Breakdown of ذهبنا إلى الساحة حيث المهرجان، وكانت مكتظة لدرجة أنني خفت.
الal
the
وwa
and
ذهبdhahaba
to go
إلىilâ
to
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
نيni
me
كانkâna
to be
مهرجانmihrajân
festival
خافkhâfa
to fear / to be afraid
ساحةsâha
square
حيثhaythu
where (in a relative clause, not a question)
لدرجة أنli-darajati anna
to the extent that
مكتظmuktazz
packed
Questions & Answers about ذهبنا إلى الساحة حيث المهرجان، وكانت مكتظة لدرجة أنني خفت.
How does لدرجة أنني work in this sentence to mean "so packed that I"?
The phrase لدرجة أنّ literally means "to the degree that" or "to the extent that". It is the standard way to express "so [adjective] that [result]". Because it ends with أنّ (that), it must be followed by a noun or an attached pronoun. Here, the pronoun suffix ـني (I/me) is attached, making it لدرجة أنني (to the extent that I).
Why are the verb كانت (was) and the adjective مكتظة (packed) in the feminine form?
They both refer back to الساحة (the square). Since الساحة ends in a taa marbuta (ة) and is grammatically feminine, the verb meaning "it was" must be the feminine كانت and the adjective describing it must be the feminine مكتظة.
Why is there no Arabic word for "was" in the phrase حيث المهرجان (where the festival was)?
The spatial conjunction حيث (where/in the place that) is often followed by a simple nominal sentence (a verbless noun phrase). The Arabic literally says "where the festival [is]". We naturally understand it as "was" in English because the main verb of the sentence, ذهبنا (we went), already establishes that the event happened in the past.
The dictionary form of the verb "to be scared" is خاف (khaafa). Why does it change to خفت (khuftu) here?
خاف is a "hollow" verb, meaning its middle root letter is a weak letter (an alif). In the past tense, when you conjugate a hollow verb for the "I", "we", "you", or "they (feminine plural)" pronouns, that middle long vowel drops out so that two unvoweled consonants do not clash. This rule changes خاف into خفت (khuftu).
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