Breakdown of كان الطقس عاصفا، لكن المطر لم يتساقط.
الal
the
مطرmatar
rain
لكنlâkin
but
كانkâna
to be
طقسtaqs
weather
لمlam
did not
عاصفâsif
stormy
تساقطtasâqaṭa
to fall (leaves, snow, hair)
Questions & Answers about كان الطقس عاصفا، لكن المطر لم يتساقط.
Since our current lesson is on Verbs of Beginning (أفعال الشروع), how would we rewrite the second half of this sentence to say '...but the rain began to fall'?
You could replace the negative verb with a verb of beginning, such as أخذ or جعل, making it لكن المطر أخذ يتساقط. Notice that the predicate must be a present-tense verb (يتساقط), and crucially, you must never put the particle أن before it.
Why does the word عاصفا (stormy) have an extra alif at the end?
The extra alif holds the 'an' sound of the indefinite accusative case ending. It is accusative because it is the predicate (the 'news') of the verb كان (was). While the subject (الطقس) remains nominative, the predicate of كان is always accusative.
What case ending does the word المطر (the rain) take because of the word لكن (but)?
It takes the accusative case, taking a fatha on the last letter (لكنَّ المطرَ). The conjunction لكن is one of the 'Sisters of إن', which means it forces the subject of the nominal sentence following it to be accusative.
How does the negative particle لم (did not) affect the ending of the verb يتساقط?
The particle لم forces the present-tense verb into the jussive case (مجزوم). Because يتساقط is a regular verb, its final short vowel is dropped and replaced with a vowelless pause (sukun), making it لم يتساقطْ.
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