Breakdown of هما يتشابهان في الذكاء كثيرا.
فيfî
in / about, regarding
كثيرkathîr
many / a lot
هماhumâ
they (two)
تشابهtashâbaha
to resemble each other
Questions & Answers about هما يتشابهان في الذكاء كثيرا.
Why does يتشابهان start with a ya- prefix? Does this tell us the gender of the two people?
Yes! While the pronoun هما means they two for both males and females, the present tense verb changes. Because it starts with يـ (ya-), we know it refers to two males or a mixed pair. If it were two females, the verb would start with تـ (ta-) and be تتشابهان. The ـان (-an) suffix tells us it is dual.
What does the ـن (nuun) at the very end of يتشابهان do?
The final ـن shows that this present tense dual verb is in the indicative mood, which is the default state for present verbs. If we added a negative particle like لن (will not) before the verb, this ـن would be dropped, making it لن يتشابها.
The translation says they resemble each other. Where does the each other part come from?
This is built into the verb's pattern. This verb belongs to Form VI, which you can often recognize by a تـ (ta-) near the beginning and a long ـا (alif) in the middle of the word. Form VI verbs usually carry a reciprocal meaning, meaning the subjects are doing the action to or with one another.
Why does كثيرا have the double fatha (tanwin fatha) at the end?