Breakdown of غسلنا كل شيء ما عدا السجاد.
الal
the
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
شيءshay'
thing
غسلghasala
to wash
كلkull
all / every
ما عداmâ 'adâ
except
سجادsajjâd
carpets
Questions & Answers about غسلنا كل شيء ما عدا السجاد.
Why must the word السجاد be in the accusative (mansub) case here?
In this structure, ما عدا acts as a past tense verb meaning 'it excluded' or 'it bypassed'. Therefore, the excepted noun, السجاد, is treated as the direct object of that verb. Direct objects require the accusative (mansub) case, meaning the word must end with a fatha (as-sajjāda).
What does the ما in ما عدا do? Can I leave it out?
The ما is a particle that locks the word عدا into acting strictly as a verb. If you drop the ما and just say عدا السجاد, the word عدا can act as either a verb or a preposition, meaning the noun after it could be either accusative or genitive. By using ما عدا, you only have one grammatical choice: it must take an accusative noun.
How do we pronounce the grammatical endings on كل شيء here?
It is pronounced kulla shay'in. The word كل (kulla) takes a fatha because it is the direct object (mansub) of the verb غسلنا (we washed). The word شيء (shay'in) immediately follows كل, making it the second part of a possession structure (mudaf ilayh), so it must take the genitive (majrur) case with a double kasra at the end.
Is السجاد singular or plural?
السجاد is a collective noun meaning 'carpets' as a general group or category. If you wanted to specify just one single carpet, you would add a taa marbuta to the end to form the singular noun: سجادة (sajjāda).
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