Breakdown of كان هذا المبنى مدرسة سابقا.
الal
the
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
مدرسةmadrasah
school
كانkâna
to be
مبنىmabnâ
building
سابقsâbiq
previous
Questions & Answers about كان هذا المبنى مدرسة سابقا.
Why would the word مدرسة take the accusative case here instead of the nominative?
In Arabic, the verb كان and its sisters change the predicate (the part of the sentence giving information about the subject) into the accusative case (manṣūb). So, instead of مدرسةٌ, it becomes مدرسةً to show it is the predicate of كان.
Why does المبنى have the definite article الـ attached to it after هذا?
When a demonstrative pronoun like هذا is followed by a definite noun like المبنى, they form a single phrase meaning "this building." If you dropped the الـ, the phrase هذا مبنى would be a complete sentence meaning "This is a building." Here, the phrase "this building" acts together as the subject of كان.
As the subject of كان, shouldn't المبنى show a nominative case ending like a damma?
Grammatically, it is in the nominative case (marfūʿ), but you will not see or hear a damma. Nouns ending in an alif maqṣūra, which is the dotless yaa ى, cannot take short vowel endings. Their case endings are considered "hidden" because the vowel sound physically cannot be pronounced over the long "aa" sound at the end of the word.
How is the adverb سابقا formed from its root?
The word سابقا is an adverb of time meaning "formerly." It comes from the active participle سابق (previous), which is derived from the root س ب ق meaning "to precede." The ـًا suffix is the standard accusative ending used to turn adjectives or nouns into adverbs in Arabic.
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