Breakdown of ماذا يعزف أولئك الفنانون؟
الal
the
ماذاmâdhâ
what (with verbs)
أولئكulâ'ika
those
فنانfannân
artist
عزف'azafa
to play (music)
Questions & Answers about ماذا يعزف أولئك الفنانون؟
Why do we use أولئك here instead of ذلك or تلك?
أولئك means 'those' and is used specifically for plural humans. Since الفنانون (artists) refers to a group of people, we must use أولئك. If we were talking about plural objects or animals, we would use the feminine singular تلك.
Since the artists are plural, why is the verb يعزف (he plays) in the singular form?
In Arabic, when the verb comes before the subject (like 'those artists' here), the verb stays in its singular form. It only matches the subject's gender, which is masculine. If the subject came first, you would use the plural verb يعزفون.
Why does الفنانون have the definite article ال (the) attached to it?
When a demonstrative pronoun like أولئك is followed immediately by the noun it points to, that noun must have ال. If you dropped the ال, the phrase would turn into a complete sentence meaning 'Those are artists' rather than just 'those artists'.
Why use ماذا for 'what' instead of ما?
We use ماذا because it is followed by a verb (يعزف). The word ما is also used for 'what', but it is generally used before nouns or pronouns.
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