Question 1

Why does the verb يأكل end in a fatha sound (ya'kula) instead of the usual damma (ya'kulu)?

Accepted Answer

Because it directly follows لكي (so that). This particle indicates purpose and requires the present tense verb that follows it to be in the subjunctive mood. For a standard verb like يأكل, the subjunctive is marked by changing the final damma (u) to a fatha (a).

Question 2

The word for 'the elderly' is plural, so why is the verb يأكل in the singular form instead of the plural يأكلون?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic rule of Arabic word order. When the verb comes before an explicit subject, it stays singular even if the subject is plural (it only needs to match the gender). Because المسنون is masculine, the verb uses the singular masculine form يأكل.

Question 3

Why do the words طعاما and مجانيا have an extra alif at the end?

Accepted Answer

These words make up the direct object of the sentence ('free food'), which means they must be in the accusative case. Since they are indefinite (no الـ at the beginning), they take the '-an' sound ending. In Arabic writing, this double fatha almost always requires adding an extra alif at the end of the word to hold it.

Question 4

Why does the word for 'the elderly' end in ـون (-uun) here, rather than ـين (-iin)?

Accepted Answer

المسنون is the subject of the second half of the sentence (they are the ones eating). The subject of a verb is always in the nominative case. For regular 'sound' masculine plurals, the nominative case is marked with the ـون (-uun) ending. If they were the object of a verb instead, you would see the accusative ـين (-iin) ending.

نوزع طعاما مجانيا لكي يأكل المسنون.

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