Questions & Answers about المتجران مفتوحان اليوم.
Why do both المتجران and مفتوحان end with ـان instead of ـين?
This is a nominal sentence (a sentence without a verb) consisting of a subject and a predicate. Both of these parts must be in the nominative case. For dual words, meaning exactly two, the nominative case is marked by ـان. If they were the object of an action or followed a preposition, they would end in ـين instead.
Why does المتجران have the definite article الـ but مفتوحان does not?
In Arabic, a basic equational sentence works by making the subject definite, using الـ, and the descriptive part indefinite, without الـ. If both words had الـ, they would just form a descriptive phrase meaning 'the two open stores' rather than a complete sentence.
How can we tell if these dual nouns are masculine or feminine?
We can tell they are masculine because the dual suffix is exactly ـان. If the singular noun was feminine and ended in the typical feminine 'a' sound, the dual suffix would attach to that hidden 't' and become ـتان. Because we see المتجران rather than المتجرتان, we know the singular word متجر is masculine.
Why is there no Arabic word for 'are' here?
Arabic does not use a 'to be' verb like 'am', 'is', or 'are' in the present tense. Simply placing the definite subject المتجران right next to the indefinite adjective مفتوحان automatically creates the meaning that the two stores are open.
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