Breakdown of قرأ كل شاب المعلومات.
قرأqara'a
to read
كلkull
all / every
شابshâbbun
young man / youth
معلومةma'lûma
information
Questions & Answers about قرأ كل شاب المعلومات.
Why does كل mean 'every' here instead of 'all'?
The meaning of كل changes depending on the word that comes right after it in the Idafa (possession) construction. Because شاب (young man) is singular and doesn't have the prefix 'al-' (the), كل translates to 'every' or 'each'. If the next word were plural with 'al-' (كل الشباب), it would mean 'all the young men'.
How does the Idafa construction work between كل and شاب?
Even though كل translates to 'every', grammatically it acts like the first part of an Idafa (a possessive phrase). It essentially 'owns' the second word. Following the rules of Idafa, the first word (كل) never takes 'al-' (the), and the second word (شاب) completes its meaning.
Why is the verb قرأ (read) at the very beginning of the sentence?
Arabic sentences typically follow a Verb-Subject-Object order. The action قرأ (read) comes first, followed by the doer of the action كل شاب (every young man), and finally the object that was read, المعلومات (the information).
The word for 'information', المعلومات, seems to have a plural ending. Is 'information' plural in Arabic?
Yes! While 'information' is an uncountable, singular concept in English, it is a regular plural noun in Arabic. The singular form is معلومة (a piece of information), and adding the feminine plural suffix ـات makes it المعلومات (the information).
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