Word
يمكن للأطفال أن يروا الساحر والبهلوان.
Meaning
The children can see the magician and the acrobat.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about يمكن للأطفال أن يروا الساحر والبهلوان.
Why does the word for "the children" start with two lams (للأطفال)?
The verb يمكن (it is possible) is an impersonal verb. Arabic expresses "the children can" as "it is possible for the children". The preposition لـ (for) attaches directly to الأطفال (the children). When لـ attaches to a word with the definite article الـ, the first letter (alif) of the article is dropped, turning لـ + الأطفال into للأطفال (lil-atfaal).
Why is يمكن in the singular form when the sentence is about multiple children?
Because يمكن is an impersonal verb here, literally meaning "it is possible". It doesn't conjugate to match the children. It always stays in this default singular form. The children are introduced by the preposition لـ, and only the second verb (يروا, to see) is conjugated in the plural to match them.
Why is the verb "to see" written as يروا instead of its normal plural form يرون?
The particle أن forces the verb following it into the subjunctive mood. For plural verbs that normally end in ـون (like يرون), the subjunctive is formed by dropping the final ن (noon) and replacing it with a silent alif. This changes يرون to يروا.
Could I use the verb استطاع (to be able to) in this sentence instead of يمكن?