Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): استخدمت الفرامل قبل المطب.

Yes, الفرامل is a broken plural. The singular is فرملة (farmala). Because it is a non-human plural, it is grammatically treated as feminine singular. In this sentence, it acts as the direct object of the verb, so it takes the accusative case ending in a fatha: الفراملَ.

Why does the word for "before" (قبل) force a specific grammatical case on the word that follows it?

Prepositions and spatial or temporal words like قبل (qabla) naturally form an "idaafa" (a possessive construction) with the noun that follows them. This means the second word, المطب, must be in the genitive case, taking a kasra ending: المطبِّ.

What does the "ma-" prefix on المطب (al-matabb) tell us about the word's structure?

The prefix مـ (ma-) is often used to create a "noun of place" from a root, indicating where an action occurs. Examples include مكتب (desk/office, from writing) or ملعب (playground, from playing). Here, it forms the word for a physical bump or dip in the road.

The verb استخدمت (I used) is a Form X verb. How does this form relate to its root meaning?

Form X verbs start with استـ (ist-) and usually mean to "seek" or "make use of" the root's basic concept. The root here is خ-د-م (kh-d-m), which means to serve. Therefore, استخدم literally means to "seek service from" something, giving us the modern meaning "to use."