Breakdown of الشرطة ما ضربته، وما أخذت المال.
الal
the
وwa
and
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
مالmâl
money
ماmâ
not (negating a past verb or a sentence)
أخذakhadha
to take
شرطةshurta
police
ضربdaraba
to hit / to beat (eggs)
Questions & Answers about الشرطة ما ضربته، وما أخذت المال.
Why do we use ما to say 'did not' instead of لا?
In Arabic, ما is used to negate actions in the past tense. Since hitting and taking happened in the past, we use ما before the past tense verbs ضربت and أخذت. You might remember from earlier lessons that لا is generally used to negate present tense verbs.
Why are the verbs ضربت and أخذت in the feminine singular form when 'police' implies a group of people?
Look at the Arabic word for police, الشرطة. It ends with a taa marbuuTa (the ـة), which makes it a feminine singular noun in Arabic grammar, even though it refers to a group in English. Because the police is the subject doing the action, the verbs must match it by taking the feminine singular ending ـت.
Where is the word for 'him' in the first part of the sentence?
It is attached directly to the end of the verb. The word ضربته is made of the past tense verb ضربت (she/it hit) plus the attached object pronoun ـه (him).
Why don't we repeat the word 'police' or use a separate word for 'they' before taking the money?
Arabic verbs already contain the subject within them. The verb أخذت literally means 'she/it took'. Since we just established الشرطة as our feminine singular subject in the first half, the built-in subject of the second verb is enough to tell us who did not take the money.
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