Breakdown of هذا الحيوان البري أحد الكائنات المهددة.
الal
the
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
حيوانhayawân
animal
أحدahad
one, one of
كائنkâ'in
creature
بريbarri
wild
مهددmuhaddad
threatened
Questions & Answers about هذا الحيوان البري أحد الكائنات المهددة.
Why do we use the masculine أحد here when الكائنات ends in the feminine plural suffix ـات?
The word for 'one of' must match the gender of the singular noun. The singular of الكائنات (creatures) is كائن, which is masculine. Therefore, we use the masculine أحد rather than the feminine إحدى, regardless of what the plural suffix looks like.
If the singular noun is masculine, why does the adjective المهددة (threatened) end in a feminine ـة?
This is because of the non-human plural rule! Even though the singular كائن is masculine, the plural الكائنات (creatures) refers to non-human things. In Arabic, non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular, so they take a feminine singular adjective like المهددة.
Why doesn't أحد have a definite article (الـ) when it translates to 'one of the'?
The phrase أحد الكائنات forms an Idafa (possession or addition) construction. In an Idafa, the first word never takes the definite article الـ. It becomes definite automatically because the second word, الكائنات, is definite.
Why does الحيوان need the definite article الـ after هذا?
To say 'this animal' as a single phrase, the noun following the demonstrative هذا must be definite. If you drop the الـ and just say هذا حيوان, it becomes a complete sentence meaning 'This is an animal.'
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