Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): يا ولد، اغسل الخضار واقطعها بالسكين. - O boy, wash the vegetables and cut them with the knife.

يا ولد، اغسل الخضار واقطعها بالسكين.yâ waladu, ughsili al-khudâra waqta'ha bis-sikkîni.

O boy, wash the vegetables and cut them with the knife.

Breakdown of يا ولد، اغسل الخضار واقطعها بالسكين.

her / her (object) / it (feminine)

Questions & Answers about يا ولد، اغسل الخضار واقطعها بالسكين.

Both 'wash' and 'cut' are commands. How can I tell they are directed at a boy?

In Arabic, commands (imperatives) change depending on who you are talking to. Because we are talking to a single male (ولد), the verbs end in a consonant with no extra suffix: اغسل (wash) and اقطع (cut). If we were talking to a girl, we would add the suffix ـي at the end to make اغسلي and اقطعي.

Why is the vowel sound at the start of 'cut' skipped when we add 'and' (واقطعها)?

The commands اغسل and اقطع start with a special kind of 'alif' that helps you pronounce the word. When the word is at the beginning of a phrase, you pronounce this alif with a vowel (like 'ighsil'). But when another word or prefix comes right before it, like the 'and' (و) in واقطعها, that vowel sound is skipped. You just blend the words together and pronounce it 'wa-qta-haa'.

'The vegetables' (الخضار) is plural, so why does 'cut them' use the suffix ـها (-haa), which usually means 'her' or 'it'?

This is a very common Arabic rule: all non-human plurals are treated as grammatically feminine singular. Since vegetables are non-human, the pronoun attached to the verb to mean 'them' must be the feminine singular ـها, rather than a plural pronoun like ـهم.

How does the spelling and pronunciation work for 'with the knife' (بالسكين)?