Breakdown of عليك أن تكوني حريصة حتى لا تنكسر الأكواب الهشة.
الal
the
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
كka
your / you (object)
لاlâ
not (with present verb)
أنan
to (with verbs)
كوبkûb
cup
كانkâna
to be
انكسرinkasara
to break (intransitive)
حتىhattâ
so that / in order to
حريصharîs
careful
هشhash
fragile
Questions & Answers about عليك أن تكوني حريصة حتى لا تنكسر الأكواب الهشة.
Why is the verb تكوني missing its final letter 'noon' (instead of تكونين)?
The particle أن (to) forces the following verb into the subjunctive mood. For the feminine singular 'you' form, the subjunctive is made by dropping the final 'noon', so تكونين becomes تكوني.
If we pronounce the full grammatical case endings, why would حريصة end in an 'an' sound (حريصةً)?
It acts as the predicate (the descriptive part) of the verb تكوني (to be). The verb كان and its forms always put their predicate into the accusative case, which takes a 'fat-ha' or 'fat-hatayn' ending.
Why are the verb تنكسر and the adjective الهشة feminine singular when they refer to the plural word الأكواب (the cups)?
In Arabic, all non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular. Because الأكواب are inanimate objects, any verbs and adjectives describing them must take the feminine singular form.
How does the verb تنكسر show that the cups are breaking by themselves rather than being broken by someone?
تنكسر is a Form VII verb, which is built by adding an extra 'noon' to the root letters. Form VII verbs are naturally passive or intransitive, meaning they describe a state or an action happening to the subject without pointing out who caused it.
Does the word حتى affect the grammar of the verb تنكسر?
Yes. The word حتى (meaning 'so that' or 'until') is a particle that changes the following verb into the subjunctive mood. Even though the negative word لا is in the middle, the verb تنكسر still takes a subjunctive 'fat-ha' ending (تنكسرَ).
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