Breakdown of لا تحرك التمساح ولا هاجم الضفدع.
الal
the
وwa
and
تحركtaharraka
to move
هاجمhâjama
to attack
تمساحtimsâh
crocodile
ضفدعdifdi
frog
لاlâ
neither … nor
Questions & Answers about لا تحرك التمساح ولا هاجم الضفدع.
Why is لا used here with past tense verbs instead of ما or لم?
Normally, to negate a past action in MSA, you use ما followed by the past tense or لم followed by the jussive. However, when saying neither... nor... about past actions, the rule is to repeat لا before each past tense verb. Without the repetition, لا before a past tense verb typically expresses a wish or prayer.
Is تحرك (moved) acting as a transitive or intransitive verb here?
It is intransitive, meaning it doesn't take a direct object. تحرك is a Form V verb, which often expresses the reflexive or intransitive result of an action. The crocodile itself is doing the moving. If you wanted to say it moved something else, you would use the Form II verb حرك.
Why doesn't the second verb هاجم (attacked) use a preposition like على before the frog?
هاجم is a Form III verb, which often makes the action directly target someone or something, allowing it to take a direct object. If you used the Form I version of this root, هجم, you would need the preposition على to say attacked the frog (هجم على الضفدع).
Where is the subject for the second verb هاجم?
The subject for the whole sentence is established after the first verb as التمساح (the crocodile). Because Arabic verbs contain the subject pronoun within their conjugation, the he/it is already built into the past tense form هاجم, so there is no need to repeat the noun.
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