Breakdown of أثم نخترق واقعا موازيا من المحتمل أن يقتلنا؟
أa
is / are / do / does (question particle)
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
ثمthumma
then (next)
قتلqutila
to kill
واقعwâqi'
reality
من المحتمل أنmina al-muhtamali an
it is likely that
اخترقikhtaraqa
to breach
موازmuwâzin
parallel
Questions & Answers about أثم نخترق واقعا موازيا من المحتمل أن يقتلنا؟
Why does the interrogative hamza (أ) come before the conjunction ثم (thumma) to make أثم? In English, we say "Then do we...?"
In Arabic, the interrogative hamza (أ) insists on being the absolute first letter in a sentence. When you want to combine a question with a conjunction like و (and), ف (so), or ثم (then), the hamza takes precedence and forces its way to the front. So instead of the illogical ثم أ, you get أثم (a-thumma).
What is the grammatical case of واقعا موازيا, and why do they have that extra alif?
Both words are in the accusative case (mansub) because واقعا (a reality) is the direct object of the verb نخترق (we breach). موازيا (parallel) is an adjective describing that reality, so it copies the accusative case. Because the phrase is indefinite, they take the tanwin fatha ending, which in writing requires adding that supporting alif at the end of each word.
How does the phrase من المحتمل أن work grammatically to mean "is likely to"?
Literally, it translates to "from the probable that." This is a standard, fixed prepositional structure in Modern Standard Arabic used to express "it is likely that..." or "probably." It acts as a set chunk that introduces a subordinate clause, which is why it is followed by أن plus a present tense verb.
Why is the verb يقتلنا (it kills us) in the subjunctive mood here?
It is in the subjunctive (mansub) mood because it immediately follows the subordinating particle أن (that). This particle forces the following present tense verb to take a fatha on its final root letter. The root verb is يقتل (yaqtulu), so it changes to يقتلَ (yaqtula) before attaching the object pronoun نا (us), resulting in يقتلَنا (yaqtulanā).
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