Breakdown of سافرت بالقطار الثالث.
الal
the
سافرsâfara
to travel
بbi
by, with (attached)
قطارqitâr
train
ثالثthâlith
third
Questions & Answers about سافرت بالقطار الثالث.
Why is it "train the third" (القطار الثالث) instead of "the third train"?
In Arabic, ordinal numbers like "third" act as adjectives. In Arabic grammar, an adjective always comes after the noun it describes. That is why the sentence literally says "the train the third".
Why does the word for "third" (الثالث) have الـ (the) at the beginning?
Because ordinal numbers act like adjectives, they must match the noun they describe. Since "the train" (القطار) has the definite article الـ (the), the adjective "third" must also take الـ to become الثالث.
How does the word بالقطار (by the train) break down, and how is it pronounced?
It is made of the one-letter preposition بـ (bi-, meaning "by" or "with") attached directly to القطار (al-qiṭār, meaning "the train"). When بـ attaches to a word starting with الـ, the "a" sound of the الـ is silent, so you pronounce the combined word as "bil-qiṭār".
Where is the word for "I" in سافرت (I traveled)?
It is built directly into the verb! The base past-tense verb is سافر (he traveled). Adding the suffix ـت (pronounced with a "tu" sound) at the end changes it to the past tense for "I", making it سافرت.
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