Breakdown of بمجرد أن انتهت الأربعينيات، أصبحت الحواسيب أكبر.
الal
the
حاسوبhâsûb
computer
أصبحasbaha
to become
انتهىintahâ
to finish
أكبرakbar
bigger
بمجرد أنbimujarradi an
as soon as
أربعينياتarba'îniyyât
forties
Questions & Answers about بمجرد أن انتهت الأربعينيات، أصبحت الحواسيب أكبر.
How is the word for the forties, الأربعينيات, formed?
It is built from the cardinal number forty in its oblique case, أربعين. First, the Nisba suffix ـيّ is attached to turn it into a descriptive adjective. Then, the feminine sound plural ending ـات is added to group those years together as a single noun. Finally, we add the definite article الـ to make it definite.
Since الأربعينيات (the forties) and الحواسيب (computers) are plural nouns, why do the verbs انتهت and أصبحت take a feminine singular form?
A core rule of Arabic grammar is that non-human plurals are treated grammatically as feminine singular. Because decades and computers are not human, their matching verbs, انتهت (ended) and أصبحت (became), must be in the feminine singular form.
What grammatical case is أكبر (larger) in here, and why?
It is in the accusative case (أكبرَ). The verb أصبح (became) belongs to the 'sisters of kaana' family of verbs. These verbs take a subject in the nominative case (here, الحواسيب) and a predicate in the accusative case. Since أكبر is the predicate telling us what the computers became, it takes the accusative case.
Why do we use أن after بمجرد (as soon as)?
The word بمجرد translates roughly to 'by the mere'. To connect it to a new clause, you need the particle أن (that). Together, بمجرد أن creates the conjunction 'as soon as'. Because it refers to an event that was completely finished before the next one started, it is followed by the past tense verb انتهت.
Learn بمجرد أن انتهت الأربعينيات، أصبحت الحواسيب أكبر and more in Arabic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free