Breakdown of كان الصائغ قد اشترى لؤلؤا لامعا.
الal
the
اشترىishtarâ
to buy
كانkâna
to be
قدqad
already
صائغsâ'igh
jeweler
لؤلؤlu'lu'
pearls
لامعlâmi'
shiny
Questions & Answers about كان الصائغ قد اشترى لؤلؤا لامعا.
How does the combination of كان and قد اشترى work here?
This structure forms the past perfect tense, which translates to 'had bought.' You create it by pairing the past tense of 'to be' (كان) with the word قد (already) and another past tense verb (اشترى). It shows that the jeweler bought the pearls before some other event in the past.
Why do both لؤلؤا and لامعا end with an extra alif?
Why is the adjective لامعا (shiny) in the singular form when the translation says 'pearls'?
The word لؤلؤ is a collective noun, referring to pearls as a general material or group rather than countable individual items (a single pearl would be لؤلؤة). In Arabic, non-human collective nouns are often treated as masculine singular, so the adjective لامعا matches that masculine singular form.
Why does the word الصائغ have a hamza (ئ) in the middle?
This word means 'the jeweler' or 'goldsmith' and follows the pattern for a person doing an action. Its root has a weak middle letter (ص-و-غ). When making this 'doer' noun for hollow roots, the weak middle letter changes into a hamza. You will see this same change in words like بائع (seller).
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