Breakdown of عندي ثلاثة أجوبة وأربع نقاط.
وwa
and
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
عند'inda
at / to have
ثلاثةthalâtha
three
أربعةarba'a
four
جوابjawâb
answer
نقطةnuqta
point
Questions & Answers about عندي ثلاثة أجوبة وأربع نقاط.
Why does the number for "three" (ثلاثة) have a feminine ending, but the number for "four" (أربع) doesn't?
This is the rule of "reverse agreement" for numbers 3 to 10. To choose the gender of the number, you always look at the singular form of the noun it counts. The singular of أجوبة (answers) is جواب, which is masculine, so the number takes the feminine form ثلاثة. The singular of نقاط (points) is نقطة, which is feminine, so the number takes the masculine form أربع.
What grammatical form are the nouns أجوبة and نقاط in?
They are both plural nouns in the genitive case. Whenever you use numbers 3 through 10, the noun being counted must always be plural. أجوبة is the plural of جواب (answer), and نقاط is the plural of نقطة (point).
How is "I have" expressed here without using a verb?
Arabic usually expresses "to have" using a preposition instead of a verb. Here, we use عند (which means "at" or "with") plus the attached pronoun ـي (me). So عندي literally translates to "at me" or "with me", which is how you say "I have".
Why is the plural of نقطة (point) formed as نقاط instead of just adding a regular feminine plural ending?
Even though نقطة is feminine and ends in a taa marbuuTa, it does not use the regular feminine plural ending. Instead, it has a "broken plural" (نقاط) where the internal letters and vowels of the word change. Many Arabic nouns use broken plurals, and you just have to memorize them alongside the singular word.
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