Breakdown of أكلت تفاحة واحدة فقط.
أكلakala
to eat
واحدwâhid
one / the same, uniform
فقطfaqat
only
تفاحةtuffâḥa
apple (one)
Questions & Answers about أكلت تفاحة واحدة فقط.
Since تفاحة already means 'an apple', why do we need to add واحدة?
You are right that singular nouns in Arabic usually imply 'one'. Adding the number واحدة after the noun is done for emphasis. The sentence stresses that you ate one single apple, rather than just stating that you ate an apple in general.
Why is the number واحدة placed after the noun, and why does it have a feminine ending?
In Arabic, the numbers 1 and 2 act exactly like adjectives. Because adjectives come after the noun they describe, واحدة follows تفاحة. And just like any adjective, it must match the noun's gender. Since تفاحة is feminine, the number must also be the feminine واحدة instead of the masculine واحد.
Why is فقط (only) at the very end of the sentence?
In English, we typically put 'only' before the noun phrase ('only one apple'). In Arabic, فقط is placed after the word or phrase it modifies, which usually means it lands at the very end of the sentence.
What case endings do these words take if I pronounce the formal grammatical endings?
Both تفاحة and واحدة take the accusative case ending (an '-an' sound, known as tanween fatH). This is because تفاحة is the direct object of the verb أكلت, and واحدة is an adjective that must copy the grammatical case of the noun it describes.
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