Questions & Answers about شاهد المريض خمسة عشر طبيبا.
Why is the word for "doctors" singular (طبيبا) when there are fifteen of them?
In Arabic, when you count things from 11 up to 99, the counted noun must be singular. It also takes the accusative case, which is why طبيبا (a doctor) has the "-an" ending written with an extra alif. So literally, the sentence says "fifteen doctor."
Why does the number fifteen (خمسة عشر) have a feminine first half and a masculine second half?
For numbers 13 to 19, the first part of the number takes the opposite gender of the noun being counted, while the second part عشر (ten) matches the noun's gender. Because the counted noun طبيبا (doctor) is masculine, the "five" part is feminine (خمسة) and the "ten" part is masculine (عشر).
Both parts of the number end in a fatha (short "a" sound). Is that because it's the object of the sentence?
Not exactly! Numbers 11 through 19 (except the number 12) have fixed endings in Arabic. Both parts of the number will always end in a fatha regardless of their grammatical role. They will look exactly like خمسة عشر whether they are the subject, the object, or coming directly after a preposition.
Why does the sentence start with "saw" (شاهد) instead of "the patient" (المريض)?
This is the standard word order in Arabic verbal sentences: Verb - Subject - Object. The verb شاهد (saw) comes first, followed by the subject who did the action (المريض), and finally the object they saw (خمسة عشر طبيبا).