Questions & Answers about الخطأ ليس كبيرا.
Why does كبيرا have an extra alif at the end?
It is because of the word ليس (is not). When you negate a sentence with ليس, the describing word that follows it changes to the accusative case. For most words, this means adding an 'an' sound at the end, written with two top dashes and a silent alif. So, كبير (big) becomes كبيرا.
Why do we use ليس here instead of لا to mean 'not'?
We use ليس because this is a nominal sentence, meaning it links a noun to a description without using an action verb. ليس is specifically used to mean 'is not' in these types of sentences. On the other hand, لا is usually used to negate action verbs, like saying 'I do not go'.
If the subject was feminine, would ليس stay the same?
No, ليس acts like a verb and must match the gender of the subject. Because الخطأ (the mistake) is masculine, we use ليس. If the subject were feminine, like المشكلة (the problem), we would need to use the feminine form ليست.
How do I know الخطأ is masculine?
It does not have the typical feminine tied T (ة) at the end. Even though it ends with a hamza sitting on an alif (أ), it is a standard masculine word. You can also tell it is being treated as masculine here because it is paired with the masculine words ليس and كبيرا.