Breakdown of كان عند جدي مذياع قديم.
قديمqadîm
old
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
عند'inda
at / to have
كانkâna
to be
Questions & Answers about كان عند جدي مذياع قديم.
How does كان عند translate to 'had'?
Arabic does not have a direct verb for 'to have'. Instead, you use a word like عند (with/at) to show present possession. To make it past tense ('had'), you simply put كان (was) in front of it. Literally, this sentence translates to: There was at my grandfather an old radio.
Why does the thing he owned, the radio (مذياع), come at the end of the sentence?
In sentences using كان for possession, the thing owned is technically the subject. However, because 'an old radio' is indefinite (a radio, not 'the' radio), Arabic grammar requires it to be pushed after the prepositional phrase عند جدي (at my grandfather).
Where is the word for 'my' in 'my grandfather'?
In Arabic, possessive words like 'my', 'your', or 'his' are attached as suffixes to the end of nouns rather than being separate words. The word for grandfather is جد. Adding the suffix ـي (which makes an 'ee' sound) makes it جدي (my grandfather).
Why do we use قديم instead of قديمة for 'old'?
قديم (old) is an adjective describing the radio (مذياع). Adjectives in Arabic must match the gender of the noun they describe. Since مذياع is a masculine noun, the adjective stays in its masculine form قديم without the feminine ـة ending.