Question 1

Why is the word for dollars (دولاراً) singular, and why does it have an extra alif at the end?

Accepted Answer

For numbers 11 through 99, Arabic always uses a singular noun, so you are literally saying "fifteen dollar". The extra alif at the end of دولاراً shows that the word is in the accusative case. Counted nouns after numbers 11-99 must always be both singular and accusative.

Question 2

How do masculine and feminine genders work in the numbers خمسة عشر (15) and ستة عشر (16)?

Accepted Answer

Numbers 13-19 have a quirky "split" personality. The word for dollar (دولار) is masculine. The first part of the number does the opposite and takes the feminine form (adding the taa marbuuta, making it خمسة or ستة). However, the second part, the "teen" (عشر), matches the noun and stays masculine.

Question 3

Both parts of the numbers خمسة عشر and ستة عشر end with an "a" vowel sound (fatha). Does this ending ever change depending on the sentence?

Accepted Answer

No! Numbers from 11 to 19 (with the exception of 12) are "frozen" or indeclinable. This means both words in the number will always end with that "a" sound (fatha), no matter what grammatical role they play in the sentence.

Question 4

Why isn't there an Arabic word for "of" in سعر هذا الهاتف (the price of this phone)?

Accepted Answer

This uses the Idafa (possession) structure, which links nouns together to show belonging. You just place the possessed item (سعر, price) right before the possessor (هذا الهاتف, this phone). The setup itself means "of," so no extra word is needed. Notice that سعر doesn't take "al-" (the) because the first word in this structure never does.

سعر هذا الهاتف خمسة عشر دولارا أو ستة عشر دولارا.

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