Breakdown of اشترى المدير خمسا وعشرين دباسة.
الal
the
وwa
and
مديرmudîr
manager
خمسةkhamsah
five
اشترىishtarâ
to buy
عشرون'ishrûna
twenty
دباسةdabbâsa
the stapler
Questions & Answers about اشترى المدير خمسا وعشرين دباسة.
Why is the number twenty-five written as خمسا وعشرين instead of خمسة وعشرون?
This compound number is the direct object of the verb اشترى (bought), so it needs to be in the accusative case. The first part, خمسا, takes the accusative ending. The second part, the tens digit, must match this case, so it changes from the nominative عشرون to the accusative عشرين.
Why doesn't the word for five have a taa marbuta (ة) here?
This is because of gender polarity (reverse agreement) with numbers 3 to 9. The counted noun, دباسة (stapler), is feminine. Therefore, the ones digit of the number must take the masculine form, which is خمس (or خمسا in the accusative case here), dropping the feminine ة.
The English translation says staplers, so why is دباسة in the singular form?
In Arabic, any number from 11 to 99 must be followed by a singular, indefinite noun in the accusative case. Even though we translate it as plural in English, you will never use the Arabic plural noun after these compound numbers.
What is the extra alif (ا) doing at the end of خمسا?
It acts as the written support for the accusative case marker (tanween fatha). Because the masculine form of five doesn't end in a taa marbuta, we must add an alif when applying the ending to show it is the direct object of the sentence.
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