Breakdown of كانت بضعة إصدارات نادرة غالية جدا.
جداjiddan
very
كانkâna
to be
غاليghâli
expensive
نادرnâdir
rare
بضعةbid'atun
a few, several (for masculine nouns)
إصدارisdâr
edition, issue
Questions & Answers about كانت بضعة إصدارات نادرة غالية جدا.
Why do we use the feminine بضعة here instead of the masculine بضع?
The words بضع and بضعة act exactly like the numbers 3 to 10: they take the opposite gender of the singular form of the noun they count. The noun here is إصدارات (editions), whose singular is إصدار. Because إصدار is masculine, we must use the feminine quantifier بضعة.
What is the grammatical relationship between بضعة and إصدارات?
They form an Idaafa (possessive construction). Just like with the numbers 3 to 10, the counted noun that follows بضع or بضعة must be plural and in the genitive case (majrur). This is why you would read it as إصداراتٍ with kasratayn.
Why is the adjective نادرة (rare) in the genitive case, while غالية (expensive) is accusative?
نادرة directly describes the noun إصدارات, so it must match its genitive case within the Idaafa. On the other hand, غالية is the predicate of the verb كانت (telling us what the editions were). The predicate of كان and its sisters is always in the accusative case (mansub).
Since إصدارات is plural, why are the verb كانت and the adjectives نادرة and غالية all feminine singular?
In Arabic, plurals of non-human objects like إصدارات are treated grammatically as feminine singular. This core rule applies across the board here: it dictates the form of the verb كانت, the direct adjective نادرة, and the predicate adjective غالية.
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