Questions & Answers about ذهب المريض إلى المستشفى.
Why do we use إلى with the verb ذهب in this sentence?
The preposition إلى means "to" or "towards." It is used with verbs of motion like ذهب (went) to introduce the destination. Just like in English, you pair "went" with "to" to show where the person is heading.
Why does the sentence start with the verb ذهب (went) instead of the person المريض (the sick person)?
In Arabic, the most common sentence structure is Verb-Subject-Object. It is completely natural to put the action before the person doing it, so this sentence literally reads "Went the sick person to the hospital."
The word for hospital, المستشفى, ends with what looks like a ي (yaa). Why is it pronounced with an "aa" sound?
That final letter is actually a special type of alif called an "alif maqsura" (broken alif). It is written like a ي but without the two dots underneath. Whenever you see it at the very end of a word, you pronounce it as a long "aa" sound.
Nouns after prepositions like إلى usually take a "kasra" (a short "i" sound) at the end. Why doesn't المستشفى sound like it has one?
You are right that prepositions usually change the ending of the next noun! However, because المستشفى ends in a long vowel (the alif maqsura), it cannot physically take a kasra sound at the end. Even though it is following a preposition, its pronunciation stays exactly the same: "al-mustashfaa".