Breakdown of وصل الضيوف في الموعد المتفق عليه.
الal
the
فيfî
in / about, regarding
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
ضيفdayf
Questions & Answers about وصل الضيوف في الموعد المتفق عليه.
Why is the verb وصل singular when the subject الضيوف is plural?
In Arabic, when the verb comes before the explicit subject in a verbal sentence, the verb stays in its singular form. It only matches the subject in gender. Since the guests are treated as a masculine plural group, we use the masculine singular verb وصل.
Why do we need the phrase عليه at the end of the sentence?
The verb for 'to agree on something' is اتفق على. When you use its passive participle المتفق to mean 'agreed', you must keep its preposition if the original verb requires it. English drops the preposition in 'the agreed time', but Arabic strictly requires it, essentially saying 'the agreed-upon time'.
What exactly does the pronoun suffix in عليه refer back to?
The pronoun suffix ـه (it) refers back to الموعد (the time). Together, المتفق عليه translates literally as 'the agreed upon it', which is how Arabic forms passive phrases from verbs that need a preposition.
Why does المتفق have the definite article ال?
Here, المتفق acts as an adjective modifying الموعد. Because adjectives in Arabic must match their noun in definiteness, and الموعد has the definite article ال, المتفق must also take ال.