Question 1

How do we form the exclamation "How great!" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

To express amazement or say "How [adjective]!" in Arabic, we use the pattern ما أفعلَ. Here, the adjective عظيم (great) changes into this pattern to become ما أعظم (how great). The word ما here does not mean "what" or "not" like it usually does; it acts as a special exclamation particle.

Question 2

If I am reading this aloud, what vowel goes on the end of قمة (peak)?

Accepted Answer

It takes a fatha (an "a" sound), so it is pronounced قمةَ (qimmata). In the ما أفعلَ exclamation structure, the thing you are amazed by always takes the accusative case, which means it ends with a fatha.

Question 3

Why is the masculine word الذي (that/which) used here when قمة (peak) is feminine?

Accepted Answer

The relative pronoun الذي refers back to the noun immediately before it, which is الجبل (the mountain). Since الجبل is masculine, we use الذي. If the sentence meant that the peak itself was in front of us, rather than the mountain, we would use the feminine التي.

Question 4

Why does قمة (peak) lack ال (the) at the beginning, even though the English translation says "the peak"?

Accepted Answer

This is because قمة الجبل (peak of the mountain) is an Idafa (a possessive or "of" relationship). In an Idafa construction, the first word never takes ال, but it is still understood as definite (meaning "the peak") because the second word, الجبل, has ال.

ما أعظم قمة الجبل الذي أمامنا!

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