Question 1

How would I change this sentence to say "The two students walked to a school"?

Accepted Answer

You would add the dual suffix to الطالب (the student). Because the student is the subject (the one doing the walking), you must use the subject form of the dual suffix, which is ـان (-aan). So, "the two students" becomes الطالبان (al-taalibaan).

Question 2

If the student walked to "two schools", which dual suffix would I use for مدرسة?

Accepted Answer

Because the word مدرسة (school) comes right after the preposition إلى (to), it needs the object form of the dual suffix, which is ـين (-ayn). You also have to open up the curly taa marbuta (ة) into a regular, flat taa (ت) so you can connect the suffix. "To two schools" becomes إلى مدرستين (ila madrasatayn).

Question 3

Both مشى (walked) and إلى (to) end with a letter that looks like a dotless yaa (ى). What is this?

Accepted Answer

That letter is called an alif maqsurah (literally "broken alif"). Even though it looks like a ي, it is pronounced exactly like a regular ا (an "aa" sound). It is very common at the end of past-tense verbs like مشى (mashaa) and prepositions like إلى (ilaa).

Question 4

Why does the verb مشى (walked) come before الطالب (the student)?

Accepted Answer

In Arabic, putting the verb before the subject is the most standard word order. This is called a verbal sentence. You could also say الطالب مشى إلى مدرسة (Subject-Verb-Object), but starting with the verb (Verb-Subject-Object) is completely normal and preferred in Modern Standard Arabic.

Question 5

Why isn't there a word for "a" before مدرسة (school)?

Accepted Answer

Arabic doesn't have an indefinite article like "a" or "an". When a noun like مدرسة does not have the definite article الـ (al-) attached to the front of it, it is automatically understood as indefinite ("a school" instead of "the school").

مشى الطالب إلى مدرسة.

Breakdown of مشى الطالب إلى مدرسة.

Questions & Answers about مشى الطالب إلى مدرسة.

Learn مشى الطالب إلى مدرسة and more in Arabic