Breakdown of اعترف المجرم بأن أخاه كان قد فتح الخزنة.
الal
the
هوhuwa
he / his / him (attached)
أخakh
brother
بbi
by, with (attached)
كانkâna
to be
أنanna
that (conjunction)
قدqad
already
فتحfataha
to open
اعترفi'tarafa
to confess
مجرمmujrim
criminal
خزنةkhazna
safe
Questions & Answers about اعترف المجرم بأن أخاه كان قد فتح الخزنة.
How do we form the Past Perfect "had opened" in this sentence?
To say "had opened" (an action completed before another past action), Arabic uses the past tense of كان (was) followed by قد and then the main verb in the past tense (فتح). Here, it shows that the brother opening the safe happened before the criminal actually confessed.
Why is there a بـ attached to أن in بأن? Doesn't أن already mean "that"?
Yes, أن means "that". However, the verb اعترف (to confess) is usually followed by the preposition بـ. When a verb requires a specific preposition, it stays there even before "that". So, "confessed that..." becomes اعترف بأن.
Why is the word for "his brother" written as أخاه instead of أخوه?
The word for brother (أخ) is one of a special group of nouns that change their long vowel to show their grammatical role. Because it comes right after أن (which forces the noun that immediately follows it into the accusative case), it takes an alif (أخا) instead of a waw (أخو). The ه at the end is just the attached pronoun "his".
What is the root of the verb اعترف (confessed) and how is it built?
The root is ع ر ف, which is the same root used for verbs about knowing or recognizing. This specific verb is in Form VIII, which you can spot by the extra alif at the start and the ت after the first root letter. The meaning shifts from simply "knowing" to internalizing it and "admitting" or "confessing".
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