Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): غسلت المفرش بعد حفلة العشاء. - I washed the tablecloth after the dinner party.

The root is ف-ر-ش (f-r-sh), which relates to spreading or furnishing. The word follows the مَفْعَل (maf'al) pattern, which is commonly used to create nouns for tools or objects used to do an action. Therefore, المفرش literally translates to "the thing that is spread," making it the perfect word for a tablecloth or bedspread.

Without a pronoun like أنا, how do we know who did the washing in غسلت?

The subject is built directly into the past tense verb via its suffix. The suffix ـتُ (tu) in غَسَلْتُ indicates "I". If the sentence meant "she washed", the verb would be غَسَلَتْ (ghasalat) with a sukūn on the final letter. If it meant "you (masc.) washed", it would be غَسَلْتَ (ghasalta).

If we read this sentence with full case endings, why would حفلة end in a kasra (i)?

The word حفلة (party) immediately follows بعد (after). Adverbs of time and space like بعد force the following noun into the genitive case, which is marked by a kasra, creating an idaafa (possessive construction). Because it is followed by العشاء, it creates a nested idaafa chain, meaning both حفلةِ and العشاءِ take the genitive kasra.

Can حفلة be used for any type of gathering?