Breakdown of أنا ما كسرت الزجاج!
الal
the
أناana
I
زجاجzujâj
glass
ماmâ
not (negating a past verb or a sentence)
كسرkasara
to break
Questions & Answers about أنا ما كسرت الزجاج!
Why is ما used for "not" here instead of لا?
In Arabic, ما is used to negate verbs in the past tense. While لا is typically used for present tense verbs, ما is exactly what you need before the past tense verb كسرت to mean "did not break".
If the verb كسرت already means "I broke", why is the word أنا (I) included at the beginning?
You actually do not need it to be grammatically correct, because ما كسرت الزجاج is a complete sentence on its own. Adding the pronoun أنا at the beginning just adds emphasis, much like stressing the word in English: "I wasn't the one who broke the glass!"
How does the verb كسرت show who did the action?
In the past tense, Arabic verbs change at the very end to show who did the action. The base word for "broke" is كسر (kasara). Adding the suffix ـت (tu) at the end makes it كسرت (kasartu), which means "I broke".
When saying the word for "the glass" (الزجاج), why don't I hear the "L" sound from the word "the" (ال)?
The letter ز (zay) is a "sun letter." When a word starts with a sun letter, the "L" sound in ال is skipped, and you blend right into the word by doubling that first letter. Because of this, it is pronounced "az-zujaj" rather than "al-zujaj".
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