Questions & Answers about رأيت عشرين عاملا هناك.
Why is the word for "twenty" عشرين instead of عشرون?
In Arabic, the "tens" numbers (20, 30, 40, etc.) change their ending based on their role in the sentence, exactly like regular masculine plural nouns. Because "twenty" is the direct object of the verb رأيت (I saw), it is in the accusative case. Therefore, it takes the ـين (-iin) ending instead of the default ـون (-uun) ending.
Why is the word for "workers" written as the singular عاملا when the translation is plural?
This is a special rule for Arabic numbers. When you count things using numbers from 11 to 99, the counted noun must always be singular. So, even though you mean "twenty workers", you grammatically use the singular word for worker (عامل).
Why does عاملا have an extra "alif" at the end?
That extra alif is there to hold the "an" sound (tanween fatha) which marks the accusative case. The grammar rule for numbers 11 to 99 is that the counted noun must not only be singular, but also indefinite and in the accusative case.
I remember the verb for "he saw" is رأى. Why does it change to رأيت here?
رأى is a "weak" verb because it ends in a weak letter (the alif maqsoora, ى). When you conjugate it for "I" in the past tense by adding the suffix ـتُ, that weak letter opens up into a regular "yaa" (ي), making it رأيتُ (ra'aytu).
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