Breakdown of عضت أفعى الراعي، فأخذناه إلى المستشفى.
الal
the
إلىilâ
to
مستشفىmustashfâ
hospital
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
أخذakhadha
to take
فfa
so, then / for (giving a reason)
عض'adda
to bite
أفعىaf'â
snake
راعيrâ'î
shepherd
Questions & Answers about عضت أفعى الراعي، فأخذناه إلى المستشفى.
Why is the verb عضت in the feminine form?
The subject of the verb is أفعى (a snake), which is a feminine noun in Arabic. Even though it does not end with a taa marbuta, the alif maqsurah ending (ى) often indicates a feminine word, so the verb takes the feminine ـت suffix.
Could أفعى الراعي be an idafa meaning 'the shepherd's snake'?
It looks exactly like an idafa construction, but context tells us it is a Verb-Subject-Object sequence. If it were an idafa, the sentence would translate to 'the shepherd's snake bit...' and we would be missing the object of who was bitten. The next clause saying 'we took him' confirms the shepherd is the object who received the bite.
How does فأخذناه break down into its grammatical parts?
It consists of three parts. First is the prefix فـ meaning 'so' or 'and then'. Next is the verb أخذنا meaning 'we took'. Finally, the attached suffix ـه is the object pronoun meaning 'him', referring back to the shepherd.
Both أفعى and المستشفى end in the same letter. Are they both feminine?
No, they have different genders. While أفعى (snake) is feminine, المستشفى (hospital) is masculine. Words ending in alif maqsurah (ى) can be tricky and their genders often need to be memorized, though many location nouns starting with مـ are masculine.
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