Breakdown of يتراوح عدد الضيوف بين خمسين وستين.
الal
the
وwa
and
ضيفdayf
guest
خمسونkhamsûna
fifty
ستونsittûna
sixty
عدد'adad
number (quantity)
تراوح بينtarâwaha bayna
to range between
Questions & Answers about يتراوح عدد الضيوف بين خمسين وستين.
Why are the numbers written as خمسين (fifty) and ستين (sixty) instead of خمسون and ستون?
They are in the genitive case (majrur) because they come after the word بين (between), which functions as the first part of an idafa (genitive construct). Decade numbers (20-90) decline like sound masculine plurals, so they take the ـين ending in the genitive and accusative cases, rather than the nominative ـون.
What verb form is يتراوح and how does that affect its meaning?
It is a Form VI verb. Form VI often expresses reciprocity or an action spanning between multiple entities. In this context, يتراوح specifically means "ranges" or "fluctuates." It is strongly collocated with بين (between) to establish the limits of a given range.
Does the word عدد (number) always act as the first part of an idafa here?
Yes, to say "the number of [something]" in Arabic, you use an idafa (genitive construct). عدد is the first term, so it cannot take the definite article. The second term, الضيوف (the guests), is definite and in the genitive case, which makes the whole phrase "the number of guests" definite.
Could I use من (from) and إلى (to) instead of بين (between) and و (and) with this verb?
Generally, no. The verb يتراوح naturally pairs with بين and the conjunction و. If you wanted to use من and إلى, you would typically use a different verb like يمتد (extends) or rely on a simpler sentence structure.
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