Breakdown of أطلق التطبيق الجديد أمس.
الal
the
جديدjadeed
new
أمسams
yesterday
تطبيقtatbîq
application / app
أطلقatlaqa
to launch
Questions & Answers about أطلق التطبيق الجديد أمس.
How do we know أطلق is passive here if there are no vowel marks?
Context is your main clue. The active Form IV past tense is أَطْلَقَ (aṭlaqa - he launched), and the passive is أُطْلِقَ (uṭliqa - was launched). Since an app cannot launch something on its own, it must be the receiver of the action, so we read it as the passive أُطْلِقَ.
What case ending does التطبيق take in this sentence?
It takes a nominative Damma, becoming التطبيقُ (at-taṭbīqu). When a verb is made passive, the original object of the sentence takes over the empty subject slot. It becomes the proxy subject and therefore takes the nominative case, just like a regular subject.
Does the adjective الجديد also change its case because of the passive verb?
Exactly! Because الجديد (the new) is an adjective modifying التطبيق, it must copy its noun's case. Since the passive voice pushed the app into the nominative subject role, the adjective also takes a Damma, becoming الجديدُ (al-jadīdu).
If I wanted to add who launched the app, how would I say 'by the company' in this sentence?
In traditional Arabic grammar, you cannot include the doer in a passive sentence. If you want to mention who did it, you must switch back to the active voice: أطلقت الشركة التطبيق (The company launched the app). You will sometimes see modern news translate 'by' as من قبل, but using the active voice is much more natural and grammatically correct.
Why does التطبيق mean 'app'?
It comes from the root ط ب ق. It is the verbal noun for the Form II verb طَبَّقَ (ṭabbaqa), which means 'to apply' or 'to put into practice'. So التطبيق literally translates to 'the application', which is exactly what a software app is!
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