Breakdown of كل الموظفين هنا غير المدير.
الal
the
هناhunâ
here
موظفmuwazzaf
employee
مديرmudîr
manager
كلkull
all / every
غيرghayr
not, un- (before an adjective); other than
Questions & Answers about كل الموظفين هنا غير المدير.
Why does كل mean 'all' here instead of 'every' or 'each'?
When كل is followed by a definite plural noun like الموظفين (the employees), it means 'all of the'. If it were followed by an indefinite singular noun, it would mean 'every' or 'each' (for example, كل موظف means 'every employee').
Why is the word for employees الموظفين instead of الموظفون?
The word كل always creates a possessive or 'iDafa' relationship with the noun that follows it. In Arabic, the second word in this relationship must be in the genitive case. For regular masculine plural words, the genitive ending is -ين (-iin) rather than the nominative -ون (-uun).
I usually see إلا used for 'except'. Can I use غير like this?
Yes! While إلا is very common for 'except', غير is also frequently used to mean 'other than' or 'except'. The important difference is that غير behaves like a regular noun and forms an iDafa (possessive) relationship with the word after it, which forces the next word into the genitive case.
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