Breakdown of أين الطلاب الذين تخرجوا من هذه الجامعة؟
أينayna
where
الal
the
طالبtâlib
student
هذهhâdhihi
this (f)
Questions & Answers about أين الطلاب الذين تخرجوا من هذه الجامعة؟
Why do we use الذين here instead of الذي?
الذين is the plural relative pronoun ("who" or "that") used specifically for groups of human males or mixed groups. Since الطلاب (the students) is a plural referring to humans, we must use الذين. If it were just one male student, we would use الذي.
If the noun was a non-human plural, like "the books", would we still use الذين?
No! In Arabic, non-human plurals are treated as grammatically feminine singular. So if you were talking about "the books that...", you would use the singular feminine relative pronoun التي, not الذين. الذين is strictly for humans.
Why is there an extra alif (ا) at the very end of the verb تخرجوا?
The verb تخرجوا (they graduated) ends with the "waw of plural" (وا) to match the plural subject الطلاب. The final alif is simply a silent spelling rule in Arabic used after this plural waw at the end of verbs. It is not pronounced.
Why does it say هذه الجامعة instead of just هذه جامعة?
To say "this university" as a single connected phrase, the noun following the demonstrative هذه (this) must have the definite article الـ (al-). If you drop the الـ and say هذه جامعة, it changes the phrase into a complete sentence meaning "This is a university."