Word
كان يجب أن يفرغ حمولة الشاحنة حتى لا ينكسر الأثاث.
Meaning
He had to empty the truck's load so the furniture wouldn't break.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of كان يجب أن يفرغ حمولة الشاحنة حتى لا ينكسر الأثاث.
الal
the
لاlâ
not (with present verb)
أنan
to (with verbs)
كانkâna
to be
Questions & Answers about كان يجب أن يفرغ حمولة الشاحنة حتى لا ينكسر الأثاث.
How does the sentence express "he had to" in the past tense?
The phrase يجب أن usually means "must" or "it is necessary to" in the present tense. To put this obligation into the past ("had to"), Arabic simply adds the past tense verb كان (was) before it, creating the phrase كان يجب أن.
Why is the verb يفرغ (to empty) used in this specific form?
يفرغ is a Form II verb. While the basic Form I root فرغ means "to be empty" (a state of being), Form II verbs are often used to make an action causative. Therefore, the Form II verb (present tense: يفرغ) means "to make something empty", which fits because the subject is actively emptying the load.
Why doesn't the word حمولة (load) have ال (the) attached to it?
It is the first part of an idafa (possession construction) meaning "the load of the truck" (حمولة الشاحنة). In an idafa, the first noun never takes ال, but it is still grammatically definite because the second noun has it.
Does adding لا (not) after حتى (so that) change the grammar of the following verb?