Questions & Answers about أشهر العام سريعة.
The word for "months" here is أشهر. What is the singular form?
The singular is شهر (shahr). In Arabic, many words have "broken plurals" where the internal letters change, rather than just adding a regular plural suffix at the end. أشهر (ashhur) is the broken plural form you will see very often for "months".
Why is the adjective سريعة (fast) in the feminine singular form if we are talking about plural months?
This is a very important rule in Arabic: all non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular in grammar. Since أشهر (months) is a non-human plural, the adjective describing it, سريعة, must take the feminine singular form ending in the letter taa marbuta (ة).
The English translation says "The months", but أشهر doesn't have the definite article "al-" (ال). Why?
This is because "the months of the year" is a possessive chain (called an Idafa). In this structure, the first word (أشهر) is never allowed to have the "al-" prefix. It is understood as definite ("the months") automatically because it is attached to the definite second word, العام (the year).
Where is the word for "are" in this sentence?
Arabic nominal sentences do not use the verb "to be" (am, is, are) in the present tense. You simply place the subject phrase (أشهر العام, the months of the year) right next to its predicate (سريعة, fast) to make a complete sentence.
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