Breakdown of سافر أخي إلى مصر الأسبوع الماضي.
الal
the
إلىilâ
to
أخakh
brother
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
Questions & Answers about سافر أخي إلى مصر الأسبوع الماضي.
Why does the verb سافر come before the subject أخي?
In Modern Standard Arabic, the most common sentence structure is Verb-Subject-Object (VSO). So, it literally reads 'Traveled my brother to Egypt...'. You could also say أخي سافر (Subject-Verb), but starting with the verb is the standard, traditional way to report an action.
I've seen the word سفر for travel. How is سافر different?
سفر (safar) is a noun meaning 'travel' or 'a trip'. سافر (sāfara) is the past tense verb meaning 'he traveled'. They share the same three root letters (s-f-r), but adding that long 'a' sound after the first letter is a common way Arabic turns root words into verbs.
What does the ي at the end of أخي do?
The letter ي attached to the end of a noun is the possessive suffix for 'my'. The base word is أخ (brother), and adding the ي makes it أخي (my brother).
I noticed both الأسبوع (the week) and الماضي (past) start with ال (al-). Why is that?
In Arabic, an adjective must match its noun in definiteness (whether it has 'the' attached or not). Because you are talking about a specific week, the adjective must also take ال (al-). So, you are literally saying 'the week the past'. If you left ال off the second word, it would sound like a complete sentence: 'The week is past'.