The circumstantial accusative in traditional Arabic grammar is known as hāl (حال). A word in this syntactic role describes the circumstances under which an action takes place. The dependent word in the hāl relation will be found in the accusative case manṣūb (منصوب). Often the circumstantial word will be an active participle that depends on the verb, although other non-derived nouns may also be used as with (100:5:3) below:
| (100:5:3) collectively jamʿan | (100:5:2) thereby bihi | (100:5:1) Then penetrate (in the) center fawasaṭna |
Fig 1. Circumstantial accusative in verse (100:5).
The Circumstantial Accusative with Interrogatives
The word kayfa (كيف) may be used in an interrogative sense and take the position of a circumstantial accusative. In verse (89:6) below, the word (89:6:3) is related to its following verb through a hāl (حال) dependency:
| (89:6:6) with Aad, biʿādin | (89:6:5) your Lord rabbuka | (89:6:4) dealt faʿala | (89:6:3) how kayfa | (89:6:2) you see tara | (89:6:1) Did not alam |
Fig 2. Circumstantial accusative in verse (89:6).