Breakdown of تهذيب الوالدين أبناءهما أساس العائلة.
الal
the
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
عائلة'â'ilah
family
والدwâlid
father (formal)
ابنibn
son
أساسasâs
foundation
تهذيبtahdhîb
disciplining
Questions & Answers about تهذيب الوالدين أبناءهما أساس العائلة.
Why is the logical doer of the disciplining (الوالدين) in the genitive case instead of the nominative?
Because it forms an idaafa (genitive construct) with the verbal noun تهذيب. Even though the parents are performing the action, grammatically they possess the verbal noun ('the disciplining of the parents'). Since الوالدين is dual, its genitive marker is the suffix ـين (-ayn) instead of the nominative ـان (-aan).
How does the verbal noun تهذيب affect the case of أبناءهما (their children)?
A verbal noun (masdar) can act like its corresponding verb and take a direct object. Here, تهذيب keeps its logical direct object (أبناء) in the accusative case. This means the word takes a fatha on its final letter before the attached pronoun.
How does the accusative case of أبناء dictate its spelling here?
With such a long opening phrase, what is the actual predicate (khabar) of this sentence?
The core sentence is 'Disciplining... [is the] foundation...' Therefore, the main subject (mubtada') is تهذيب and the predicate (khabar) is أساس (foundation). The words in between simply clarify who is doing the disciplining and to whom.
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