Breakdown of يا بنات، هل فهمتن الدرس؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
بنتbint
girl
فهمfahima
to understand
Questions & Answers about يا بنات، هل فهمتن الدرس؟
Why does the verb end in ـتن (-tunna) instead of the more common ـتم (-tum)?
In Arabic, verbs must match the gender and number of the people you are talking to. Because the speaker is addressing a group of girls (بنات), you have to use the feminine plural "you" form of the past tense. The suffix for this is ـتن (-tunna). If you were talking to a group of boys or a mixed group, you would use فهمتم (fahimtum).
Do I always have to use يا (ya) when calling out to someone?
Yes! In Arabic, whenever you are directly addressing someone, you almost always use the calling particle يا (ya) before their name or title. You cannot just start the sentence with بنات (banat) the way you can just say "Girls" in English.
Why isn't there a separate word for "you" in this sentence?
In Arabic, you can usually leave out the subject pronoun (like "I", "you", or "we") because the verb's ending already tells you who is doing the action. The suffix ـتن (-tunna) built into فهمتن already means "you all (feminine) did". Adding the separate pronoun أنتن (antunna) before the verb is only done if you want to add strong emphasis.
Is بنات (banat) considered a regular plural?