Breakdown of قال الشاهد إن المتهم مذنب في هذه الجريمة.
الal
the
فيfî
in / about, regarding
هذهhâdhihi
this (f)
قالqâla
to say
إنinna
indeed / truly / that (after قال)
متهمmuttaham
defendant / accused person, suspect
شاهدshâhid
witness
مذنبmudhnib
guilty
جريمةjarîma
crime
Questions & Answers about قال الشاهد إن المتهم مذنب في هذه الجريمة.
Why do we use إن (inna) here instead of أن (anna) for "that"?
In Arabic, there is a strict rule: whenever you use the word "that" immediately after the verb قال (to say) or its variations, you must use إنّ (inna) with an "i" sound. For almost all other verbs, such as "I know that" or "I think that", you would use أنّ (anna) with an "a" sound.
How does إن affect the word المتهم (the defendant) that comes right after it?
إنّ (inna) changes the grammatical case of the noun immediately following it to the accusative case. This means the noun takes a "fatha" sound at the end instead of a "damma". If you read it with full vowel endings, it is pronounced المتهمَ (al-muttahama) instead of المتهمُ (al-muttahamu).
Could we change the word order after إن and say إن مذنب المتهم?
No, إنّ (inna) must always be followed by a noun or an attached pronoun because it specifically introduces a nominal sentence (a sentence starting with a noun). Here, المتهم (the defendant) is the noun that belongs to إنّ, and مذنب (guilty) is the predicate that gives us the actual information about him.
Why do we use هذه (this) instead of هذا for "this crime"?
The word for crime, الجريمة (al-jarima), ends in a "taa marbuta" (ة), which is the standard marker for feminine nouns. Therefore, we must use the feminine demonstrative pronoun هذه (hadhihi) to agree with it, rather than the masculine form هذا (hadha).
The English translation says "guilty in this crime." Why do we use في (in) instead of a word for "of"?
While English speakers usually say someone is guilty "of" a crime, Arabic uses the preposition في (fi), which literally translates to "in." Prepositions rarely translate perfectly word-for-word between languages, and it is very common in Arabic to use في when discussing a person's involvement in situations, topics, or crimes.
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