Breakdown of أعجبتنا المقابلة على التلفزيون.
الal
the
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
مقابلةmuqâbala
interview
تلفزيونtilifizyôn
television
أعجبa'jaba
to please (someone)
Questions & Answers about أعجبتنا المقابلة على التلفزيون.
Why does the word for 'we liked' begin with 'a'jabat' instead of a 'we' prefix?
In Arabic, the concept of liking is flipped. Instead of saying 'we liked the interview', you say 'the interview pleased us'. The word أعجبتنا breaks down into أعجبت (it pleased) and the attached pronoun نا (us).
Why does the verb use the feminine form أعجبت instead of the masculine أعجب?
Because the grammatical subject of the sentence is the thing doing the pleasing. Here, the subject is المقابلة (the interview). Since المقابلة ends in a taa marbuuta (ة) and is feminine, the verb must also take the feminine ending to match.
How would I change this sentence to say 'I liked the interview' instead of 'we liked'?
You just need to change the attached object pronoun at the end of the verb. Replace نا (us) with ني (me) to make it أعجبتني المقابلة (the interview pleased me).
Is it normal to use على (on) for television, or could I use في (in)?
Arabic matches English perfectly here! You use على (on) for being broadcast on television or the radio. Using في (in) would sound like something is physically inside the TV box.
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