Question 1

Why is the pronoun هن used here instead of هم?

Accepted Answer

هن (hunna) is the specific pronoun for 'they' when referring exclusively to a group of females. If the group was all male, or a mix of males and females, you would use the default pronoun هم (hum).

Question 2

Why does the verb يشربن start with ي instead of ت? I thought feminine verbs used ت.

Accepted Answer

This is a common mix-up! While the singular 'she' (هي) takes the prefix ت (ta-), the third-person plural 'they' (feminine) actually uses the prefix ي (ya-). The feminine plural meaning is created by combining that ي prefix with the suffix ـن (-na) at the end of the verb.

Question 3

What is the purpose of the ـن at the end of يشربن?

Accepted Answer

That suffix is known as the 'women's nun' (nun al-niswa). It is a special ending attached to verbs to indicate that the subject doing the action is a group of three or more females. You will spot this exact same ـن suffix on past tense verbs for feminine plurals, too.

Question 4

Why do we use لا to mean 'don't' here instead of ليس or ما?

Accepted Answer

In Modern Standard Arabic, لا (la) is the standard way to negate a present tense verb like يشربن. You would generally use ما (ma) to negate past tense verbs, and ليس (laysa) to negate nominal sentences (sentences that don't have an action verb).

هن لا يشربن القهوة.

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