Breakdown of يا عابري الشارع، تفادوا السائقين المتهورين.
الal
the
شارعshâri'
street
سائقsâ'iq
driver
ياyâ
O
عابرâbir
passerby
تفادىtafâdâ
to avoid (avert, dodge)
متهورmutahawwir
reckless
Questions & Answers about يا عابري الشارع، تفادوا السائقين المتهورين.
Why is the word for crossers written as عابري instead of the standard plural عابرين or عابرون?
This relates to our current lesson! The phrase عابري الشارع is an Idafa (possessive construction). When a sound masculine plural like عابرين is the first term of an Idafa, it drops its final noon. Additionally, because it is the target of the vocative particle يا, the rules dictate it must be in the accusative case. Therefore, it uses the accusative ya' ending rather than the nominative waw (عابرو).
The verb تفادوا (avoid) has an alif at the end. Doesn't that usually indicate a past tense verb?
Not exclusively. Here, تفادوا is a plural imperative (command) telling the crossers to do something. Just like plural past tense verbs, plural commands that end with the waw of the plural add a silent spelling alif at the end.
The base verb for to avoid is تفادى. What happened to the weak final letter in the plural command تفادوا?
Because تفادى is a defective verb (ends in a weak letter), adding the plural waw forces a contraction. The weak final alif maqsura is dropped entirely to prevent two vowels from clashing, but the fatha on the daal remains to hint at the dropped letter.
Why do both السائقين (the drivers) and المتهورين (reckless) end with ya' noon rather than waw noon?
They are in the accusative case because السائقين serves as the direct object of the command تفادوا. The adjective المتهورين must match the noun it describes in case, number, and definiteness, so it takes the exact same accusative plural ending.
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