Breakdown of عندما دفع الوديعة، كان له عقد إيجار.
الal
the
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
لli
for, to (attached)
كانkâna
to be
عندما'indamâ
when (not in questions)
دفعdafa'a
to pay
إيجارîjâr
rent
عقدaqd
contract
وديعةwadî'a
deposit
Questions & Answers about عندما دفع الوديعة، كان له عقد إيجار.
How does كان له translate to "he had"?
Arabic doesn't have a direct verb for "to have." Instead, it uses prepositions like لـ (to/for) or عند (with) plus a pronoun suffix. Here, له means "to him" (he has). To make it past tense, the verb كان (was) is placed before the prepositional phrase, literally meaning "there was to him," which translates smoothly into English as "he had."
What is the grammatical subject of كان (was) in this sentence?
The subject is actually the phrase عقد إيجار (a rental contract). When a sentence uses a prepositional phrase like له to show possession, the thing being owned acts as the subject and usually comes after the preposition. The literal structure here is "Was [to him] [a rental contract]."
Why doesn't either word in عقد إيجار (a rental contract) use the definite article الـ?
This two-word phrase is an Idafa (a possessive or noun-modifier construction), literally meaning "a contract of renting." In an Idafa, the first word (عقد) never takes الـ. Because the second word (إيجار) is also indefinite (it has no الـ), the entire phrase remains indefinite, which is why it translates to "a" rental contract.
The word for deposit is الوديعة. Does this share a root with other common words?
Yes, it comes from the root و-د-ع, which relates to leaving, entrusting, or placing something. You might already know another B1-level word from this same root: وداع (farewell or goodbye), which connects to the core idea of leaving or seeing someone off!
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