Question 1

How do we know there are "two" feet if the number two isn't in the Arabic sentence?

Accepted Answer

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).

Question 2

Why does the adjective صغيرتان (small) have a ت (taa) before the dual suffix?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

There is no verb for "has" in this sentence. How does it mean "The woman has"?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

Why is "the woman" written as للمرأة without an Alif (ا) at the beginning?

Accepted Answer

The standalone word for "the woman" is المرأة. However, there is a special spelling rule: when you attach the preposition لـ (li) to any word starting with the definite article الـ (al-), the Alif (ا) is dropped entirely. So, لـ plus المرأة combines to form للمرأة.

للمرأة قدمان صغيرتان.

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