Breakdown of اتصلوا بشرطة النجدة، لأن الموقف حرج!
اتصل بittasala bi
to call
شرطةshurta
police
لأنli'anna
because
موقفmawqif
situation
نجدةnajda
rescue
حرجharij
critical
Questions & Answers about اتصلوا بشرطة النجدة، لأن الموقف حرج!
I know 'call' is an imperative here, but why does it have the prefix بـ attached to the next word?
In Arabic, the verb اتصل (to contact or call) always requires the preposition بـ (with/by) to indicate who you are calling. You cannot say اتصلوا شرطة directly; it must be اتصلوا بشرطة.
What case ending should الموقف take here, and why?
It takes a fatha (الموقفَ, al-mawqifa) because it is in the accusative case (mansub). This is caused by لأن (because), which acts like إن and forces the following noun (its subject) into the accusative.
Why doesn't the alif at the beginning of اتصلوا have a hamza (أ or إ)?
The verb اتصل is a Form VIII verb. In Form VIII, both the past tense and the imperative start with a hamzat wasl (a connecting alif), not a regular hamza. If you were pronouncing a word right before it, you would blend the sounds and skip the short 'i' sound entirely.
I've seen 'emergency' translated as طوارئ. Can I say شرطة الطوارئ instead of شرطة النجدة?
You will sometimes hear both, but شرطة النجدة is the standard, idiomatic term for the 'rescue police' or 'emergency dispatch' in most Arab countries. النجدة specifically means 'rescue' or 'cry for help', whereas طوارئ is used more for a 'state of emergency' or a hospital's emergency room (غرفة الطوارئ).
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