Question 1

This lesson is about the Proxy Subject. Where is the proxy subject for the passive verb شُكِّلَتْ in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Even though اللجنة (the committee) is the logical receiver of the action, in Arabic grammar, a subject or proxy subject must always come after its verb. Because اللجنة comes before the verb, the grammatical proxy subject of شُكِّلَتْ is actually a hidden pronoun (mustatir) meaning "it" that refers back to the committee.

Question 2

How do we know that شكلت is passive here, and how should it be pronounced?

Accepted Answer

Context is your best clue: a committee doesn't usually form things on its own; rather, it "is formed" by people. To make a past tense verb passive, the first root letter takes a damma (u) and the letter before the last root letter takes a kasra (i). Therefore, it is pronounced shukkilat. The final تْ (-at) is just the standard feminine marker to match the feminine noun اللجنة.

Question 3

Why is تدرس in the active voice while شكلت is passive?

Accepted Answer

These verbs describe two different relationships the committee has to the actions. The committee was the receiver of the first action (it was formed by someone else, hence the passive شُكِّلَتْ), but it is the active doer of the second action (it is currently doing the studying, hence the active تدرس).

Question 4

What is the core structure of this sentence with two verbs?

Accepted Answer

The core sentence is simply "The committee is studying the law" (اللجنة تدرس القانون). The word اللجنة is the main subject (mubtada) and the verb phrase تدرس القانون is the predicate (khabar) that completes the thought. The phrase التي شُكِّلَتْ is just a relative clause inserted in the middle to describe which committee we are talking about.

اللجنة التي شكلت تدرس القانون.

Breakdown of اللجنة التي شكلت تدرس القانون.

Questions & Answers about اللجنة التي شكلت تدرس القانون.

Learn اللجنة التي شكلت تدرس القانون and more in Arabic