Breakdown of وفقا للقانون، يجب علينا احترام الجيرة الجيدة.
الal
the
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
لli
for, to (attached)
جيدjayyid
good / well
يجبyajibu
must / has to
احترامihtirâm
respect
قانونqânûn
law
وفقاwifqan
according to (in accordance with)
جيرةjîra
neighborliness
Questions & Answers about وفقا للقانون، يجب علينا احترام الجيرة الجيدة.
Why does وفقا end with the accusative (double fatha) ending?
Words used as introductory adverbial expressions like وفقا (in accordance with) or طبقا (according to) are placed in the accusative case because they function as an adverb of manner. They are virtually fixed in this form when setting up the context for the rest of the sentence.
What is the grammatical subject of the verb يجب here?
The subject is actually the verbal noun (Masdar) احترام (respect). In Arabic, the verb يجب (it is obligatory) does not take a person as its subject. The sentence literally translates to: Respecting good neighborliness is obligatory upon us.
Since احترام refers to a specific concept here, why doesn't it have the definite article?
Because احترام الجيرة (the respect of neighborliness) forms an Idafa (genitive possession construct). In an Idafa, the first word never takes the definite article, but it automatically becomes definite because the word it is attached to, الجيرة, is definite.
How would the sentence change if we used an actual verb for 'respect' instead of the noun احترام?
You would use the particle أن followed by the present tense verb in the subjunctive mood. The phrase would change from يجب علينا احترام to يجب علينا أن نحترم (it is obligatory upon us that we respect), which is an equally common way to express 'we must' in Arabic.
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