Breakdown of نحن نلعب كرة التنس نهارا.
الal
the
نحنnahnu
we
لعبlaiba
to play
كرةkura
ball
تنسtinis
tennis
نهارnahâr
daytime
Questions & Answers about نحن نلعب كرة التنس نهارا.
Why does the word نهارا have an extra Alif at the end?
The base word for "day" or "daytime" is نهار. Here, it's acting as an adverb of time meaning "during the day." In Arabic, indefinite words used as adverbs take the accusative case. For most words, this is shown by adding an "-an" sound to the end, which requires adding an extra Alif (ـا) in writing, making it نهارا.
Is the Alif at the end of نهارا pronounced like a long "aa" sound?
No, it is pronounced as "-an" (nahaaran). The Alif here is just a written "seat" for the double vowel marker (called tanween). It tells you that the word is in the indefinite accusative case, but it doesn't stretch out the vowel like a normal Alif does.
Why does the sentence use كرة التنس instead of just التنس?
In Arabic, "tennis" is usually expressed as كرة التنس, which literally means "the ball of tennis." Arabic uses the word كرة (ball) in the names of most ball sports, similar to how we say "basketball" or "football" in English.
We already have نحن for "we". Why does the verb نلعب also start with نـ?
In Arabic, present tense verbs must always match the subject by using specific prefixes. The prefix نـ is the marker for "we." Even though the pronoun نحن is present, the verb still requires its matching prefix. Because نلعب clearly means "we play" all on its own, you could actually drop نحن entirely and just say نلعب كرة التنس نهارا!
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