Breakdown of نشم رائحة الياسمين منذ دقيقة.
الal
the
دقيقةdaqîqa
minute
شمshamma
to smell
منذmundhu
since / for
رائحةrâ'iha
scent
ياسمينyâsamîn
jasmine
Questions & Answers about نشم رائحة الياسمين منذ دقيقة.
Why does the English translation say "we have been smelling", but the Arabic verb نشم is in the present tense?
In Arabic, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense verb along with منذ (since/for). English uses the present perfect continuous ("have been smelling"), but Arabic simply uses the present tense to say "we smell for/since..." (نشم ... منذ).
The translation says "for a minute". Could we use لمدة (for) instead of منذ here?
In this specific sentence, منذ is the best choice because the action is ongoing. لمدة is usually used when talking about a completed duration in the past or a planned duration in the future (like "I slept for a minute"). When the action continues into the present moment, you use the present tense + منذ.
Why doesn't رائحة (scent) have الـ (the) at the beginning, since we are saying "the scent"?
This is an Idafa (possession or "of" relationship) phrase: رائحة الياسمين (the scent of jasmine). In an Idafa, the first word (رائحة) never takes الـ (the), but it is still understood as a specific, definite thing because the second word (الياسمين) has الـ.
What is the base verb for نشم (we smell)?
The base verb is شم (he smelled / to smell). It is a "doubled" verb, meaning its root has two identical consonants at the end (sh-m-m). To make it "we smell" in the present tense, we just add the نـ prefix, giving us نشم.
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