Word
تم تصنيف المخلفات بحسب مصدرها.
Meaning
The waste was categorized according to its source.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of تم تصنيف المخلفات بحسب مصدرها.
الal
the
هاhâ
her / her (object) / it (feminine)
مصدرmasdar
source
تمtamma
to take place / to be completed (happen, be carried out)
Questions & Answers about تم تصنيف المخلفات بحسب مصدرها.
What is the difference between using بحسب and just حسب, and what case does it force on the following word?
There is no difference in meaning between بِحَسَبِ (bi-ḥasabi) and حَسَبَ (ḥasaba); both mean according to or depending on. Here, the prepositional prefix بِـ is attached. Both versions force the following noun, مصدر (source), into the genitive case (majrūr), making it مصدرِها (maṣdari-hā).
The translation says was categorized, but where is the passive verb in this sentence?
This sentence uses a common alternative to the standard internal passive. Instead of changing the vowels of the verb to categorize to make it passive, it uses the active verb تَمَّ (it was completed/done) followed by the verbal noun (maṣdar) تَصنيف (categorizing). So تَمَّ تَصنيف literally translates to the categorizing was completed, which is standard in MSA for expressing was categorized.
Why does the suffix on مصدرها (its source) use the feminine singular pronoun ها?
The pronoun refers back to المخلفات (the waste). Even though this word is grammatically plural, it refers to non-human objects. A fundamental rule in Arabic is that non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular for agreement, which is why the feminine singular suffix ها is used to mean its.
How does the morphology of the word المخلفات relate to its meaning of waste?