Breakdown of اللاعب الذي فاز في المسابقة ممتاز.
فيfî
in / about, regarding
ممتازmumtâz
excellent
لاعبlâ'ib
player
الذيalladhî
the one who / which (m)
Questions & Answers about اللاعب الذي فاز في المسابقة ممتاز.
Why do we use الذي (who) instead of التي in this sentence?
الذي is the masculine singular relative pronoun. We use it here because it refers back to اللاعب (the male player). If the sentence was about a female player (اللاعبة), you would use the feminine form, التي.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
There is no word for "is" in the present tense in Arabic. The main subject of the sentence is the whole phrase "The player who won in the competition" (اللاعب الذي فاز في المسابقة). The word ممتاز (excellent) simply follows it as the description, and the "is" is understood naturally.
How does the verb فاز (won) match the rest of the sentence?
The verb that comes after الذي needs to match the noun it refers to. Because اللاعب is masculine and singular, we use the masculine singular past tense verb فاز (he won). If it were a female player, it would be التي فازت (who won).
Why do we say فاز في المسابقة (won in the competition) instead of just "won the competition"?
In Arabic, the verb فاز (to win) usually requires a preposition to connect it to the event or prize. You will commonly see it followed by في (in) or the prefix بـ (with), so you are literally saying "won in the competition."