Breakdown of شركتا الطيران هاتان لهما سمعة ممتازة، لكن متوسط السعر عال جدا.
الal
the
ممتازmumtâz
excellent
سعرsi'r
price
لli
for, to (attached)
جداjiddan
very
شركةsharika
company
لكنlâkin
but
عالي3âli
high / loud
طيرانtayarân
aviation
هماhumâ
their / them (two)
هاتانhâtâni
these two (feminine nominative)
سمعةsum'a
reputation
متوسطmutawassit
average (medium, middle)
Questions & Answers about شركتا الطيران هاتان لهما سمعة ممتازة، لكن متوسط السعر عال جدا.
Why does هاتان (these two) come after the whole phrase شركتا الطيران instead of before it?
In Arabic, an idafa (genitive construction) cannot be interrupted. If you put هاتان before شركتا, it would mean 'These are two airlines' (a complete sentence). To say 'These two airlines', the demonstrative must follow the entire idafa and match the head noun (شركتا) in gender (feminine), number (dual), and case (nominative).
Where is the final letter in the dual word for 'two companies' (شركتان)? Why is it written here as شركتا?
The noun is the first part (mudhaaf) of an idafa (possession phrase). Whenever a dual noun serves as a mudhaaf, it drops its final ن (noon). Since it is the subject of the sentence, it remains in the nominative case with the alif ending.
Why is the word for 'high' written as عال instead of عالي?
The word عال is a 'defective noun', meaning its root ends in a yaa'. When these words are indefinite and in either the nominative or genitive case, they drop the final yaa' and take a double kasra. Here, it is the predicate of لكن (but), so it is nominative.
What grammatical case does متوسط (average) take in this sentence, and why?
It takes the accusative case (ending in a fatha, making it متوسطَ) because it is the subject of لكن (but). This word is a 'sister of Inna', meaning it forces the noun immediately following it into the accusative case.
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