Breakdown of يا بنت، اطبخي الخضار دقيقة.
الal
the
بنتbint
girl
خضارkhudâr
vegetables
ياyâ
O
طبخtabkh
to cook
دقيقةdaqîqa
minute
Questions & Answers about يا بنت، اطبخي الخضار دقيقة.
Why does the command اطبخي end with a ي?
Because you are speaking to a female ('girl'). In Arabic, when giving a command to one female, you add the suffix ـي (-i) to the end of the base verb. If you were speaking to a male, it would just be اطبخ (utbukh).
How do I know what vowel sound to use for the first letter of اطبخي?
The first letter is a 'helper' vowel used to make the command easier to pronounce. For this verb, it makes a 'u' sound (utbukhi). A helpful trick: if the present tense of the verb has a 'u' sound in the middle, the helper vowel for the command will also be 'u'!
The translation says 'for a minute,' but I only see the word دقيقة (a minute). Where is the word 'for'?
In Arabic, you often do not need a preposition like 'for' to express how long an action takes. You just use the noun for the amount of time directly! Here, دقيقة on its own tells us the action lasts 'for a minute.'
Is it rude to address someone as يا بنت ('O girl')?
It might sound a bit blunt in English, but in Arabic, using the calling word يا (ya) before a noun like بنت (girl) or ولد (boy) is the standard and natural way to get someone's attention.
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