Breakdown of بم تشعر إزاء هذا التناقض؟
الal
the
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
شعر بsha'ara bi
to feel
إزاءizâ'a
regarding / vis-à-vis
بمbima
with what (in questions)
تناقضtanâqud
contradiction
Questions & Answers about بم تشعر إزاء هذا التناقض؟
Why is the question word written as بم rather than بما?
This is a special spelling rule. Whenever the question word ما (what) attaches to a preposition like بـ (with/by), the final Alif is dropped. Therefore, بـ plus ما becomes بم. This happens with other prepositions too, like لِمَ and مِمَّ.
Why doesn't the sentence just start with ماذا (what) instead of بم?
In Arabic, the verb شعر (to feel) strongly pairs with the preposition بـ to indicate what is being felt. When you ask a question about the object of such a verb, the preposition must come first. So instead of asking ماذا تشعر, you ask بم تشعر (literally, with what do you feel).
Is إزاء a noun or a preposition here?
إزاء is a preposition that means facing, opposite to, or in this more abstract context, regarding or towards. Because it acts as a preposition, the noun phrase that follows it is placed in the genitive case.
How do we determine the case ending for التناقض in this sentence?
It takes a kasra (genitive case) because of the phrase before it. The preposition إزاء puts the demonstrative هذا in the genitive slot. When a noun with ال directly follows a demonstrative, it is an apposition (badal) and simply copies that same case, becoming التناقضِ.
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