Questions & Answers about الراتب لم يكف هذا الشهر.
Why is the verb يكف missing its final letter?
The verb for "to be enough" is normally يكفي ending in a weak letter (ي). However, the negative particle لم forces the verb that follows it into the jussive mood. For verbs ending in a weak letter, the jussive mood means we must drop that final letter completely, leaving just يكف.
How do I pronounce يكف now that the final ي is dropped?
Even though the long vowel letter ي is gone, the short vowel (kasra) that belongs to the letter ف remains. So you pronounce it "yakfi" with a short "i" sound at the end, not a long "ee" sound, and not stopping on a hard consonant "f".
If يكف is a present tense verb form, why does the sentence translate to "was not"?
The particle لم is a special negator in Arabic. It is always followed by a present tense verb (in the jussive mood), but it actually flips the meaning of the sentence into the past tense. So لم يكف translates as "was not enough" or "did not suffice".
Why is there an ال (al-) on the word for month in هذا الشهر?
In Arabic, when you want to say "this [noun]", the noun following the demonstrative هذا (this) must be definite, usually by adding ال. If you drop the ال and just say هذا شهر, the meaning changes into a complete sentence: "This is a month."