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Questions & Answers about كم مرة حاولت؟
Why is مرة singular when the English translation says 'times' (plural)?
In Arabic, the question word كم (how many) must always be followed by a singular noun, even though it translates to a plural word in English. So instead of saying 'how many times', Arabic literally asks 'how many time'.
How should I pronounce the end of مرة in this sentence?
It is pronounced marratan. After كم (how many), the noun that follows it must take the 'accusative' case. For an indefinite word ending in a taa marbuta (the ة at the end), this means it gets an '-an' sound (tanween fatha) added to the end.
How do we know حاولت means 'you tried' and not 'I tried'?
The pronoun is built directly into the end of the past tense verb. حاولت can actually be read three ways depending on the short vowel on the final ت: ḥāwaltu (I tried), ḥāwalta (you tried, masculine), or ḥāwalti (you tried, feminine). Because this is a question directed at someone else, we know from context it must be 'you' (ta or ti).
Is حاولت in the past or present tense?
It is in the past tense. In Arabic, past tense verbs are formed by adding endings (suffixes) to the root word, like the ت we see here. Present tense verbs, on the other hand, usually have a prefix added to the beginning of the word.