Breakdown of عنده كتب قديمة كثيرة.
كتابkitâb
book
قديمqadîm
old
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
عند'inda
at / to have
كثيرkathîr
many / a lot
Questions & Answers about عنده كتب قديمة كثيرة.
Why do the words for old (قديمة) and many (كثيرة) end in a feminine marker when they describe books?
This is a major rule in Arabic! Any plural noun that does not refer to humans is treated grammatically as a single female. Because كتب (books) is a non-human plural, it must take feminine singular adjectives like قديمة and كثيرة.
Why do both adjectives come at the very end of the sentence?
In Arabic, adjectives always follow the noun they describe. Since both قديمة (old) and كثيرة (many) describe the books, they simply line up one after the other right after the noun كتب.
The translation says 'He has', but I don't see a verb. How does عنده work here?
Arabic does not use a direct verb for 'to have'. Instead, it uses the word عند (meaning 'at' or 'with') combined with an attached pronoun. Here, it is attached to the suffix ه (him), making عنده. This literally means 'at him', which is how you say 'he has' in Arabic.
How did the word for book change into the plural كتب?
This is called a 'broken plural'. Instead of adding a regular plural suffix to the end of the singular word كتاب (book), the internal spelling and vowels change to make كتب (books). Broken plurals are very common and just need to be memorized as you learn new nouns.
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