Breakdown of أصدرت الشرطة تنبيها: يا مستهترا، لن تهرب من عاقبة السرعة.
منmin
from
شرطةshurta
police
هربharaba
to escape
ياyâ
O
لنlan
will not
سرعةsur'a
speed
أصدرasdara
to release / to issue (a document)
تنبيهtanbîh
alert
مستهترmustahtir
reckless person
عاقبة'âqiba
consequence
Questions & Answers about أصدرت الشرطة تنبيها: يا مستهترا، لن تهرب من عاقبة السرعة.
Why is مستهترا written with tanween fatha (accusative) here instead of a damma?
This is the core of the unintended indefinite vocative (النكرة غير المقصودة). Usually, when you call out to a specific person or title, it takes a single damma (like يا رجلُ). But here, the police are addressing any reckless person in general, not a specific individual they are looking at. When the vocative is indefinite and generic like this, it must be in the accusative case (يا مستهتراً).
There is no word for driver in the Arabic sentence. How do we get Reckless driver from مستهترا?
مستهتر is an active participle from the Form X verb استهتر (to be reckless or careless). Literally, مستهتراً means O reckless one! or O careless person!. In the context of a police traffic alert, reckless driver is the most natural English translation, but the Arabic word itself just refers to anyone acting recklessly.
Why does the verb تهرب take the subjunctive mood (ending in a fatha) here?
It is because of the negative future particle لن (will not). Whenever you use لن before a present tense verb, it changes the verb's mood to the subjunctive (منصوب), which means it takes a fatha at the end instead of the default damma. So it is لن تهربَ (lan tahraba).
What is the root and form of تنبيها (an alert)?
It is the verbal noun (masdar) of the Form II verb نبّه (to alert, warn, or draw attention to). Form II verbal nouns typically follow the pattern تَفْعيل, which gives us تنبيه. It is in the accusative case here (تنبيهاً) because it is the direct object of the verb أصدرت (issued).
Learn أصدرت الشرطة تنبيها: يا مستهترا، لن تهرب من عاقبة السرعة and more in Arabic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free