Question 1

How does adding ما to شخص create the meaning of "someone" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

The word شخص simply means "a person". In Arabic, when you place the particle ما immediately after an indefinite noun, it adds the meaning of "some" or "an unspecified type of". Therefore, شخص ما translates directly to "some person" or "someone". You will see this same pattern used with other nouns, like مكان ما (somewhere).

Question 2

Why does the sentence use أجرى for "made" instead of a more basic verb like صنع or فعل?

Accepted Answer

In Arabic, certain actions require specific verbs to sound natural. While صنع means "to make" in the sense of physically manufacturing something, أجرى means "to conduct" or "to carry out". You do not "manufacture" or "do" a phone call in Arabic; rather, you "conduct" it. So, "to make a call" is always أجرى مكالمة.

Question 3

If I want to read this sentence aloud with full case endings, what ending does شخص ما take?

Accepted Answer

Since شخص is the subject doing the action (making the call), it takes the nominative case ending, which is a double damma pronounced as "-un". The particle ما is fixed and never changes its ending. Therefore, read aloud with case endings, it is pronounced شخصٌ ما (shakhṣun mā).

Question 4

Why is the word for "unknown" written as مجهولة with a taa marbuta (ة) at the end?

Accepted Answer

The word مجهولة is an adjective describing the noun before it, which is مكالمة (a call). Because مكالمة is a feminine noun (indicated by its own taa marbuta), the adjective must match its gender. If the "unknown" thing were a masculine noun, you would drop the ending and just use مجهول.

أجرى شخص ما مكالمة مجهولة أمس.

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