Questions & Answers about يبدأ الفيلم قريبا.
I learned that قريب means "near". How does it mean "soon" here?
قريب means "near" in terms of space or time. When we add the "-an" sound to the end, making it قريبا, it turns the adjective into an adverb of time. It literally means "shortly" or "in the near future," which we translate as "soon."
Why is there an extra alif at the end of قريبا?
Why does the verb يبدأ come before the noun الفيلم?
In Arabic, sentences very often start with the verb. This is called a "verbal sentence" and is the standard way to structure a sentence in Formal Arabic. You could say الفيلم يبدأ قريبا and be understood, but putting the verb first sounds more natural.
How do we know يبدأ is in the present tense?
The letter يـ (ya-) at the very beginning is a present-tense prefix. It tells us that the action is happening now (or will happen), and that the subject doing the action is a masculine "he" or "it" (since الفيلم is a masculine word).
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