Breakdown of رعاية الأم أبناءها مسؤولية عظيمة.
الal
the
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
أمumm
mother
مسؤوليةmas'ûliyyah
responsibility
ابنibn
son
عظيمazhîm
great
رعايةri'âya
care (sponsorship, protection)
Questions & Answers about رعاية الأم أبناءها مسؤولية عظيمة.
Why is أبناءها in the accusative case here instead of being part of a genitive chain?
This sentence perfectly demonstrates how verbal nouns (masdars) work. The verbal noun رعاية (care) acts like its corresponding verb. It connects to its logical subject, الأم (the mother), using a genitive Idafa construction. However, it still acts like a verb toward its direct object, keeping أبناءَ (children) in the accusative case with a fatha.
Why is the hamza in أبناءها written on the line rather than on a waw or a ya'?
The spelling of this middle hamza depends entirely on the word's grammatical case. Because أبناءَ is the accusative direct object, the letter carries a fatha. In Arabic spelling rules, when a hamza follows an alif and carries a fatha before an attached pronoun, it sits alone on the line. If it had been nominative, it would be أبناؤُها, and if genitive, أبنائِها.
Where is the predicate (khabar) in this sentence?
The predicate is مسؤولية (a responsibility). The first half of the sentence, رعاية الأم أبناءها, forms one large subject phrase (mubtada') centered around the word رعاية. The word مسؤولية is where the actual claim about that subject is made, which is why it takes the nominative case.
Why doesn't the word رعاية have a definite article if the translation says "The mother's care"?
Because رعاية is the first term of an Idafa (genitive construction) with الأم. In Arabic, the first word of an Idafa never takes the definite article الـ or nunation (tanween), even if it translates as definite in English. It automatically becomes definite because the word attached to it is definite.
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