Breakdown of كانت المدينة أسرع نموا بفضل شبكة المواصلات.
الal
the
مدينةmadîna
city
شبكةshabaka
network / web (spider's) / net (fishing)
كانkâna
to be
Questions & Answers about كانت المدينة أسرع نموا بفضل شبكة المواصلات.
Why do we use بفضل here instead of بسبب?
Both phrases express cause, but بفضل specifically translates to "thanks to." It is used when the cause leads to a positive outcome, like the city growing faster in this sentence. If the cause led to a neutral or negative outcome (like heavy traffic or pollution), you would use بسبب (because of) instead.
How does the Idafa (genitive construct) work after بفضل in this sentence?
The word بفضل acts as the first part of an Idafa. Here, it connects to another Idafa, creating a three-word chain: بفضل شبكة المواصلات (literally "by the grace of the network of transportation"). Because it is in the middle of the chain, شبكة does not take ال (the) and is in the genitive case. The final word المواصلات takes ال to make the entire phrase definite.
Why is the word for "growth" written as نموا with an alif and two fathas?
This is a grammar structure called Tamyeez (specification). In Arabic, after a comparative word like أسرع (faster), we use an indefinite noun in the accusative case (ending in the "-an" sound, written here with an alif) to specify in what exact way something is faster. So أسرع نموا literally translates to "faster in terms of growth."
Why is أسرع (faster) in the masculine form when it describes المدينة (the city), which is feminine?