Breakdown of لماذا تفعل ذلك دائما؟
ذلكzâlika
that (masculine)
دائماdâ'iman
always
لماذاlimâdhâ
why
فعلfa'ala
to do
Questions & Answers about لماذا تفعل ذلك دائما؟
Does the question word لماذا (why) always have to go at the beginning of the sentence?
Yes, just like in English, question words like لماذا (why), كيف (how), and متى (when) usually go at the very beginning of the sentence. In Arabic, they are often placed directly before the verb, as in لماذا تفعل (why do you do).
How do we know who is doing the action in تفعل?
The verb تفعل (taf'alu) starts with a ت (ta-), which can mean either 'you (masculine singular) do' or 'she does'. Without more context, a direct question like this is usually speaking to 'you'. If you wanted to be absolutely clear that you meant 'she', you could add the pronoun هي (she) after the verb.
Why is the word ذلك used here instead of هذا?
ذلك (dhalika) means 'that' (masculine), while هذا (hadha) means 'this'. The speaker is referring to an action as 'that' thing you do. Because abstract concepts and actions are treated as masculine by default when referenced this way, we use ذلك.
What are the two little lines on top of the final letter in دائما?
That is a symbol called 'tanween fatha', which makes an '-an' sound. While you will learn more about it later, for now, just know that adding this '-an' ending is a common way to turn a describing word into an adverb (a word describing how or when something happens). It turns the word for 'lasting' into دائما (dā'iman), meaning 'always'.
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