Breakdown of يريد أن يحصل على وظيفة جديدة.
جديدjadeed
new
أرادarâda
to want
أنan
to (with verbs)
حصل علىhasala 'alâ
to obtain
وظيفةwazhîfa
job
Questions & Answers about يريد أن يحصل على وظيفة جديدة.
Why do we use أن between the two verbs?
In Arabic, when you connect two verbs to say 'wants to do something,' you use the particle أن (an). It acts like the English 'to' in 'wants to get.' However, notice that both verbs, يريد (he wants) and يحصل (he gets), are conjugated for 'he'. Arabic doesn't use an un-conjugated infinitive form here; it literally translates to 'He wants that he gets'.
I hear an 'a' vowel sound at the end of يحصل. Shouldn't present tense verbs end in a 'u' sound?
Normally, yes! But the particle أن (an) changes the grammar of the verb that immediately follows it. It forces the present tense verb to end with an 'a' sound (a Fatha) instead of the usual 'u' sound (a Damma). So, it is pronounced yaḥṣula instead of yaḥṣulu.
Why is the word على (on) in this sentence if the translation just says 'get a job'?
The verb يحصل means 'to get' or 'to obtain', but it almost always requires the preposition على ('alā) immediately after it to make sense. Think of يحصل على as a phrasal verb that you have to memorize together as a pair, similar to how we say 'look for' or 'listen to' in English.
Why does the adjective جديدة (new) have a taa marbuta (ة) at the end?
In Arabic, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word for job, وظيفة, is a feminine noun (which we can tell because it ends in that same taa marbuta, ة). Therefore, the adjective 'new' must also be in its feminine form, making it جديدة instead of the masculine form جديد.
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