Questions & Answers about اقترع أولئك المواطنون أمس.
How do we know اقترع is a Form VIII verb, and what is its root?
It follows the Form VIII pattern افتعل (ifta'ala). The root is ق-ر-ع (q-r-'). To make Form VIII, we add an ا (alif) at the beginning and a ت (taa) right after the first root letter. That is how the root turns into اقترع (iqtara'a).
Why is the verb اقترع (he voted) singular when the subject is the plural 'citizens'?
In Arabic, when the verb comes before the explicit subject, it stays in the singular form. Since المواطنون (the citizens) is masculine, the verb takes the singular masculine form اقترع. If the sentence order was reversed, the verb would need to be plural: أولئك المواطنون اقترعوا.
Why does المواطنون (citizens) end in ـون (-uun) here?
It ends in ـون because it is the subject of the sentence (they are the ones doing the voting). Regular masculine plural nouns use ـون for the subject case (nominative), and ـين (-iin) when they are the object of a verb or when they follow a preposition.
I see a و (waw) in أولئك (those). Do we pronounce it?
No, the و in أولئك (ulā'ika) is silent. This word has a special historical spelling. It is pronounced 'u-laa-i-ka', which means there is also a 'hidden' long 'a' sound after the ل (lam) that isn't written with an alif.