Question 1

How does كان يجب أن literally translate to give the meaning 'should have'?

Accepted Answer

يجب أن literally means 'it is necessary that'. To make it past tense ('it was necessary that' or 'should have'), we add كان (it was) at the beginning. Notice that يجب stays in the present tense; the كان is what shifts the entire obligation into the past.

Question 2

Why is the verb يرفض (reject) in the subjunctive mood here?

Accepted Answer

The subjunctive mood is triggered by the particle أن (that) immediately preceding it. For a regular present tense verb like this, the final vowel changes from a damma (u) to a fatha (a), making it يرفضَ (yarfuḍa).

Question 3

Could we put المدير (the manager) before the modal verb, like كان المدير يجب أن يرفض?

Accepted Answer

No, because يجب is an impersonal verb meaning 'it is necessary'. The manager is the subject of the rejecting (يرفض), not the subject of the necessity. Therefore, المدير must go after يرفض as its subject, or at the very beginning of the whole sentence as a topic.

Question 4

Why do we use لأن for 'because' here instead of بسبب?

Accepted Answer

We use لأن when the 'because' introduces a full sentence or clause (here, 'the financial loss was big'). بسبب means 'because of' and is only followed by a noun phrase. Keep in mind that لأن acts like إنّ and forces the noun right after it (الخسارة) into the accusative case.

Question 5

What case ending does كبيرة (big) take at the end of the sentence?

Accepted Answer

It takes the accusative case (mansub) with a fathatan (-an) ending, becoming كبيرةً (kabīratan). This is because it is the predicate of كانت (was), and the verb كان always makes its predicate accusative.

كان يجب أن يرفض المدير هذه الصفقة لأن الخسارة المالية كانت كبيرة.

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