Question 1

How exactly do we build the word الثلاثينيات for "the thirties"?

Accepted Answer

You start with the cardinal number for the ten, using its oblique (genitive/accusative) form ending in ـين (-in). So, thirty is ثلاثين. Then, you add the Nisba suffix ـي (-iyy) and attach the feminine sound plural ending ـات (-at). This gives you ثلاثينيات (thalathiniyyat), meaning the years related to thirty. Finally, add the definite article الـ (al-) to get "the thirties."

Question 2

Does the spelling of الثلاثينيات change to use ـون (-un) if it is the subject of a sentence?

Accepted Answer

No, the spelling stays exactly the same. Decade names are always formed using the ـين (-in) stem of the number, never the ـون (-un) stem, regardless of their grammatical case. If it were the subject, you would write الثلاثينيات but simply pronounce it with a final "u" sound (damma) instead of the "i" sound (kasra) it has here after the preposition في.

Question 3

Why is there no أن (an) between the verbs بدأ (began) and يتطور (to develop)?

Accepted Answer

بدأ is one of the "verbs of beginning." In Arabic grammar, when these verbs are followed by another verb to indicate you "began doing an action," the second verb must be in the present/imperfect tense, and you cannot use the particle أن (to) before it. Using أن here would actually be grammatically incorrect.

Question 4

Why is television written here as التلفاز rather than the common loanword التليفزيون?

Accepted Answer

التلفاز is the official Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) term coined to replace the loanword. While you will hear التليفزيون constantly in spoken dialects and see it in casual writing, التلفاز is the preferred standard in formal writing, news broadcasts, and formal MSA texts like this one.

بدأ التلفاز يتطور في الثلاثينيات.

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