Question 1

Why is the verb اتصل (call) in this specific form?

Accepted Answer

اتصل is the singular imperative (command) form used when giving an order to one male, which matches because you are speaking to يا أخي (my brother). If you were speaking to a female, like your sister, you would add a ي at the end and say اتصلي.

Question 2

Why is the prefix بـ attached to the word for police (الشرطة)?

Accepted Answer

In Arabic, the verb for calling someone on the phone (اتصل) requires the preposition بـ (with/by) to connect it to the person or place being called. You are literally telling your brother to "contact with the police".

Question 3

Do I have to use يا here, or can I just start the sentence with أخي?

Accepted Answer

You need to use يا. In English, we can just say "My brother, call..." or "John, call...". In Arabic, whenever you are directly addressing someone to get their attention, you almost always use the calling particle يا (similar to "O" or "Hey"). Leaving it out sounds quite unnatural.

Question 4

How do I pronounce بالشرطة with the بـ and الـ attached together?

Accepted Answer

You pronounce it as "bish-shur-ta". When you add the prefix بـ to a word starting with الـ (the), the "a" sound of the الـ is skipped because it's not at the beginning of the sentence. Furthermore, the letter ش is a "sun letter", meaning it swallows the "l" sound of the الـ. So you jump straight from the "b" sound into a doubled "sh" sound.

يا أخي، اتصل بالشرطة الآن.

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