Breakdown of كان النزلاء سعداء جدا بنظافة الفندق.
الal
the
سعيدsa'îd
happy
فندقfunduq
hotel
بbi
by, with (attached)
جداjiddan
very
كانkâna
to be
نظافةnazâfa
cleanliness
نزيلnazîl
guest (lodger)
Questions & Answers about كان النزلاء سعداء جدا بنظافة الفندق.
Why is كان singular when the subject النزلاء (the guests) is plural?
In Arabic, when the verb comes before an explicit subject (Verb-Subject-Object order), it always stays in its singular form, even if the subject is plural. Since النزلاء is a masculine plural, we use the masculine singular verb كان. If the word order were reversed to Subject-Verb, it would be النزلاء كانوا.
Both النزلاء and سعداء look like they rhyme. Do they share the same plural pattern?
Yes! They both follow the broken plural pattern فُعَلاء (fu'alā'). This pattern is very commonly used for human nouns and adjectives that have the singular form فَعيل (fa'īl). So, نزيل (guest/boarder) becomes نزلاء, and سعيد (happy) becomes سعداء.
What case ending does سعداء take here, and why doesn't it have tanwin (double vowels)?
Why does the sentence use the preposition بـ attached to cleanliness, rather than مع for "with"?
In English we say "happy with," but in Arabic, the adjective سعيد (happy) pairs specifically with the preposition بـ (bi-). Using مع (ma'a) here is a common mistake for English speakers; مع strictly means "together with" or "in the company of."
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