Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): نجري اجتماعا افتراضيا بدلا من الحضور الشخصي. - We hold a virtual meeting instead of in-person attendance.

The phrase بدلا من translates to "instead of" or "as a substitute for." In Arabic, it is a fixed expression where بدلا takes the accusative case (showing the "adverbial" nature of the substitution) and is followed by the preposition من. The word that comes immediately after من must be a noun or a verbal noun, which in this sentence is الحضور (attendance).

Could I use a regular verb directly after بدلا من, like saying "instead of attending"?

No, you cannot put a regular conjugated verb directly after من because Arabic prepositions must be followed by nouns. To say "instead of attending," you use the verbal noun (masdar) of the verb, which acts like a noun. Here, الحضور is the verbal noun for "attending" or "attendance." If you absolutely need to use a regular verb, you must insert أن before it to create a noun phrase, such as بدلا من أن نحضر (instead of us attending).

Why do the words اجتماعا and افتراضيا both end with an extra alif?

Because اجتماعا (a meeting) is the direct object of the verb نجري (we hold), it takes the accusative case. Since it is indefinite (no ال at the beginning), this case is marked by a "tanwin fatha" sound (-an), which requires adding an extra alif in writing. The word افتراضيا (virtual) is an adjective describing the meeting, so it must copy that exact same case and indefinite ending.

Why is the word for "in-person" (الشخصي) definite with ال, but "virtual" () is not?