Breakdown of كم شريطا كان عندكم للمذياع؟
كمkum
your (pl.) / you (pl., object)
لli
for, to (attached)
عند'inda
at / to have
كانkâna
to be
Questions & Answers about كم شريطا كان عندكم للمذياع؟
How do we say "did you have" in this sentence if there is no verb for "to have" in Arabic?
To express having something, Arabic uses a preposition like عند (at/with) plus an attached pronoun, making عندكم (with you all). To make it past tense, you simply place the past-tense verb كان (was) before it. Literally, this creates the meaning "was with you".
Why is the word for "tapes" (شريطا) singular and ending in "an" when the English translation is plural?
In Arabic, whenever you use كم (how many) to ask a question, the noun that immediately follows it must be singular, not plural! It also takes the accusative case, which adds the "-an" sound (written here with the two top dashes and an extra alif).
Why does the sentence use the "he/it" form of the verb "was" (كان) instead of conjugating it for "you" plural?
Because "you" is not the subject of the verb! The literal structure is "How much tape was with you?". The verb كان is matching the word شريطا (tape), which is grammatically a masculine singular word.
What is happening with the spelling of للمذياع (for the radio)?
This is a combination of the preposition لـ (for) and the noun المذياع (the radio). When you attach لـ to a word starting with the definite article ال (al-), the first letter (the alif) drops out completely in spelling. So, لـ plus المذياع becomes للمذياع (lil-midhyaa').