Breakdown of أعطيت أمي هدية جميلة.
جميلjamîl
beautiful
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
هديةhadiyya
gift
أمumm
mother
Questions & Answers about أعطيت أمي هدية جميلة.
Why isn't there a preposition like 'to' before أمي (my mother)?
The verb أعطى (to give) takes two direct objects. Just like the English phrase 'I gave my mother a gift', Arabic grammar doesn't require a preposition here. Both the recipient (أمي) and the item given (هدية) are treated as direct objects in the accusative case.
The base verb for 'to give' is أعطى, which ends in an alif maqsurah. Why does it change to a yaa' in أعطيت?
أعطى is a defective verb, meaning its final root letter is weak. When you attach a subject suffix that begins with a consonant, like the 'tu' for 'I', the final alif maqsurah reverts to its original root letter, which is yaa'. This changes the ending to produce أعطيت (a'taytu).
Since أمي (my mother) is the first direct object, why doesn't it show an accusative case ending (a fathah)?
It is technically in the accusative case, but the case ending is hidden. When any noun attaches to the first-person possessive pronoun (ـي), the final consonant of the noun must take a kasrah to blend smoothly with the 'ee' sound. This mandatory kasrah overrides the normal case vowel.
If I read this sentence aloud with full formal vowels, what case endings would هدية and جميلة take?
You would pronounce them as هديةً جميلةً (hadiyyatan jamilatan). The noun هدية takes the '-an' accusative ending because it is the second direct object of the verb. The adjective جميلة must perfectly copy the case, gender, and definiteness of the noun it describes.