Breakdown of كان يجب أن نراجع مسودة العقد قبل أن نرسلها إلى العميل.
الal
the
إلىilâ
to
هاhâ
her / her (object) / it (feminine)
أرسلarsala
to send
قبلqabla
before
أنan
to (with verbs)
كانkâna
to be
يجبyajibu
must / has to
عقدaqd
contract
راجعrâja'a
to review
مسودةmusawwada
draft
عميلamîl
client
Questions & Answers about كان يجب أن نراجع مسودة العقد قبل أن نرسلها إلى العميل.
Why isn't كان conjugated to match 'we' if the sentence means 'We should have'?
The phrase كان يجب أن literally means 'it was necessary that'. The 'it' is an impersonal subject, so both كان and يجب stay in their default masculine singular forms. You show who should have done the action by conjugating the verb after أن, which here is نراجع (we review).
Why are نراجع (review) and نرسل (send) in the present tense when the English translation refers to the past?
The particle أن must always be followed by a present tense verb in the subjunctive mood. The past time frame of the whole sentence is already set by كان (was) at the very beginning. Because the past tense is already established, the verbs following أن just name the actions themselves without needing their own past tense.
In the word نرسلها (we send it), why is the attached pronoun feminine (ـها) if العقد (the contract) is masculine?
The pronoun refers back to the specific thing being sent: the مسودة (draft). Because مسودة is feminine, the attached pronoun must be feminine too, regardless of the masculine contract that it belongs to.
How do the case endings work in the phrase مسودة العقد (the draft of the contract) if I want to read it aloud?
This phrase is an Idafa (a possession or 'of' structure). The first word, مسودة, is the direct object of the verb 'review', so it takes the accusative case ending (a fatha). The second word, العقد, is the possessor in the Idafa, so it takes the genitive case ending (a kasra). Spoken fully with endings, it is pronounced muswaddata l-ʿaqdi.
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