Questions & Answers about للمرأة قدمان صغيرتان.
How do we know there are "two" feet if the number two isn't in the Arabic sentence?
In Arabic, you don't need a separate word for "two". Instead, you add the dual suffix ـان to the end of a noun to show there are exactly two of them. Here, the singular noun قدم (foot) becomes قدمان (two feet).
Why does the adjective صغيرتان (small) have a ت (taa) before the dual suffix?
Adjectives must match their nouns in gender. In Arabic, body parts that come in pairs (like eyes, hands, and feet) are usually feminine. Because قدم is feminine, its adjective starts as صغيرة. To make it dual, you open the final taa marbuta (ة) into a regular ت and add the dual suffix ـان, resulting in صغيرتان.
There is no verb for "has" in this sentence. How does it mean "The woman has"?
Arabic doesn't have a direct verb for "to have". Instead, it frequently uses the preposition لـ (li), meaning "to" or "for". The phrase للمرأة literally means "To the woman [are]...", which is the standard way to express possession like "The woman has..." in Arabic.
Why is "the woman" written as للمرأة without an Alif (ا) at the beginning?