Word
لم تجد المحاسبة إلا واحدا وعشرين إيصالا.
Meaning
The accountant found only twenty-one receipts.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of لم تجد المحاسبة إلا واحدا وعشرين إيصالا.
الal
the
وwa
and
وجدwajada
to find / to exist, there is (passive)
واحدwâhid
one / the same, uniform
Questions & Answers about لم تجد المحاسبة إلا واحدا وعشرين إيصالا.
Why is the number one written as واحدا (wahidan) with an accusative ending here?
It is the direct object of the verb تجد (to find), answering what the accountant found. In Arabic compound numbers like 21, the first part (one) acts like a regular noun and takes the grammatical case of its role in the sentence. Since it is the direct object, it takes the accusative case (mansub) with a tanwin fatha.
Why is the word for twenty عشرين ('ishrin) instead of عشرون ('ishrun)?
In compound numbers from 21 to 99, the two parts are connected by the conjunction و (and). This means the second part (the tens) must match the grammatical case of the first part. Because واحدا is in the accusative case, the twenty must also be accusative. For tens (20, 30, 40...), the accusative and genitive ending is ـين (-in).
Why is the counted noun إيصالا (isalan) in the singular form when the English translation says 'receipts' in the plural?
The translation says 'found only', but I see the negative word لم (lam) and the word إلا (illa). How does this structure mean 'only'?