Breakdown of لن ينكسر الكوب إذا وضعته هنا.
الal
the
هناhunâ
here
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
وضعwadaʿa
to put
كوبkûb
cup
لنlan
will not
إذاidhâ
if
انكسرinkasara
to break (intransitive)
Questions & Answers about لن ينكسر الكوب إذا وضعته هنا.
How do we know ينكسر means the cup breaks by itself, rather than someone breaking it?
ينكسر is a Form VII verb, which is the focus of this lesson. In Arabic, Form VII verbs are built by adding the letters انـ to the root, and they often give a passive or reflexive meaning. While the basic Form I verb كسر means "to break something", Form VII انكسر means "to get broken" or "to break by itself".
What happens to the pronunciation of ينكسر because of the word لن before it?
The word لن (will not) makes the present tense verb that follows it take the subjunctive mood. For regular verbs like this one, it means the final vowel changes from a "u" (damma) to an "a" (fatha), making it ينكسرَ (yankasira) instead of ينكسرُ (yankasiru).
If the sentence is about the future, why is the verb وضعته (you put) in the past tense?
The conditional word إذا (if) is almost always followed by a verb in the past tense, even when talking about a future event. Arabic uses the past tense here to show that the condition (putting the cup) has to be fully completed before the result (breaking) can happen.
What is the purpose of the ـه attached to the end of وضعته?
The suffix ـه is the attached object pronoun meaning "it" (or "him"). In English, we say "if you put it here", and Arabic does exactly the same: وضعتَ (you put) plus ـه (it). It refers back to the masculine noun الكوب (the cup).
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