Breakdown of هل هم موزعون منشورا على الناس؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
همhum
they
ناسnâsun
people
وزعwazza'a
to distribute
منشورmanshûr
leaflet / flyer (publication, handout)
Questions & Answers about هل هم موزعون منشورا على الناس؟
Why is منشورا in the accusative case (with tanwin fatha) if there is no verb in the sentence?
It acts as the direct object of the active participle موزعون (distributing). In Arabic, an active participle can function like its corresponding verb. Just as the verb takes a direct object in the accusative case, the participle موزعون forces منشورا into the accusative case.
Does an active participle always govern a direct object like this?
No, an indefinite active participle needs a supportive context to act like a verb. It must refer to the present or future, and it usually needs to follow a question word, a negation, or a subject. Here, it acts as the predicate to the subject pronoun هم in a question started by هل, giving it the grammatical power to govern منشورا.
Why does موزعون keep its final ن (nun)? Doesn't a plural drop the ن before a noun?
The ن is only dropped when the word forms an idaafa (genitive construction) with the following noun. Because موزعون is acting like a verb and taking a direct object, it is not an idaafa. If we used an idaafa instead, the phrase would be موزعو منشورٍ (distributors of a leaflet), dropping the ن and making the second noun genitive.
Why do we use the preposition على before الناس instead of لـ (to)?
The verb وزع (to distribute), and therefore its active participle موزع, specifically pairs with the preposition على to indicate the recipients. You distribute something upon (على) people in Arabic, rather than to (لـ) them.
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