Breakdown of في المطعم نادلان اثنان فقط.
فيfî
in / about, regarding
مطعمmat'am
restaurant
اثنانithnân
two
نادلnâdil
waiter
فقطfaqat
only
Questions & Answers about في المطعم نادلان اثنان فقط.
If نادلان already means 'two waiters', why do we add the word اثنان (two)?
In Arabic, the dual suffix ـان (-aan) on the end of a noun is usually enough to say there are two of something. Adding the actual number اثنان (two) right after it is used for emphasis. It stresses that there are exactly two waiters, which works together with the word فقط (only) at the end of the sentence.
How does the number اثنان (two) agree with the noun here?
For the numbers 1 and 2, the Arabic number acts like an adjective and must match the noun in gender. Since نادل (waiter) is masculine, we use the masculine form for two, which is اثنان. If we were talking about two female waitresses, we would use the feminine form اثنتان.
The English translation says 'There are', but I don't see a word for that in the Arabic sentence. Why?
Arabic doesn't have a direct word-for-word equivalent for 'there is' or 'there are'. Instead, when you want to say 'there is X in Y', you often just start with the location phrase في المطعم (in the restaurant) and follow it with the subject نادلان (two waiters). Literally, it translates to 'In the restaurant [are] two waiters'.
Why does فقط (only) come at the very end of the sentence?
In Arabic, the word فقط comes after the word or phrase it modifies, rather than before it like in English. Here, it emphasizes the quantity 'two waiters', so it is placed immediately after that phrase: نادلان اثنان فقط (literally: 'two waiters only').
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