)

• الشنفرى ولاميته "أقيموا بني أمي صدور مطيكم"
• أكثم بن الصيفي التميمي وخطبته عند كسرى "إن أفضل الأشياء..."

You should be able to:

• identify pre-Islamic Arabic poetic and prosaic traditions and conventions

28. العصور الإسلامية — The Islamic Periods (610–1798 C.E.) (SS 1-3)

• الحجاج بن يوسف الثقفي وخطبته الوعظية "أيها الناس قد أصبحتم في..."
• علي بن أبي طالب وخطبته في الجهاد بالإخلاص
• عبد الله بن المقفع ورسالته في معاملته الصديق وبدايتها "ابذل لصديقك"
• جرير بن عطية وقصيدته في مدح الخليفة عمر بن عبد العزيز

You should be able to:

• identify and analyse the style of figurative expressions contained in a given Islamic literature

29. العصر الحديث — The Modern Period (1798 to date) (SS 1-3)

• أحمد شوقي وقصيدته "العلم والتعليم وواجب المعلم"
• جبران خليل جبران وقصيدته الموكب "الخير في الناس مصنوع..."
• عباس محمود العقاد وكتابه "اللغة الشاعرة"

You should be able to:

• describe the aesthetic features in literary texts and assess their modern cultural values

30. الأدب العربي في غرب إفريقيا — Arabic Literature in West Africa (SS 1-3)

• أسماء بنت الشيخ عثمان بن فودي وقصيدتها "أعيني جودا وابكيا لحبيبتي"
• علي عبد القادر العسلي وكتابه "قصة عبث الطفولة"
• محمد الأمين سامبوا غساما وقصيدته "الافتخار بالقارة الإفريقية العريقة"
• آدم يحيى الفلاني وكتابه "أهل التكرور"

You should be able to:

• evaluate areas of successful use of Arabic as a medium of West African novel and drama, analyse their contents and describe their major characteristics and plots