Question 1

Why is طالبا in the accusative case here?

Accepted Answer

This is a "negative complete" exception. The sentence is negative because of لم, and it is "complete" because the larger group being excepted from (الطلاب) is actually mentioned. In this specific structure, Arabic gives you two choices for the noun after إلا. The first choice, which this sentence uses, is to make it accusative (منصوب) as a direct exception.

Question 2

Based on the current lesson, what is the other valid way to write the end of this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You could write إلا طالبٌ واحدٌ. The second option for a "negative complete" exception is to treat the excepted noun as an appositive (بدل). This means it simply copies the grammatical case of the larger group. Since الطلاب is the subject of the sentence and is therefore nominative (مرفوع), the excepted student can also take the nominative case.

Question 3

Why does the verb يتغيب take the jussive case (مجزوم) instead of its default present-tense form?

Accepted Answer

It is preceded by the negative particle لم (did not). This particle always forces the present-tense verb that follows it into the jussive case. For a regular Form V verb like يتغيب, this is marked by a sukun (absence of a vowel) on the final letter.

Question 4

Why do we add واحدا when طالبا already means "a student"?

Accepted Answer

While طالبا alone technically means "a student," adding واحدا adds strong emphasis that exactly one single student was absent. Because واحدا acts as an adjective describing طالبا, it must perfectly match its accusative case.

لم يتغيب الطلاب عن الندوة إلا طالبا واحدا.

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