Word
في البداية، كان العمل صعبا.
Meaning
At first, the work was difficult.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about في البداية، كان العمل صعبا.
Why is there an extra alif at the end of صعبا (difficult)?
In Arabic, the verb كان (was) changes the grammatical case of the word describing the subject. While the subject العمل (the work) stays in the default nominative case, the descriptive word صعب (difficult) is forced into the accusative case. For indefinite words, this is marked by adding a double "a" sound (tanwin fath) and a supportive "alif" at the end, transforming صعب into صعبا.
Why does the verb كان (was) come before the subject العمل (the work)?
This is standard Arabic word order. While English uses Subject-Verb order ("The work was..."), Arabic strongly prefers Verb-Subject order. Since كان functions as a verb, it naturally comes right before the noun it applies to.
The word البداية is feminine. Why isn't the verb feminine (كانت)?
Because البداية (the beginning) is not the subject of the sentence! The phrase في البداية (in the beginning / at first) just sets the time and background. The actual subject performing the action is العمل (the work). Since العمل is a masculine noun, it takes the masculine verb كان.
Can I literally translate في البداية as "in the beginning"?
Yes! Literally, في means "in" and البداية means "the beginning". This exact phrase is the standard way in Arabic to express what we typically call "at first" or "initially" in English.