Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

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'.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

This word combines the prefix بـ (with), the word 'the' (الـ), and 'knife' (سكين). When بـ attaches to a word starting with الـ, the 'a' sound of the 'alif' goes silent. Also, because س is a 'sun letter', the 'l' sound in الـ is skipped and the س sound is doubled. Therefore, the whole combination is pronounced 'bis-sikkeen'.

يا ولد، اغسل الخضار واقطعها بالسكين.

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