Breakdown of تقف الممرضات خارج المستشفى.
الal
the
ممرضةmumarridah
nurse
مستشفىmustashfâ
hospital
وقفwaqafa
to stand; to stop (come to a halt)
خارجkhârija
outside
Questions & Answers about تقف الممرضات خارج المستشفى.
Why doesn't خارج need a preposition after it?
خارج (outside) is an adverb of place. In Arabic, these adverbs often act like the first part of a possession phrase (an Idafa). They connect directly to the noun that follows them, so you just say خارج المستشفى (literally: the outside of the hospital) without adding any extra prepositions.
Since "the nurses" is plural, why is the verb تقف in the singular "she" form?
When an Arabic sentence starts with the verb, the verb always stays singular, even if the subject is plural! Because الممرضات (the female nurses) is feminine, we use the singular feminine verb تقف (she stands) instead of a plural form.
How do we know الممرضات means plural nurses?
The ending ـات (-aat) is the regular plural ending for feminine words. The singular word for a female nurse is ممرضة (mumarriDah). To make it plural, you drop the feminine marker ة (taa marbuuTa) at the end and add ـات.
What is the last letter of المستشفى (the hospital)? It looks like a ي but has no dots.
That letter is called an alif maqsura (ى). Even though it looks similar to the letter yaa, the lack of dots tells you it is pronounced as a long "a" sound. Because of this, the word is pronounced "al-mustashfaa".
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